...1998, Christopher Carson, the head of BRL Hardy Europe, faced 2 difficult decisions: Should he launch Distinto, a new line of Italian wines his group had developed, despite concerns from Australian HQ?§ § In response to a UK market opportunity, which entry-level wine should be introduced in Europe: Kelly’s Revenge, a wine developed by his European team, or Banrock Station, a wine developed by Australian HQ? o Steve Millar, Carson’s boss at HQ in Australia, believed strongly in decentralized decision-making and allowing Carson to make his own decisions, but he wanted to make sure that decisions made in Europe where consistent with BRL Hardy’s strategy to develop global brands. • Industry Background o Despite meager beginnings, by 1996, BRL Hardy had become the second largest wine producer in Australia. o Throughout the 1990’s, the Australian wine industry experience rapid growth and international expansion. Australian wines were becoming a “hot trend” throughout the international wine community. o The UK was the largest worldwide importer of Australian wine exports • Company Background and History o BRL Hardy was the result of a 1992 merger between 2 competing Australian wine producers: BRL and Thomas Hardy & Sons. At the time of the merger, the companies had very different cultures: BRL was known as very “aggressive and commercial,” while Hardy was known as “polite and traditional.”§ o The merger occurred because both companies were struggling financially, particularly...
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...BRL Hardy: Globalizing an Australian Wine Company What are the organizational and management challenges surrounding BRL’s international expansion? What would you propose to overcome these? The main challenge surrounding BRL’s international expansion was its merger with Hardy. Both companies were struggling financially and needed the skills of each other’s company to be successful internationally. Organization challenges dealt with how both companies were running their respected business. It’s hard to combine two completely different companies and find a happy medium. Especially, when you have already established how things will be run in your company and you are forced to change them. To create a successful merge of BRL and Hardy, they had to both make sacrifices to better the overall company. The strategy was to protect the company’s share of bulk cask business but concentrate on branded bottle sales for growth. To fulfil this strategy, management also had to undergo many changes. A new top executive team was chosen with the majority of top jobs coming from BRL. This management team was to implement the necessary retrenchments and position them for growth. It was tough for both sides to give way and transform into a management team; many of people from Hardy felt they were outsiders and weren’t allowed into important meetings, while many from BRL felt that they needed to earn their spot again even though they had proved themselves many times before. Both sides of...
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...INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS BRL HARDY: GLOBALIZING AN AUSTRALIAN WINE COMPANY Group no.: 2 Ankita KUMARI PGP/17/133 DEBOPAM CHAKRABORTY PGP/17/264 Vinit KUMAR PGP/17/303 Ananya Mukherjee PGP/17/308 pRAKHAR GARG PGP/17/333 kavita YAJNIK PGP/17/356 Q1. Should Mr. Millar approve Carson’s proposal to launch D’istinto? Defend your response with strong evidence and arguments. Ans: We recommend that Mr. Miller should approve the launch of D’istinto and scrap the Chilean project altogether because it was aligned with their overall international strategy. The various advantages of launching D’istinto are: 1. The Italian wine had a backing of 135 experienced vine growers hence brings in a diversified supplier network and gets rid of the risk related to weather conditions in one part of the world as they now source from various regions. 2. It also suited well with the strategy of being a Global Brand. 3. These suppliers acted more like owners unlike the Chilean project where despite a joint venture, they only behaved like a supplier. This sense of ownership ensures better commitment hence good quality product (the main problem faced in the Chilean wine case was low quality). 4. This project was Carson’s pet project hence approving this gives Carson the indication that the Australian management trusts his decisions and truly believes in...
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...Chapter 1 expanding abroad: motivations, means, and mentalities Case 1-1 Cameron Auto Parts * Alex Cameron got the family biz when graduated in 2001, when the American economy fell into a recession * History * Auto Pact, big three ship car parts between Canada & US, with tariff free * Cameron focus on small engine parts and auto accessories * Car Sales dropped in 2000, because declining North America and entry of Japanese * High pressure for modernization and cost reduction * Operational survival: cut workforce, overtime, part-time, subcontracting * Recovery and diversification * The short-term future seemed positive, but the popularity of Japanese car forced it to diversify * Working as an OEM Cameron did little to be innovative * Alex brought in a team of designers, concentrating on developing products with a wider ‘non-automotive’ market appeal * The first year no progress, Alex lured away a key engineer from the Canadian firm, and mid-2003, developed its own line of flexible couplings * Marketing the new product * Hired eight field sales representatives, stress product quality, service and speed of delivery, but not price. * Financing plant capacity * Increasing sales of flexible couplings required a new separate plant, but the financial position is not strong enough to support it * Foreign markets * Took a European Patent * A licensing opportunity ...
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