October 19, 1999

Huascar E. Gomez
Introduction to Business

Mercedes-Benz Case

Questions:

1. What evidence of the modern view of organizations in Table 9.2 can you find in this case?
2. Does Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation qualify as a learning organization? Explain.
3. Did Georg Bauer do a good job of avoiding organizational decline? Explain.
4. What do you think about the ethics of Georg Bauer’s downsizing strategy? Explain.
5. Did this experience most likely strengthen or weaken the Mercedes-Benz Credit Corporation’s culture? Explain.

Answers

Figure 9.2
1. After reading the Mercedes-Benz case carefully and comparing it to figure 9.2 I came to a conclusion. In this case you can find evidence of: • Labor, I read on page 283 that he expanded to 100 people, meaning he hired people. • Market Information, he did some research and found out that American were expecting something else from companies other than perfection, Americans were requiring sincerity and efficiency now. • Managerial Subsystem, he had managers in charge of every department to start with but then he decided that instead of having managers he should have team leaders , who are people much like managers , I mean they have almost the same task, which is “lead”, but there is a difference though, authority. A manager has the

October 19, 1999

Huascar E. Gomez

Introduction to Business

authority to approve something , he is someone that people have to go up to and ask permission to do something. 2. I think that Mercedes-Benz does qualify as a learning corporation. Mercedes-Benz did some research and learned that Americans want something else other than perfection, they learned that Americans want sincerity and efficiency in a company, Americans are requiring good customer service now. 3. I think Georg Bauer did a very good job in