Kent Chemical

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be composed of managers from the domestic and international organizations, with geographic, product, and functional expertise all represented. Although the goal of the boards was to provide support to the GBDs, and help each business advance its global strategy, without replacing local management, country and regional managers felt threatened and thought this was the first step in dismantling the regional organizations. The creation of the boards caused additional strain to the business, and ultimately failed.

I believe that the implementing a re-organization was difficult for Kent Chemical, as they had 30 manufacturing facilities in 13 countries and sold its products in over 100 countries. Also, the different company cultures, as well as the different rules and regulations were not analyzed in depth prior to implementation. Additionally, the lack of communication made it difficult to create consistency in operations worldwide.

Acknowledging the need of a prompt solution, Kent Chemical sought the help of Sterling Partners, a respected international management consulting firm. Upon analysis, the consultants concluded that one of the company’s main problems was that it had been imposing uniform organizational solutions on a strategically diverse portfolio, and suggested a more tailored approach. The consultants recommended a tool they termed “decision matrix”, which would expand on their analysis by defining core decisions business by business and then creating a process to analyze how they should be decided. Although many senior managers found the report convincing, others were worried that it was too complicated.

Recommendations

Upon analysis of the organizational outcomes made by Kent Chemical, I believe that the company should go forward with Sterling Partners’ recommendations. The decision matrix forms provided by the consultants provide the company with the tools necessary to tackle the challenges they face related to strategy development, budget preparation and marketing decisions. Moreover, the company should look to create an accessible hub for all domestic and international subsidiaries to communicate. This would allow the company to have a simple way to share the vision and planning efforts by management with all subsidiaries. I also recommend that the company gives subsidiaries more control on their operations, as they have more knowledge of their market needs; this would also hold them more accountable for their performance. Lastly, as the company moves to implement a global integrated company, it would be beneficial for the company to initiate corporate governance as a way to instate its own customs, policies and laws to its employees from the highest to the lowest level. Corporate governance would provide Kent Chemical with the ability to:

• Make sure that all shareholders get a voice at general meetings and are allowed to participate.

• Outline responsibilities to ensure all board members are on the same page and share a similar vision for the future of the company,

• Create a code of conduct regarding ethical decisions for all members of the board.

• Allow for business transparency and promote shareholder