Case Analysis of Schindler

By

University of Maryland University College
AMBA 660
Week 8
August 31, 2012

Introduction The paper will discuss the challenges faced by Silvio Napoli, in carrying out Schindler’s expansion into the Indian elevator market at the request of the VRA, the corporate committee of Schindler which included Alfred Schindler (CEO), Luc Bonnard (Vice Chairman), and Alfred Spoerri (CFO). To begin Silvio Napoli, a young MBA from France, a third-country national, was fully responsible for the Indian expansion, and he had to get operations up and running and profitable in for years. His challenges included staffing and implementing a business plan he developed. Napoli’s plan two basic premises 1) to sell standardized elevators in India, and 2) outsource manufacturing and logistics in India. Napoli’s plan had success earlier in his career in 1995 with the Swatch Project that bested industry standard 20- to 30- week cycles by 50% with this same approach. Other challenges faced by Napoli included pressure in family his family life as a result of poor planning and no employee assistance program to get his family acclimated to Indian culture. That poor work-life balance distracted Napoli to the point where he could focus on neither his work, nor personal life. After 8 months he had not installed one unit and had orders that were contrary to the standardization strategy his entire business plan was based on. Government activities that affected Schindler’s activities such as raising transfer taxes and import duties also presented Napoli with unplanned production cost.
Analysis
Strategy, mode of entry
Entrance strategies used by Schindler in the Indian elevator industry which included distribution agreement with an Indian company, ECE lasted from 1958 to 1985 and progressed to a manufacturing agreement in 1985 with Bharat Bijlee