ETUDE DE CAS

Thai Polyester Company

I. A. Identity of the French firm

- This firm has a very big success in France: it’s one of the largest chemical groups in France.

- The sector of activities is the following: basic chemicals, fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agro-chemicals and fibers).

- This firm is used to deal with foreign partners: half of the turnover came from export and foreign subsidiaries especially with the northern hemisphere and Latin America.

- The organization is not the best: the group gives autonomy to divisions which were separate legal corporate entities.

- The new sector will be the following : manufacturing and marketing of polyester staples and threads

I. B. Identity of the Thai firm by Mr Yipsoon

- Mr Yipsoon knows very well the Chinese culture because he has Chinese origins. That could be a good point if the firm will have partnership with China in the future.

- Mr Yipsoon is one of the few textile magnates in Thailand. He has a very big impact in Thailand in the world of the textile and he knows lot about that branch and the type of management in that branch.

- He is used to deal with foreign partners and so he knows the culture of each one and so can deal with them more properly.

- The group controls 40% of the Thai market. He has a big impact in this region.

- He can not speak English.

- He is a good manager.

II. Problematic:

Is that joint-venture favorable to the two firms? Will they be able to achieve a good result together when taking in consideration the following bad points?

- The textile division (raw materials) is in difficulties in Europe (competition from the Japan and the third world and substitution of the rayon).

- The French firm is not well organized

- Mr Yipsoon does not speak English: they