Case Study

Recommitment at Trenton Foods: Nestlé USA (A)

16 pages
February 1993
Reference: IMD-3-0540

A culture change initiative was begun four years ago at Trenton Foods, a manufacturing facility of Nestle, USA, as part of a strategy to assure long-term competitive advantage. Plant manager, John Brocke, reviews his efforts over the past four years in anticipation of an internal consulting team arriving to address productivity improvements and cost reductions. Brocke grows increasingly uneasy as the consulting team’s recommendations concerning labor reductions and consolidations are presented. Company and employee history in this small, mid-western town figure largely in his concern that four years of trust and credibility may be threatened, if not reversed. How does John Brocke communicate the concern for cost and efficiency – possible job reductions – without jeopardizing the embryonic culture he has worked so hard to achieve?

Keywords
Culinary Food, Culture, Operations Management
Settings
United States of America
1992
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 1992
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note
Case clearing houses
IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Discover our latest research
IMD's faculty and research teams publish articles, case studies, books and reports on a wide range of topics