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Case Study

The CEMEX way: The right balance between local business flexibility and global standardization

By Donald A. Marchand, Rebecca Chung and William J. Kettinger

17 pages

December 2004

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Reference: IMD-3-1341

CEMEX, based in Mexico, has grown through acquisitions from a local cement producer to the world’s third largest. Over the last 20 years, the company has been a consistent leader in using IT and managing business information in innovative ways in the cement and ready-mix concrete business. CEMEX has also accumulated knowledge about integrating acquired companies across the world and developing business processes that incorporate best practices in diverse countries and regions. In 2000, CEO Lorenzo Zambrano decided to codify best-practice knowledge across the company around 8 key global business processes through a three-year project called the CEMEX Way. Although implementation cost $200 million, the company could save over $120 million per year in IT and procurement costs. In 2004, the project became a permanent part of CEMEX’s approach to doing business globally, but had to be modified to incorporate more local innovation and flexibility as well as to capture best-practice changes more rapidly across the company. How can CEMEX align the behaviours and values of its people and strike the right balance between local business flexibility and global standardization to grow in the future?

Keywords

Global Growth, Acquisition, Business Flexibility, Standardization, Cement

Settings

World/global
2004

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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