CORNER CASE :: STRATEGY
Coping with organizational change
How does a global supplier of technology and services cope with the changes sweeping the business landscape in today's world? How does it manage its own growth while dealing with the increased globalization and internationalization taking place?
The Bosch Group founded in 1886 has undergone many structural changes in a bid to stay competitive over time. In 2007, it initiated a series of changes seeking to transform itself into a translation organization. Its India operations, that had remained largely insulated from changes elsewhere within the organization, could not escape fundamental changes. Despite having done quite well as a business, the Bosch Group in India underwent increased integration with local and global operations of the company.
Professor Abhoy Ojha of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, studied the India operations of the Bosch Group to comprehend the challenges and opportunities in a geographic organization as it undergoes change thrust upon it in the global context. The case discusses the structural changes that take place in an organization that has been traditionally organizated as nearly self-contained geographical units. It discusses the challenges that these independent geographical units are confronted with as they undergo larger integration within the organization. Finally, it discusses the organizational dynamics when some of these units may not perceive the need to undergo change.