Heineken N.V. - Organizational Issues

The beer market in Ireland was dominated by Guiness with 90% total market share. Heineken’s licensee, J.J. Murphy & Co, held only 4% and in July 1982 went into bankruptcy. Heineken had to decide what action to take.

Stratex is a European multi-national company facing some common, but challenging problems in the management of the information systems (IS) function. This case describes the tensions and challenges faced by John Gates, the new CIO of Stratex while trying to effectively use IS to further the business success of the organization.

This case focuses on the re-launch of monetary union within the general context of predicting policy change. It presents a method to assess the probable changes in policy with respect to timing, content and negotiating style.