The case describes Simpson International - a global diversified manufacturer of tools, security systems, and cooling and refrigeration equipment - and CEO Irene Lakatos' deliberations about the company's organization design. Simpson has grown and expanded - organically and through acquisition - and Lakatos must decide how to capture the scale economies from the company's global reach, while accounting for distinct differences in the company's diverse product and regional markets. Simpson is a fictionalized company; the facts of the case are synthesized from real accounts of several industrial companies.
The case is designed to provide a point of departure for discussing perennial issues of organization design: (a) focus versus diversification; (b) global standardization/coordination versus local adaptation/initiative; (c) problems of performance measurement and incentive design.
- globalization
- diversification
- organisation structure and design
- incentive design
- organisation strategy
- Q11213
