Carlos Ghosn Nissan Case

Q1. In what ways is Carlos Ghosn a visionary leader? What traits does he possess that are typical of a visionary leader? A1. A visionary leader generally has most of the characteristics laid below: • • • • •

Good communicator Charismatic leader Chief organizer Risk-taker Strategic planner

Carlos Ghosn had all of these characteristics as is evident from the case !his can be shown as below: Good communicator: Carlos Ghosn was adept in four languages" but he preferred action over long meetings #e publicly promised for the resignation of entire top mana managem gement ent team team in case case of the the comp compan any y not not meet meeting ing sales sales targ target ets s #e underst understood ood the necessit necessity y of good good commun communicat ication ion and so" to enable enable lag free free commun communica icatio tion n within within the $rm $rm and conver convertt %issan %issan into a global global $rm" $rm" Carlos Carlos Ghosn endorsed &nglish as a common language l anguage even in 'apan Charismatic leader: Carlos Ghosn(s charisma is evident from the fact that he attained a celebrity status in 'apan #e could change the corporate culture in  'apan only because the %issan employees were ready to change themselves ) their way of thinking and working ) under his leadership Chief organiser: Carlos Ghosn took up the leadership of both the $rms ) Renault and %issan ) and still managed to lead them into global leadership positions *oth $rms had di+erent strategies" and he could easily handle both challenging  ,obs Risk-taker: Carlos Ghosn made a lot of changes in the way %issan functioned within 'apan #e even went about changing the ocial language from 'apanese to &nglish .oreover" he led both $rms from being local players to global players  !hese actions portray his risk taking taking ability ability Strategic planner: Carlos Ghosn was instrumental in taking both the $rm global #e invested in technology by doubling the R/0 spending #e was focussed on entering all markets around the globe with a wide range of car models #e even wanted to challenge !ata(s cheapest car !hese attributes show his long term thinking capability

Q2. What is the nature of Nissan’s international stratey? Is the !r" followin a pri"arily lo#al stratey or a "ulti$do"estic stratey? What advantaes does Nissan derive fro" the particular stratey that it pursues? In what ways does Nissan de"onstrate e%ciency& 'e(i#ility and learnin? A2. As per .ichael 1orter" global strategy involves $rms competing in all global markets with homogenous products" whereas in multi-domestic strategy" $rms compete in global markets with di+erent products in di+erent market with products which are designed as per the re2uirements of each individual market *oth the $rms ) Renault and %issan ) had di+erent car models rolling out in di+erent markets across the world And as such" the place of production and cost of production of each model varied a lot So" clearly the $rms were following multi-domestic strategy As a result of this multi-domestic strategy" %issan could compete with lu3ury cars in markets such as 4S and &urope" while competing for cost leadership position in other markets such as China and middle east %issan could demonstrate eciency" 5e3ibility and learning in the following ways A separate management company called Renault-%issan *6 was set up in Amsterdam to o+er a neutral forum for formulation of common strategy for product engineering" model development and computer systems" and leveraged their size to s2ueeze suppliers for lower costs Since the integration of Renault and %issan went about smoothly" the two corporations began sharing manufacturing facilities as a means of sharing technological know-how *oth $rm shared engineering and part purchases" thus allowing them to slash e3pense and time of introducing new models

Q). *escri#e Nissan’s oranisational culture. What are the characteristics of Nissan’s culture? In what ways has Carlos Ghosn contri#uted to Nissan’s culture? +la#orate. A). %issan(s organisational culture transitioned from the typical 'apanese bureaucratic and clubby style to a proactive" inclusive and globally focussed style %issan along with Renault employed technology transfer and engaged with the same suppliers to achieve lower costs of production and superior technological know-how %issan had manufacturing facilities at most of the global markets to cater to all customers worldwide Carlos Ghosn was implemental in bringing about all of these changes to %issan #e forced the $rm to think global and taught the top management to take responsibility for their actions 7n this way" Carlos Ghosn improved the eciency and 5e3ibility of  business and inspired sense of internationalism

Q,. Glo#al !r"s pursue a relatively centrali-ed approach to international operations. What are the characteristics of the trend toward lo#al interation of co"pany operations? ow does Nissan de"onstrate these characteristics? A,. %issan showed worldwide 2ualities through its worldwide building" generation and buying operations %issan" along with Renault" created the world(s global car" called %issan 6ersa in 4S" Renault Clio in &urope" %issan !iida in Asia and Renault 8ogan in the middle east 8astly" %issan had manufacturing facilities in most of the global markets

Q/. +(a"ine Nissan in ter"s of the Interation$0esponsiveness ra"ewor. What are the pressures that Nissan faces for local responsiveness? What are the pressures that Nissan faces for lo#al interation? What advantaes do each of local responsiveness and lo#al interation #rin to Nissan? A/.

Some of the pressures that %issan faced for global responsiveness was the breakthrough in technologies .any buyers looked for new and latest technologies and gas eciencies in their cars %issan could launch their car models sooner than its competitors  !he pressure %issan faced with global integration was achieving the buyers with cars that had eciency and synergy" in order to take ma3imum advantage of  similarities among countries