Kimberley-Clark Andean Region: Creating a Winning Culture
CASE: OB-72 DATE: 3/16/09
KIMBERLY-CLARK ANDEAN REGION: CREATING A WINNING CULTURE
The culture is innocent. It is really difficult when you are a grown-up to be a kid again. —Sandra Benavides, Peru The new generations have different expectations, they have been exposed to new information and trends; they are more inclined to think in terms of people than the generation we grew up in. —Sergio Nacach, Head of Kimberly-Clark, Andean Region Sergio not only has done a terrific job in his own region, he became the evangelist, if you will, the missionary for the remaining countries and sub-regions in Latin American Operations. —Ramiro Garces, Vice President for Human Resources, LAO
In the summer of 2008, Ramiro Garces, vice president of human resources for the Latin American region of Kimberly-Clark, the large consumer products company, was thinking about the many management changes spreading through the company almost like a virus. Less than a decade earlier, Kimberly-Clark had hired an Argentinean, Sergio Nacach, from Unilever. Nacach’s first job had been to run Kimberly-Clark’s operations in the small Central American country of El Salvador. Now, Nacach was running the Andean region for K-C and producing impressive business results. Because of his outstanding results, outgoing personality and willingness to talk to others about what he and his colleagues were doing, his management approach was generating interest throughout the company and particularly influencing its operations in Latin America. Operations in this area already demonstrated an organizational culture and leadership approach that was largely consistent with Nacach’s management style, so he did not have to struggle to implement his ideas. To make this different way of managing sustainable, the company needed to understand the essential elements of the Andean success. There was also the issue, articulated by another Kimberly-Clark executive not working in the Andean region, concerning the extent to
KIMBERLY-CLARK ANDEAN REGION: CREATING A WINNING CULTURE
The culture is innocent. It is really difficult when you are a grown-up to be a kid again. —Sandra Benavides, Peru The new generations have different expectations, they have been exposed to new information and trends; they are more inclined to think in terms of people than the generation we grew up in. —Sergio Nacach, Head of Kimberly-Clark, Andean Region Sergio not only has done a terrific job in his own region, he became the evangelist, if you will, the missionary for the remaining countries and sub-regions in Latin American Operations. —Ramiro Garces, Vice President for Human Resources, LAO
In the summer of 2008, Ramiro Garces, vice president of human resources for the Latin American region of Kimberly-Clark, the large consumer products company, was thinking about the many management changes spreading through the company almost like a virus. Less than a decade earlier, Kimberly-Clark had hired an Argentinean, Sergio Nacach, from Unilever. Nacach’s first job had been to run Kimberly-Clark’s operations in the small Central American country of El Salvador. Now, Nacach was running the Andean region for K-C and producing impressive business results. Because of his outstanding results, outgoing personality and willingness to talk to others about what he and his colleagues were doing, his management approach was generating interest throughout the company and particularly influencing its operations in Latin America. Operations in this area already demonstrated an organizational culture and leadership approach that was largely consistent with Nacach’s management style, so he did not have to struggle to implement his ideas. To make this different way of managing sustainable, the company needed to understand the essential elements of the Andean success. There was also the issue, articulated by another Kimberly-Clark executive not working in the Andean region, concerning the extent to