Alcan Case Study Essay
For the exclusive use of L. Wang
HEC020
Volume 7
Issue 2
May 2009
Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business
Context: The Alcan1 Case – Part A2, 3
Case prepared by Professors Line DUBÉ,4 Carmen BERNIER5 and Vital ROY6, 7
Montreal, March 2006. Robert Ouellette, an IT consultant and engineer by training in his early forties, has just accepted the position of Vice-President8 of Corporate Information Technologies
(IT) at Alcan. His first mandate is to prepare a full report on IT management methods at Alcan.
The IT governance model has not been reviewed in several years, despite Alcan’s many acquisitions and diversified worldwide activities.
Alcan: A Truly Global Enterprise
Alcan,9 whose head office is in Montreal …show more content…
Alcoa thus relinquished its title of ownership to Aluminum Limited, which became the parent company of Alcan, the name it had taken in 1944.
The years that followed saw strong growth in Alcan’s processing capacity as the company pursued aggressive expansion in many countries, including Australia, Britain, Brazil and India.
During this period, Alcan targeted vertical integration by investing in bauxite mines and alumina plants in Africa, Brazil and Australia. During the 1980s, Alcan merged with British Aluminium and made a series of acquisitions, including the Alusuisse Group Ltd., and created Alcan Taihan
Aluminum Limited in Korea to serve the vigorously expanding Asian market. In 1987, Alcan merged with its parent company and chief operating unit Aluminium Limited to become Alcan
Inc.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s had a disastrous effect on the global aluminium market. To compensate for a perilous financial position, the annual production of the
HEC020
Volume 7
Issue 2
May 2009
Taking on the Challenge of IT Management in a Global Business
Context: The Alcan1 Case – Part A2, 3
Case prepared by Professors Line DUBÉ,4 Carmen BERNIER5 and Vital ROY6, 7
Montreal, March 2006. Robert Ouellette, an IT consultant and engineer by training in his early forties, has just accepted the position of Vice-President8 of Corporate Information Technologies
(IT) at Alcan. His first mandate is to prepare a full report on IT management methods at Alcan.
The IT governance model has not been reviewed in several years, despite Alcan’s many acquisitions and diversified worldwide activities.
Alcan: A Truly Global Enterprise
Alcan,9 whose head office is in Montreal …show more content…
Alcoa thus relinquished its title of ownership to Aluminum Limited, which became the parent company of Alcan, the name it had taken in 1944.
The years that followed saw strong growth in Alcan’s processing capacity as the company pursued aggressive expansion in many countries, including Australia, Britain, Brazil and India.
During this period, Alcan targeted vertical integration by investing in bauxite mines and alumina plants in Africa, Brazil and Australia. During the 1980s, Alcan merged with British Aluminium and made a series of acquisitions, including the Alusuisse Group Ltd., and created Alcan Taihan
Aluminum Limited in Korea to serve the vigorously expanding Asian market. In 1987, Alcan merged with its parent company and chief operating unit Aluminium Limited to become Alcan
Inc.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s had a disastrous effect on the global aluminium market. To compensate for a perilous financial position, the annual production of the