Case Analysis: Managing Pibrex Russia (A) New crisis, old grievances
27 September 2014
An analysis of the case: Managing Pibrex Russia (A) New crisis, old grievances
Background
Pibrex, a European leader in the production and development of polymers, faces the loss of its three Russian subsidiaries. This threat stems from issues encountered after entering the region in 1992 and then being hit with the Russian financial crisis of August 1998. As result, a steering committee comprised of three senior managers from Pibrex Region Europe North (PREN) exercised many anti-crisis initiatives including assigning newly appointed financial controller Elena Michailova with the task of auditing all three Pibrex Russian subsidiaries.
Upon completion of Michailova’s audit, she has discovered that it is the combination of remaining issues from the reduction period and the Russian financial crisis that threaten the existence of Pibrex’s existence in Russia. The steering committee’s ultimate goal is to resolve these issues to ensure survival of the Russian subsidiaries and breaking financially even in the near future.
Issues
Short term
1. Lack of an integrated operating system and task redundancy across departments
2. Large differences in wages between managers, sales, marketing, and production workers
3. Very little communication between management and subordinates
4. Poor working conditions
Long term
1. In the plant there is a lack of order and financial control
2. Contention between staff and management
3. Bad management and employee relations
4. Outdated facilities
Analysis
Let us use the five why’s method of analysis to find the root cause:
1. Why is Pibrex in danger of losing its Russian subsidiaries?
Pibrex is in danger of losing its Russian subsidiaries because of unresolved issues lingering after the reduction period and the Russian financial crisis.
2. Why were these issues left unresolved?
The issues were never resolved by previous management.
3. Why were these issues never resolved by previous management?
An analysis of the case: Managing Pibrex Russia (A) New crisis, old grievances
Background
Pibrex, a European leader in the production and development of polymers, faces the loss of its three Russian subsidiaries. This threat stems from issues encountered after entering the region in 1992 and then being hit with the Russian financial crisis of August 1998. As result, a steering committee comprised of three senior managers from Pibrex Region Europe North (PREN) exercised many anti-crisis initiatives including assigning newly appointed financial controller Elena Michailova with the task of auditing all three Pibrex Russian subsidiaries.
Upon completion of Michailova’s audit, she has discovered that it is the combination of remaining issues from the reduction period and the Russian financial crisis that threaten the existence of Pibrex’s existence in Russia. The steering committee’s ultimate goal is to resolve these issues to ensure survival of the Russian subsidiaries and breaking financially even in the near future.
Issues
Short term
1. Lack of an integrated operating system and task redundancy across departments
2. Large differences in wages between managers, sales, marketing, and production workers
3. Very little communication between management and subordinates
4. Poor working conditions
Long term
1. In the plant there is a lack of order and financial control
2. Contention between staff and management
3. Bad management and employee relations
4. Outdated facilities
Analysis
Let us use the five why’s method of analysis to find the root cause:
1. Why is Pibrex in danger of losing its Russian subsidiaries?
Pibrex is in danger of losing its Russian subsidiaries because of unresolved issues lingering after the reduction period and the Russian financial crisis.
2. Why were these issues left unresolved?
The issues were never resolved by previous management.
3. Why were these issues never resolved by previous management?