Levendary Café
TO : L. Leclerc, COO of Levendary Café
FROM : J. Doe Department of Management, International Business Advisors (IBA) Room G-120 Ext. 905-912-1867
DATE: November 21st, 2013
SUBJECT: Reframing Levendary China’s business operations
Problem
Several problems exists surrounding Levendary’s recent market entry into China, mainly revolving around a lack of communication between head office and Howard Leventhal’s hand-picked president of Levendary China, Louis Chen. The company seemed to give Chen a very «hands-off» approach, paying very little attention to his strategy and operations overseas while trying to maintain a level of standardization. Levendary is based on a rather vertically structured organizational chart that has made communications efforts problematic. The fact that the company does not have a separate international division made it crucial for the Denver office to have a close eye on its operations in China and to ensure that Chen was implementing company standards rather than taking many liberties and not developing a strategic plan. Focusing exclusively on financial statements is not sufficient enough when accessing a new market. Chen has seemingly been redefining Levendary’s brand image based on market needs and sensing opportunities. Foster’s absence of previous international management experience can also be added to the problem, especially during a crucial period where the domestic market is being tapped out and the company is looking to expand internationally. Levendary has revealed poor planning and preparation for its international challenges, starting from its selection process of relying on Chen as their solely operator in an extremely complex market to the communication breakdown and a lack of support from head office. This has led to an increase of tension between Chen, Foster, and the company’s headquarters.
Recommendation
The
FROM : J. Doe Department of Management, International Business Advisors (IBA) Room G-120 Ext. 905-912-1867
DATE: November 21st, 2013
SUBJECT: Reframing Levendary China’s business operations
Problem
Several problems exists surrounding Levendary’s recent market entry into China, mainly revolving around a lack of communication between head office and Howard Leventhal’s hand-picked president of Levendary China, Louis Chen. The company seemed to give Chen a very «hands-off» approach, paying very little attention to his strategy and operations overseas while trying to maintain a level of standardization. Levendary is based on a rather vertically structured organizational chart that has made communications efforts problematic. The fact that the company does not have a separate international division made it crucial for the Denver office to have a close eye on its operations in China and to ensure that Chen was implementing company standards rather than taking many liberties and not developing a strategic plan. Focusing exclusively on financial statements is not sufficient enough when accessing a new market. Chen has seemingly been redefining Levendary’s brand image based on market needs and sensing opportunities. Foster’s absence of previous international management experience can also be added to the problem, especially during a crucial period where the domestic market is being tapped out and the company is looking to expand internationally. Levendary has revealed poor planning and preparation for its international challenges, starting from its selection process of relying on Chen as their solely operator in an extremely complex market to the communication breakdown and a lack of support from head office. This has led to an increase of tension between Chen, Foster, and the company’s headquarters.
Recommendation
The