United Cereal Case
1
1
Introductory reflection
The United Cereal Eurobrand case, set within the European organization of the giant multinational breakfast foods company United Cereal, portrays the background of a launch decision for a new cereal product, the ‘Healthy Berry Crunch’.
As the case evolves, the decision has major strategic and organizational implications for Lora Brill, European Vice President. The case focuses especially on two central decisions confronting her: Should ‘Healthy Berry Crunch’ become the company's first Eurobrand and be introduced in a coordinated manner Europewide? And, from an organizational perspective, should she create Eurobrand teams to implement her proposed Eurobrand concept or are there other more effective as well as efficient organizational designs for a target-oriented marketing management? The main objectives of this analysis are on the one hand to review the process of balancing the efficiency of a European cross-border integration in developing a global product strategy. At the same time the responsiveness required by national differences has to be considered. Furthermore, the organizational implications of the Eurobrand strategic choices, including the implications for the assignment of roles and responsibilities to the national and international managers will be explored. Based on all those regarded subjects, a set of decision recommendations for the launch and the brand issue of UC will be developed. Another important point is to examine the behavioral as well as strategic issues involved in such a multinational new product launch, above all due to the fact that various country preferences have to be taken into account. Especially, the important role of country-level operations in developing and diffusing international innovations has to be included.
Based on a reflection of all mentioned points, decision recommendations for an optimal strategy, regarding those two central problems, will be made. This
1
Introductory reflection
The United Cereal Eurobrand case, set within the European organization of the giant multinational breakfast foods company United Cereal, portrays the background of a launch decision for a new cereal product, the ‘Healthy Berry Crunch’.
As the case evolves, the decision has major strategic and organizational implications for Lora Brill, European Vice President. The case focuses especially on two central decisions confronting her: Should ‘Healthy Berry Crunch’ become the company's first Eurobrand and be introduced in a coordinated manner Europewide? And, from an organizational perspective, should she create Eurobrand teams to implement her proposed Eurobrand concept or are there other more effective as well as efficient organizational designs for a target-oriented marketing management? The main objectives of this analysis are on the one hand to review the process of balancing the efficiency of a European cross-border integration in developing a global product strategy. At the same time the responsiveness required by national differences has to be considered. Furthermore, the organizational implications of the Eurobrand strategic choices, including the implications for the assignment of roles and responsibilities to the national and international managers will be explored. Based on all those regarded subjects, a set of decision recommendations for the launch and the brand issue of UC will be developed. Another important point is to examine the behavioral as well as strategic issues involved in such a multinational new product launch, above all due to the fact that various country preferences have to be taken into account. Especially, the important role of country-level operations in developing and diffusing international innovations has to be included.
Based on a reflection of all mentioned points, decision recommendations for an optimal strategy, regarding those two central problems, will be made. This