Question

Scenario abstracted from the case of the Problems at Perrier: Nestle took over Perrier in 1992 seeing Perrier as an attractive target. However, it did not enjoy much success the company is hoping for. Nestle has been struggling in turning Perrier around. As stated, the Perrier recorded a very low pre-tax profit margin in 2003 and recorded a loss in 2004. Nestle attempted to turn Perrier around but faces strong resistance from the workers. Now Perrier intends to cut 15% of the workers to turn Perrier around but faces strong resistance from its Union, CGT. To move forward with its plan, Nestle needs the support of CGT.

Answer the following question:    1. Identify TWO (2) strongest reasons that explain why the Union is not motivated to       change.    2. Based on the reasons identified in question 1, propose with justification TWO (2) most       suitable interventions Nestle should take to gain the Union's support.    3. Explain with example TWO (2) evaluation Nestle should conduct to measure the       effectiveness of your stated intervention. (the CGT, a union that is viewed by the management as consistently resisting Nestlé’s attempts to improve Perrier’s financial performance.)(Jean-Paul Franc, head of the CGT at Perrier, sees the situation differently. In regard to the company’s plan to cut 15 percent of its workforce he protests, “Nestle can’t do whatever it likes.” He says, “There are men and women who work here… Morally speaking the water and the gas stored below this ground belong to the whole region.”)

Answer 1

1. There are two strongest reasons why the Union is not motivated for change:

1. There was a communication gap between the company's management and employees about the Downing efforts. This may be because the management did not effectively inform the decision or the employees were not ready to emerge.
2. The acquisition problem was another problem, it seems, did not go down well with employees, instead of policies being implemented by management, people were opposing Nestlé company.

2. The most suitable interventions Nestle should take to gain the Union's support are:

1. The management team must engage in making the right policies by identifying how individual departments and groups will experience changes. Ultimately, the team must identify a particular approach that can be used to make the entire process successful. Anticipated changes can easily create problems and confrontations between employees and management. Therefore, it is mandatory to identify some approaches to manage resistance. Employee participation is one of the approaches that has been effective in addressing issues of resistance to change.
2. The change process should be explained by management to Perrier employees so that they can adopt this process. In this way, their fears, and anxieties are reduced, and they no longer feel threatened by imminent changes. The second approach emphasizes educating teachers about the relevance of anticipatory changes.

3.   The evaluation Nestle should conduct to measure the effectiveness of your stated intervention:

1. Nestlé can continuously check on employees' activities and communicate them effectively to motivate them for these changes.
2. Nestlé's management should adopt an open communication strategy in which employees can be free to request any information from management and management can easily fulfill their request.