Zugleich: Diss. Wirtschaftswiss. St. Gallen, 2002. / Literaturverz.

The case describes the audacious acquisition of an American icon, IBM, by a Chinese computer manufacturer, Lenovo. The time frame spans from the pre-merger time until a few months after the IBM deal. In 2005, when Lenovo was the ninth largest PC maker in the world, it acquired IBM's PC business to become a global player in the PC industry. The case offers background information on the development of Lenovo, describes the Chinese company's approach to establish itself in the global market, and contrasts the pre-merger cultures of Lenovo and IBM. A chronological depiction of how this deal came about highlights potential synergies but draws attention to various socio-cultural integration challenges to come. Will a company that grew in a communist system, is partly state-owned, and until the merger sold exclusively in China succeed in the leap to managing a global US-centric business? / Series: WU Case Series

This case completes the trilogy and attempts to answer the open questions raised in the A and B Cases. It offers a retrospective of the events since the IBM-Lenovo merger in 2005 until August 2012. The main focus is on the period between the global financial crisis and mid-2012. The case describes the frequent changes at the top management level and highlights the leadership issues involved in making Lenovo a global leader in the PC industry. An industry and market overview reveals that while Lenovo was attempting to deal with internal issues during the post-merger integration phase it lost market share to competitors. A series of strategic changes, organizational restructurings, and changes in organizational culture paved the way for a new era in Lenovo's history, marked by strong financial performance, product innovation, and promising growth. / Series: WU Case Series

The case describes the audacious acquisition of an American icon, IBM, by a Chinese computer manufacturer, Lenovo. The time frame spans from the pre-merger time until a few months after the IBM deal. In 2005, when Lenovo was the ninth largest PC maker in the world, it acquired IBM's PC business to become a global player in the PC industry. The case offers background information on the development of Lenovo, describes the Chinese company's approach to establish itself in the global market, and contrasts the pre-merger cultures of Lenovo and IBM. A chronological depiction of how this deal came about highlights potential synergies but draws attention to various socio-cultural integration challenges to come. Will a company that grew in a communist system, is partly state-owned, and until the merger sold exclusively in China succeed in the leap to managing a global US-centric business? / Series: WU Case Series

The case describes the audacious acquisition of an American icon, IBM, by a Chinese computer manufacturer, Lenovo. The time frame spans from the pre-merger time until a few months after the IBM deal. In 2005, when Lenovo was the ninth largest PC maker in the world, it acquired IBM's PC business to become a global player in the PC industry. The case offers background information on the development of Lenovo, describes the Chinese company's approach to establish itself in the global market, and contrasts the pre-merger cultures of Lenovo and IBM. A chronological depiction of how this deal came about highlights potential synergies but draws attention to various socio-cultural integration challenges to come. Will a company that grew in a communist system, is partly state-owned, and until the merger sold exclusively in China succeed in the leap to managing a global US-centric business? / Series: WU Case Series

This case describes how Nike, a consumer goods company with an ever expanding portfolio and a tremendous brand value, manages the tradeoff between local responsiveness and global integration. In particular, the case highlights Nike's organizational structure that consists of a global matrix organization that is replicated at a regional level for the European market. While this organizational structure allows Nike to respond to local consumer tastes it also ensures that the company benefits from integration advantages such as global marketing and sourcing. Supported by rich quotes from Nike managers on various organizational levels, this case draws a colorful picture of all the challenges involved that come with matrix and regional structures. Will Nike be able to better exploit its competitive advantage by introducing more regional structures in the future? What is the logic behind the Nike's regional structure? / Series: WU Case Series

The focus of this case lies in the post-merger integration issues that Lenovo had to master in order to extract full value as well as synergies from its acquisition. The time span analyzed is from the merger until approximately one year after. The case describes the "Best of Both Worlds" integration approach adopted by Lenovo and the top management team's attempts to set aside egos and learn from each other, as well as to make decisions that are in the best interest of the new company, e.g., the decision to move the corporate headquarters to the US and to use English as the working language. The case illustrates the significant cultural differences separating the two companies and draws attention to the first major difficulties starting only eight month after the merger when the new CEO, Steve Ward, was replaced by Bill Amelio, an ex-Dell executive. This raised questions as to whether Lenovo was able to build a diverse top management team that could successfully run a global business. / Series: WU Case Series

St. Gallen, University, Diss., 2006.

Zugl.: Darmstadt, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009

Zugl.: München, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2009