Chapter 12: Intervening in a Multinational Company

The purpose of this chapter is to present a case of introducing the SEAM methodology (Savall, 1974, 1975, 1987, 2003a; Savall & Bonnet, 1988; Savall & Zardet, 1987, 1995, 2005; Savall, Zardet, & Bonnet, 2000) into a large subsidiary of a U.S. multinational company (MNC). The subsidiary, which was part of the MNC since the early 1960s, operated in the French biscuit and pastry market, where it served retail channels under national brands. It employed 2,600 employees in five bakeries. Over the years, the company experienced a series of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and was faced with a broad array of dysfunctions, an issue that has been widely discussed in the M&A literature (e.g., Birkinshaw, Bresman & Håkansson, 2000; Buono, 1997, 2005; Buono & Bowditch, 1989; Marks, 1997; Mirvis & Marks, 1992).