Schindler India Case Analysis
Executive Summary According to the case Silvio Napoli at Schindler India (A) by Fagan, Yoshino, Bartlett (2006), the world elevator leader Schindler was searching for ways to enter the India market in the year of 1998. Silvio Napoli, who was a young Harvard educated Italian and had been working with Schindler since 1994, was appointed by the Verwaltungsrat Ausschuss (VRA) to establish the India operations as a Vice President.
In Schindler, Napoli was well known for his ‘Swatch Project’ which was “to develop a standardized elevator at a dramatically lower cost than the existing broad line of more customized products” (Fagan et al., 2006, p. 3). With the ‘Swatch Project’, Schindler was able to increase its profitability by reducing production cycle time. However, regarding the India operation, Napoli encountered a number of issues that may stop the growth plan in India if not handled correctly. The issues will be further addressed in this report.
On the other hand, since Napoli developed the business plan for India operations, he was under the pressures of leading the India operations and meeting the critical planned break-even objectives as a vice president. This report discusses how well Napoli was conducting the basic tasks of management in an international setting and examines the position of the company in terms of how it defines its international management strategy. Further, this report evaluates how well the company matched its chosen strategy and how well Napoli performed as a general manager.
The India Elevator Market The India elevator market evolved from the economic liberalization in the early 1990s which had increased the demand for elevators in India. According figure.1, we can see that roughly 50% of demand was for low-tech manual elevators while low, mid, and high rise segments accounted for another half market demand with 35%, 50%, and 14% respectively. Fagan et al. (2006) had also pointed out that “the middle segment of low- and
In Schindler, Napoli was well known for his ‘Swatch Project’ which was “to develop a standardized elevator at a dramatically lower cost than the existing broad line of more customized products” (Fagan et al., 2006, p. 3). With the ‘Swatch Project’, Schindler was able to increase its profitability by reducing production cycle time. However, regarding the India operation, Napoli encountered a number of issues that may stop the growth plan in India if not handled correctly. The issues will be further addressed in this report.
On the other hand, since Napoli developed the business plan for India operations, he was under the pressures of leading the India operations and meeting the critical planned break-even objectives as a vice president. This report discusses how well Napoli was conducting the basic tasks of management in an international setting and examines the position of the company in terms of how it defines its international management strategy. Further, this report evaluates how well the company matched its chosen strategy and how well Napoli performed as a general manager.
The India Elevator Market The India elevator market evolved from the economic liberalization in the early 1990s which had increased the demand for elevators in India. According figure.1, we can see that roughly 50% of demand was for low-tech manual elevators while low, mid, and high rise segments accounted for another half market demand with 35%, 50%, and 14% respectively. Fagan et al. (2006) had also pointed out that “the middle segment of low- and