Developing a model for business restructuring in the international automobile industry, Lessons from Nissan’s experience

Authors

Duru, Charles Henri

Issue Date

2007

Degree

MSc in International Business

Publisher

Dublin Business School

Rights

Items in Esource are protected by copyright. Previously published items are made available in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/copyright holder.

Abstract

Since the end of the Second World War, the car industry has been booming. The automobile sector is a very important part of the world economy, a change in the automobile market share on the world stock market could have huge implications in the world economy. The topic is based on the Work of a Franco-Japanese team of 17 members, sent by Renault to help Nissan at refunding their debt and initiate a restructuring of management. The propositions from Carlos Ghosn, the leader of the team, were drastic, especially for the Japanese market. The team decides to reduce the numbers of suppliers by 50% and terminate around 20,000 employees. Critics deemed the task impossible however the team managed to reduce the deficit of Nissan, restructure the Japanese company, and re-launch the enterprise into the world market. The success factor of the implementation of the Nissan Revival Plan resides in the use of Cross-Functional Teams. The analysis of the reorganisation of Nissan, coupled with a review of the literature about change management and strategic change management, permit the elaboration of a theoretical model of reorganisational task groups (RTGs) adaptable to any industry in the world.