BRL Hardy Management Case Study

Introduction

The wine industry is highly competitive, therefore, Berri Renmano Limited (BRL) aimed at globalizing its brand through a merger with Thomas Hardy and Sons, together the two firms formed BRL Hardy limited Pritchett 2011 P. 102). From one perspective, BRL was ranked second in Great Britain and sought to expand its presence globally. Moreover, the firm had access to combined cooperatives that were specialized in bulk, fortified and value wines. On the other hand, Thomas Hardy and Sons had established its name by producing award-winning quality wines (Pritchett 2011, p. 29). These attributes made the post-merger operations of BRL Hardy successful. Nevertheless, although the firm's goal of globalization was realistic, the management will be required to address various issues and make crucial decisions. The primary subjects that the marketing director and the other key stakeholders will be expected to address are the issue of cultural conflict and secondly, the labelling, positioning, and branding of the products after the merger.

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Analysis of Problems Facing BRL Hardy

Cultural Conflict

After the post-merger acquisition, there are various cultural disputes and power autonomy that is present between BRL and Hardy in the working structure. A majority of senior positions in the firm were left to BRL executives thus most of Hardy employees felt dispirited and left out. Moreover, while BRL adopted an aggressive and commercial organizational culture, Hardy was more polite and traditional. From one perspective, Davies wanted issues such as pricing, branding, and labelling to be conducted by the Australian home management, while Carson was of the opinion that positioning and labelling should be performed according to the primal regulators that exist in the local market.

Branding, Labelling, and Positioning

It is vital to note that the various brands of wine marketed by these firms were introduced with different marketing strategies. As a result, the management identified issues relating to Hardy's Nottage Hill and Stamps brands of wine in the United Kingdom market share.

Solutions to the Problems and Recommendations

To promote marketing of brands that are performing poorly, BRL Hardy should relabel, reposition, and relaunch the brand to attain an effective and more prominent position in the market (Harvey, White, & Frost 2014, p. 23). Moreover, the firm should focus its sales on branded wine bottles thus allowing it to increase the sales volume and reposition itself from a quality wine exporter to a global wine company (Harvey, White, & Frost 2014, p. 23). Moreover, there were disagreements between the founders of the two firm on the issue of centralization or decentralization of the firm. On the other hand, to resolve cultural conflict, BRL Hardy should equally share the senior positions and adopt a forum through which all the company executives can channel their views and ideas (Moodian 2009 p. 94). Secondly, they should hold numerous meeting with all the employees and encourage interaction between the employees from various backgrounds.

Desired State

By resolving the issue of cultural conflict, BRL Hardy will be able to promote efficiency and flow of information across all levels of management in the firm. Moreover, resolving cultural strife will elevate the employees' motivation thus allowing the firm to increase its productivity and sales volume. Secondly, relaunching of poorly performing wine brands will promote the company's sales volume by increasing the market presence. Moreover, branding will play a vital role in promoting the sales of other wine brands that are sold by the firm. Additionally, labelling of the products will play a crucial role in communicating the value of the products to the consumer

Reference List

Harvey, M., White, L., & Frost, W. (2014). Wine and Identity: Branding, Heritage, Terroir. Hoboken, Taylor and Francis. http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=1596890.

Moodian, M. A. (2009). Contemporary leadership and intercultural competence: exploring the cross-cultural dynamics within organizations. Los Angeles, SAGE.

Pritchett, P. (2011). Making mergers work: a guide to managing mergers and acquisitions. Homewood, Ill, Dow Jones-Irwin.