- SweDigi Case Study
SweDigi is a manufacturing company in the south of Sweden. Previously owner-managed it was sold
to a group that consists of seven similar companies four years ago. Today the company has 543
employees. The present CEO (also the previous owner) who has been with the company for 15 years
is due to retire within the next few months.
The company operates as a sub-contractor to the digital music industry and has shown decreasing
sales figures over the last three years. Turnover 3 years ago decreased by 13% vs previous year, 2
years ago by 16% and last year by 17%, with the forecast for the current year alarming. Twenty
employees have been made redundant and the forecast indicates that further staff reductions may be
needed.
The board of SweDigi and the board of the parent company have had lengthy discussions about the
future of the company. The parent company believes that the latest developments (the downturn) are
due to poor management, but also that new products are needed to turn the company around. They
have appointed a new CEO, Jan, an entrepreneur who started his own company 10 years ago,
manufacturing digital equipment for the car industry. Jan is an engineer, in his 40s and recently sold
his company with a fairly healthy profit, despite a declining market. During a previous recession he
also managed to adjust production to avoid redundancies being made. Jan is very enthusiastic about
taking up the role of CEO at SweDigi.
Jan’s Mission
To turn the company around within 12 months, by finding new niches for the present product range,
but primarily by introducing a new product – a high tech simulation game for use in training in the
media industry.
The management team has assumed that the new product can be produced in the existing production
plant, with only minor changes to production equipment needed. Jan is unsure that this will prove to
be the case, but is keen to avoid too much disruption, due to the turbulence that has existed over the
past few years.
During the first quarter of production of the new product Jan encounters a number of problems. It is
harder than the management team expected to customise the new product in the production plant,
and sales are not taking off as forecast. While the sales agents around the world are trained in the
new product they seem to be having problems accessing important prospective clients. The
management team has different opinions on how to progress development and quality assurance
processes are also taking too long. Added to this, the marketing manager has quit and the production
manager is threatening to resign and go with him, to a multinational in the same city. He accuses Jan
of not working with his management team or listening.
Jan starts to realise that the people within the organisation are not “with him”, that they mistrust the
whole project and are stuck in old habits, failing to fully appreciate the risks they face and the
increase in competition within their industry. The risk of ending up with a loss by the end of the period
Jan has been given by the board is obvious.
Write a report explaining why Jan may be encountering
the difficulties he is facing and to make recommendations
as to how he should proceed, in order to implement this
change successfully.
Your report should address the following:
1. The people management issues that potentially
underpin the difficulties Jan is facing (30 marks) – 900
words.
2. The steps that Jan should take in the short and medium
term, to get the launch of the new product back on track
(40 marks) – 1200 words.
3. The leadership style(s) that Jan should adopt in this
process, including the reasons why (20 marks) – 600
words.
4. Any decisions or support that might be needed at board
level to help improve this situation (10 marks) - 300 words.
Your answer should be written as a report, with headings
and sub-headings.
You should draw on and reference theories of leadership
and change management*
