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ALICE IN WONDERLAND

• SUMMARY:
• Alice in Wonderland showed how the new Managing
Director of LVV transformed a trucking company from a
"fossilized" and "arthritic" minor subsidiary of a Dutch
shipping group into a revitalized organization. The case
looks at how her own leadership characteristics, as well
as Dutch leadership styles, contributed to the
development of an authentizotic culture of trust,
affiliation, and meaning for employees, and how the
financial situation of the company was turned around as
a result.
Historical Developments:

LVV formed in 1796 by BL and ML van Vaest


C ore biz: tt of gds, parcels and of people (NB. Even be4
the intro of public rail tt)
Opened first offices the Netherlands: but all of its
activities were not moved there until the ww 1 yrs.
Note the change in core biz: collection and distribution to
customers of gds and parcels shipped by rail to central
depots.
LVV taken over by Dutch National Railways in 1928
Note the acquisition by Neerlandia. Which comp has
been acquired here?
Neerlandia:

 At the time active shipping comp in marine container


shipping industry.
 Formed in 1970s thru large scale merger in the Ducth
shipping industry
 Operated under the name royal Neerlandia from 1977
developing into an all purpose tt comp
 Note the visionary eye for future borderless Europe (in 1993),
the opportunities and the need to have a stronghold in land tt
in Europe combined other European countries.
 The opportunity: provision of door to door services to clients.

 Note also the vision at the time: to become a tt comp with a


one-stop shop service to its customers.
With this ambition it do not be surprised why Neerlandia
was interested in LVV. Note LVV was bought together
with DNR. NB LVVs strength in the land-based
Note also that Neerlandia acquired other land tt comp in
addition to LVV/DNR
 
But what happened????????
Neerlandia struggled to manage its diverse interest and
made profit out of them
Reasons:
Had limited expertise in land based-distr.
Hence its primary focus of sea shipping was affected
. These manifested in:
Losses from 1986-1996 in its land operations; and
reached BEP in 1996
Neerlandia lines was in difficulty was also in
difficulty due to overcapacity of sea container
shipping.
The increasing problems led to JV with NORSUN
Container Shipping in 1997
Note the ff
JV saved Neerlandia $200m due to econ of scale
JV led to ww reduction of offices and employees
New mgt team formed for land biz. (NB change in
strategy; let us discuss this and how it will impact
on structure).
Recorded T/O of 3.5 billion guilders.
Record first profit yet to be realized
Important to note when Emma was appointed and
the contrasting roles played by her 2 predecessors.
Role the immediate predecessor:

MD was never seen at shop floor


Individualistic, self-centered and had no regard for
mgt team
Had no people skills
Set wrong path/strategic decisions
Focus on volume and growth that never were
General lack of job satisfaction; staff were under
pressure
Lacked trust for employees, MD and mgt team
Faded revenue increase
Power struggle
LVV had operational problems
Marketing challenges
Pricing and customer service challenges
And such was the situation as met by Emma
Spot light on Emma

Born in 1959 to a small Dutch family where she grew


up.
Important to note her upbringing and how she was
trained to be independent, assertive people minded,
no regard for argument etc – the very attributes that
shaped her lifer later.
Was in Seattle for an exchange prog at 18
Worked at shipyard (had dif outlook for life)
Did maritime tech std at tech Univ. of Delft ( one of
female stds. And had an engineering comp??)
Was in Indonesia half way thru her stds. for a yr
working for the govt of Indo.
Tested the 2 extremes of live: developed sense of
curiosity and flexibility
Approached Neerlandia after graduation for mgt
traineeship (note her insistence on what she
wanted)
Started as Mgt Tr in 1986 (same year Neerlandia
acquired LVV)
Moved up the corp ladder to become Trades Mgr.
Neerlandia lines, Hong kong in 1989
Commercial Mgr Neerlandia Lines, Singapore in
1990
Gen. Mgr Logistics Plg. (Containers) in Rotterdam
btn 1992 -1995
Finally MD LVV
 
 
The snake Pit/Myths broken by Emma
Land tt new to Emma; had no idea how the biz was
run and did not have any history with LVV
Highly political organization; no cooperation
Too young and woman; male dominated industry
Employees mostly drivers who had been together for
many years
Issue of change not flexible
Huge comm. Gap btn H/O and R/Qs
Employees and mgrs run things their own way with
little direction
Unprofitable org

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