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Strategic Management
Competitiveness and Globalisation
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Dallas Hanson
Michael A. Hitt
R. Duane Ireland
Robert E. Hoskisson (ENGAGE
Learning"
Strategic management: competitiveness and
globalisation
4th Asia-Pacifc Edition
Dallas Hanson
Michael A. Hitt
R. Duane Ireland
Robert E. Hoskisson
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Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization
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Hanson ... ret al.].
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CASE 13
Nestle: Sustaining growth in mature markets
Dr Sebastian Raisch, Flora Ferlic*
university of St Gallen
When Peter Brabeck-Letmathe took over as CEO of
Nestle in June 1997, he inherited a company that enjoyed
the leading position in the global food industry. His
predecessor Helmut Maucher, the CEO between 1982
and 1997, had divested the frm's unattractive activities,
while establishing its position in higher-margin segments
such as pet food and water. Maucher had transformed
Nestle from a manufacturer with a strong European base
focused on milk and coffee, into a truly diversifed global
food company During his 16-year reign, sales had more
than doubled, profts had tripled and the total return to
shareholders was an excellent 17 per cent annually.! (See
Appendices 1 and 2.)
Despite Nestle's success, one fundamental challenge
would have to be dealt with in the coming years: revitalising
the group's organic growth in a maturing market. Maucher
had heavily relied on acquisitions to develop Nestle. He
had invested more than CHF33.1 billion in a string of
takeovers, including those of Carnation in 1985, Buitoni
and Rowntree in 1988 and Perrier in 192.2 This expansion
strategy had helped the frm reduce its dependence on
coffee sales, while gaining suffcient scale and market reach
in its new business segments. By 1997, however, the limits
of the external growth strategy had been reached with
Nestle ranked frst in nearly all the product segments in
which it operated.3 Brabeck was well aware of the need for
strategic reorientation:
* This case was written by Dr Sebastian Raisch and Flora Ferlic, university
of St Gallen. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion
rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a
management situation. The case was made possible by the cooperation
of Nestle SA. © 2006, University of st. Gallen. No part of this publication
may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced, or distributed in any
form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright
owner.
All $ amounts are presented in US dollars.
Our frst priority is to achieve real internal growth.
Internal growth reflects the company's performance
and competitiveness better, even more so than
acquiring anocer company's turnover. Acquisitive
growth requires three people: a manager, a lawyer,
and a banker. You need to activate 250000 people for
organic growth - the entire organization. However, it
is a far more sustainable path to growth4
One of Brabeck's frst actions as CEO was to move
Nestle's goal of 4 per cent real internal growth to the top
of the company's strategic agenda.5 Compared to an
average market growth of just 2 per cent in the mature
global food industry, this goat was rather challenging.6
To reach this target , Nestll had to grow at twice its
competitors' rate.
Nestle frst achieved its 4 per cent internal growth
target in 2000 and consistently repeated this performance
in the subsequent years. Since 2000, the company has
signifcantly outperformed the food sector and realised
higher organic growth than any of its major competitors.7
Nestle's success can be related to Brabeck's unique
campaign for proftable growth. In this case study,
we return to the initial situation in 1997 and retrace the
company's development over the following decade. The
objective is to outline Brabeck's most important strategic
and organisational initiatives that enabled the company
to achieve a rate of proftable internal growth that was far
above its competitors.
Nestle in 1997
In 1997, Brabeck took control of one of the oldest and
most truly global companies in the food industry, with
international activities dating back to its beginnings in
1866. Over the previous 130 years, Nestle had acquired
profound knowledge of markets all over the world, and
enjoyed great success in adapting its products to local
tastes. The company operated factories in 77 countries and
sold its products on all six continents. Offering thousands CASE 13 NE STLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKET S
of local products, Nestle is often referred to as a role model
company that thinks globally but acts locally
In 1996, the year before Brabeck took control,
Nestle had generated sales of CHF 60 billion and a
net income of CHF 3. billion.s At the time, its product
portfolio comprised 19 categories from coffee, milk and
confectionary to pet foods, clinical nutrition and mineral
water. The company was either the market leader or held
a strong second position in most of its product segments.
Businesses in which Nestle had failed to reach a dominant
position had largely been divested under Maucher's reign.
Its core food and beverage businesses contributed to more
than 95 per cent of the company's 1996 sales. Its top fve
product categories (coffee, milk products, confectionary
ophthalmics and dehydrated cooking aids) accounted for
60 per cent of group sales and more than 75 per cent of
operating profts.9
Despite Nestle's leading position, Brabeck was faced
with considerable challenges that stood in the way of his
objective of 4 per cent real internal growth. The most
important of these challenges was that the company
generated more than 70 per cent of its sales in mature
markets with a limited potential for organic growth.1O
The leading countries in terms of market size, such as
the United States, Russia, and Japan, were also the ones
yielding the lowest growtyates. Besides the challenging
market conditions, Nestle was increasingly facing ferce
competition as many food-producing rivals had achieved
signifcant improvements in their operating effciency
Although the number of truly global competitors was
limited - the most notable being Kraft, Masterfoods, and
Unilever - Nestle was also facing strong competition at the
national and regional level.
II
The growing competitive pressure was exacerbated
by Nestle's relatively weak proftability whose root causes
could be traced to Nestle's various acquisitions. Although
strategically important, the acquisitions had required
massive investments and their integration had negatively
affected operational effciency The EBIT margin in the
core business was roughly 12 per cent, but the acquired
businesses' margin had sunk to 6 per cent. 12 Furthermore,
Nestle's portfolio included several low-margin product
segments that negatively affected proftability In 1997,
the company ranked eighth among the world's top 12
packaged food companies in terms of returns on capital.
Its net margin was only half that of its major rival
Unilever.13
Earning the right to grow
Brabeck had to identify new growth opportunities to realise
his goal of 4 per cent internal growth. Organic growth in
mature markets could only be reached by strengthening
Nestle's innovative capacity This approach required
signifcant investments in the group's R&D and marketing
capabilities. Because Nestle has always been a model
of rock-solid accounting, Brabeck intended to generate
the massive cash flows required for a large-scale growth
offensive by improving the company's capital effciency
His strategy was to force the businesses to become more
effcient by cutting back on their investment budgets: 'The
investment budget is declining. Our efforts must switch to
maximising existing assets, maximising capacity utilisation
and maximising distribution logistics'.14 Paradoxically the
frst task on the road toward achieving the internal growth
target was thus to strengthen the company's operational
effciency Lars Olofsson, the fonner head of Nestle Europe,
explains: 'The real objective is to generate growth. To reach
this objective, however, costs have to be reduced so that we
can have more resources that can be used to strengthen
the brands, spur innovation and thus allow us to remain
competitive'. 15
Initially Brabeck launched a manufacturing effciency
program called MH97 The objective was to reduce raw
material costs and to optimise production processes.
Between 1997 and 2002, 165 factories were closed, which
generated savings in excess of CHF 4 billion. 16 MH97 was
followed by a program called Target 2004+ that focused on
improving operating performance by creating a regional
manufacturing network. The project relied strongly on
benchmarking and best practice transfer. By refocusing on
a small number of high-performing factories, the program
generated savings of more than CHF 3 billion between
2002 and 2004.17 Target 2004+ was succeeded by a program
called Operation Excellence 2007 that redeploys many of
the prior projects' concepts. This program's key objectives
are to improve supply chain productivity optimise planning,
eliminate overheads, and reduce product complexity
In addition to the manufacturing-related effciency
programs, Nestle initiated the FitNes initiative to drive
effciency in the group's administrative processes. FitNes
was launched in 2002, and it is predicted to incur savings in
excess of CHF 1 billion. IS Wolfgang Reichenberger, former
CFO of Nestle, comments on FitNes: 'It's an area that the
group has not addressed in the past, it's uncharted territory
and it's fascinating'. 19
565 566
CASE 13 NE STLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKE TS
The most important business transformation
initiative in Nestle's 140-year history is, however, the Global
Business Excellence (GLOBE) initiative, launched in 2000.
Although it covers a broad range of strategic objectives, the
program is also designed to improve operational effciency
by integrating the company's businesses on a global scale.
The project's major objectives are to establish best practices
in business processes, to align data standards, and to
install common information systems. Due to Nestle's
highly decentralised structure and its large number of
acquisitions, it runs multiple versions of accounting,
planning, and inventory software. Sharing information
between markets and operating units is thus diffcult. The
project's impacts range from the way raw materials are
bought, to production, marketing, and sales. 'We're now
transitioning to become a genuinely global food company,
to behave as one', says the former CFO Reichenberger. He
describes the program's main benefts as follows: 'When
GLOBE has been introduced in the most relevant markets,
all inter-market systems will communicate much better
with each other than they do now. Through these aligned
systems we should achieve substantial improvements over
the years to come' .20 By the end of 2005, GLOBE had been
rolled out to 30 per cent of the businesses.21 It is projected
that GLOBE will enable total savings of CHF 3 billion.22
Besides these programs directed toward increasing
Nestle's operational performance, Brabeck also worked
on reducing marketing expenditures by better exploiting
the synergies between brands. Brand strategies were
centralised as far as possible to drive synergies and increase
control. The most important strategic initiative was to
allocate as many of the company's 127 000 products as
possible to six strategic brands: Nestle, Buitoni, Maggi,
Nescafe, Nestea and Purina. By 2005, more than 70 per
cent of the company's portfolio belonged to one of these
six brands.23 These strategic brands deliver higher margins,
occupy more shelf space, and help retailers generate top
line growth. Nescafe, for example, has a brand value of
nearly CHF 15 billion, a name recognition of almost 100
per cent in the world's leading markets, and margins of
about 18 per cent.24 The remaining local brands have been
complemented with the Nestle logo, a bird's nest with a
parent bird and two hatchlings, to strengthen product
identity and to communicate product characteristics such
as quality taste, and safety25 (See Appendices 3, 4 and 5.)
The effciency initiatives' combined outcome has been
impressive. Nestle's net margin rose from 5.7 per cent in
1997 to 8.7 per cent in 2005. The various cost initiatives
incurred total savings of CHF 12 billion. Net income soared
from CHF 4 billion in 1997 to CHF 8 billion in 2005, while
the free cash flow nearly doubled.26
The nutrtion and wellness
initiative
Nestle's effciency improvements were the basis for further
strong investments in internal growth. Brabeck's primary
task shifted toward generating new sources of growth for
the company's future expansion. 'It was clear that with
tomato paste, oil and dry pasta, we were not going to create
value in the long term', Brabeck said, referring to the low
growth products that Nestle had largely divested in the past
decade, 'We had to identify areas from which new growth
could come'Y
Early on, Brabeck sensed that the growing demand
for wellness and nutritional products could provide an
excellent opportunity for sustained growth in Nestle's
mature markets. 'Brabeck was on a nutrition kick long
before it was fashionable', says John McMillan, analyst at
Prudential.Z8 One of Brabeck's frst offcial acts as CEO was
the creation of a dedicated unit engaged in nutrition related
to performance, infants and diet. The rationale behind the
new unit was to develop an innovative product segment
with a strong potential for future growth and considerably
higher margins than traditional products in the food
industry. Building on this frst initiative, Brabeck announced
his vision of transforming Nestle from a food company into
a food, nutrition, health and wellness company in 2000.
An entire package of measures, which included strategic
initiatives and organisational changes, was implemented to
integrate nutritional thinking into the group as a whole.
In pursuit of a strong internal growth potential, Brabeck
aimed at two main strategic goals. The frst objective was
to develop nutrition and wellness as a value-added feature
in the mainstream food and beverage business. The second
objective was to reinforce the company's leading position
regarding specialised nutritional products. The creation
of two dedicated business units, the Corporate Wellness
Unit and the Nestle Nutrition Unit, reflected these twin
objectives.
The creation of the Corporate Wellness Unit was
directed at fulflling the frst strategic objective, namely CASE 13 NE STLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MARKE TS
spreading Nestle's nutrition and wellness orientation
throughout the group and across all product categories.
Matt Hall, head of the strategic unit 'Generating Demand',
describes the strategy: 'Nestle remains within its traditional
products and categories, but starts leveraging these products.
We increase their value by adding health and nutritional
elements'.29 Aspects of health, wellness and nutrition
are incorporated into a vast array of product categories,
ranging from ice cream, frozen foods and confectionaries
to pet food. The elements added to the existing products
promote digestive health, improve the immune system and
skin's defences, positively affect weight management as
well as physical and mental performance, and contribute
to healthy aging. To date, Nestle has modifed more than
700 products by adding nutritional functionalities.30 An
example of such a nutritional value added is Prebio, a
supplement that promotes intestinal health and is added
to infant nutritional products. Other examples are Calci-N,
which promotes bone health, and ActiCol, which lowers
plasma cholesterol. The company refers to these add-ins as
'branded active benefts' (BABs). The frst products enriched
with BABs were introduced as long ago as 1998.
The Nestle Nutrition unit is focused on the core
nutrition business. The Nutrition unit provides products for
those consumers whose primary purchasing motivation is
the products' nutritional vaL e, while taste is simply a value
added. The product portfo io encompasses infant formulas,
hospital nutrition, baby cereals and sports nutrition. These
products operate in a medical environment and require
strong scientifc support and long-term research and
development. Nestle devotes about one-ffth of its overall
R&D budget to nutrition research. Three-quarters of the
current projects at the central Nestle Research Centre
(NRC) in Lausanne focus on health and well-being.3l
Besides these two dedicated units, Nestle established
a number of ventures for growth into new areas related to
wellness and nutrition. In cooperation with L'Oreal, one
of the world's largest beauty and cosmetics companies,
Nestle moved into the area of nutricosmetics. Under the
brand name Inneov a joint venture by Nestle and L'Oreal,
a range of products has been developed that combines
Nestle's knowledge of nutrition with L'Oreal's expertise in
beauty products. The products are aimed at improving the
quality of skin, hair and nails by supplying nutrients that
are essential to their care. Inneov quickly gained a leading
position in this high-growth segment. By 2005, Inneov had
already achieved an 11 per cent market share in Europe.32
Nestle's nutrition business contributed signifcantly
to the company's success. Sales generated by products with
added nutritional benefts grew from CHF 200 million in
1998 to CHF 3 billion in 2005. Furthermore, these products'
proft margins are twice as high as those of traditional food
products, and thus contribute strongly to Nestle's margin
improvements.33
Strengthening innovation
Nestle is considered the innovation leader in the global
food and nutrition sector. The driving force behind
the innovation is the company's extensive research and
development (R&D) network. More than 3500 scientists
work on improving existing products and creating
tomorrow's nourishments.34 Strengthening the company's
R&D success was a key objective in Brabeck's quest for
internal growth. Three strategic measures contributed to
this objective.
First, Brabeck set the company's R&D activities a
challenging target: one-ffth of the entire product portfolio
has to be innovated or renovated every year. Innovation
refers to moving the group into promising new product
segments, whereas renovation relates to improvements
to existing products, such as changes in the packaging,
shape, taste, or quality. The distinction is an important
one for Nestle, as explained by Herbert Oberhaensli, Head
of Economics and International Relations, 'You always
need to renovate your existing offer in order to keep the
products alive. However, renovation and innovation do not
contradict each other. Improving our products is a process
of many small steps and a few big leaps. We have to do
both if we want to be successful'.35 Especially in mature
markets where Nestle generates the bulk of its sales, the
continuous upgrading of existing products is an important
source of internal growth. As Brabeck puts it, 'There are no
'mature markets', only mature managers'.36 Two-thirds of
the company's R&D activities are dedicated to renovating
existing products, while the remaining third is reserved for
more radical product innovations.37 (See Appendix 6.)
Second, a strong budgetary increase as well as
improvement in its operating effciency enabled the
R&D to achieve these challenging targets. Nestle's R&D
expenditures nearly doubled, increasing from CHF 770
million in 1997 to CHF 1.5 billion in 2005.3 8 At the same
time, the R&D effciency increased through improvements
567 )68
CASE 13 NESTLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
on the operational leve!. Rupert Gasser, who was in charge
of Nestle's R&D activities when Brabeck took over, said, 'We
eliminated a number of R&D units that were dealing with
issues with resources that were below a critical minimum
required to do an effcient job. We then redeployed their
resources to established centres that had all the technical
and scientifc know-how needed to support the renovation
and innovation process in a given business area' 39
Third, a number of organisational changes were made
to improve the R&D's connection with the markets in which
Nestle operates. The most relevant of these organisational
measures were the creation of Product Technology Centres,
Local Application Centres and Clusters.
The Product Technology Centres' (PTC) objective
is to transform research concepts provided by Nestle's
fundamental research centres into consumer products.
These centres are closely linked to the company's
strategic business units and are located in key consumer
markets. The PTCs allow ground-breaking innovations
to be transformed into marketable products more swiftly
Currently there are nine PTCs located in France, Germany
Great Britain, Switzerland and the United States.40
Local Application Centres work inside the most
relevant regional markets and are concerned with adapting
global products to local tastes and requirements. Local
tastes in respect of culinary products, such as prepared
dishes, cereals, or confectionary vary widely For a global
company like Nestle, market success depends heavily on
the ability to adapt its products to local needs. Apart from
adaptations in taste, colour and shape, the form and/or
packaging of products are also frequently changed. There
are, for example, more than 100 local variations of Nescafe
offered around the world. As Jean-Daniel Luthi, senior vice
president and group controller, explains, 'You have to know
the consumer in different places of the world; you need the
capabilities to make your products in one place and sell
them many thousands of kilometres away'. 41
Clusters are cross-divisional project structures designed
to improve the communication and knowledge sharing
between the R&D and the rest of the company. Clusters
unite researchers with the heads of business and regional
units that face similar market environments. The objective
is to jointly launch R&D initiatives with respect to new
product development. Cooperation in clusters results in
synergies, shared investments, and faster product roll
outs. Products developed witl1in these clusters are either
implemented as global solutions, or as 'cluster solutions' in
the participating regions. If necessary the company's local
application centres adapt the provided solutions to the
specifc market requirements.42
Nestle's seven strategic business units are the driving
forces behind the clusters and, more generally behind
product development and consumer-oriented renovation
and innovation. Contrary to geographical zones that are
operationally responsible for their businesses, and have
clearly set annual proft targets, strategic business units
are free from such short-term targets and thus free to
fully concentrate on sustainable long-term development.
They develop global business strategies for their respective
categories in which they describe how the product
segments should evolve over the next three to fve years,
what innovations are required and how much of the
portfolio should be renovated. In close cooperation with
the markets and R&D, the strategic business units lead
Nestle's innovation process and ensure cooperation and
communication between the company's disparate units.43
External growth as a platform
for organic growth
Despite his dedication to internal growth, Brabeck did not
entirely turn away from acquisitions, but used external
growth as a means to spur and enable Nestle's internal
growth. Luis Cantarell, executive vice president of Nestle
Europe, clarifes: 'You cannot establish a company on
external growth; however, you can use external growth to
support internal growth'.44 Similarly , Brabeck understands
acquisitions as frst and foremost a platform for further
organic growth: 'The emphasis is clearly on organic
growth, with acquisitions being used to accelerate it'45
One motivation behind Brabeck's acquisitions
was to gain a critical mass in terms of market share in
businesses in which scale is vital for success. As in many
other industries, size provides considerable economies of
scale in the food industry Brabeck had always asserted
that he wanted Nestle to be the market leader, or at least
hold a strong second position in all product categories.
Although the company had indeed reached a critical mass
with the majority of its businesses, some segments still had
a poor geographical reach. Consequently , the acquisition
of Dreyer's, for example, helped Nestle to become market
leader in the U.S. ice cream business.46 The Ralston Purina CASE 13 NESTLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
acquisition in 2002 made the company the global leader
in pet care. Most recently the acquisition of Jenny Craig, a
weight management company reinforced Nestle Nutrition's
presence in the United States, the world's largest nutrition
and weight management market.47
Besides the objective of reaching a critical mass in
terms of market share, Brabeck used external growth to
gain expert knowledge for further expansion into new
product segments. Nestle introduced two venture funds to
gain access to new expertise, thus giving the research and
development additional impetus. The company founded
the Life Ventures fund (capitalised with CHF 235 million)
in 2002, and the Nestle Growth Fund (of CHF 790 million)
in 2005. Both funds use acquisitions, as well as minority
investments, licensing and joint ventures to give Nestle
access to new technology and knowhow. They both invest
on a global scale and focus on long-term capital growth.48
The rationale behind the creation of the Life Ventures
fund was to accelerate Nestle's innovation process. By
investing in start-ups in the area of nutrition and food
science, Nestle gains access to leading-edge know-how
and may incorporate these ideas into its own R&D
network. In 2003, for example, the fund invested in eight
businesses in the felds of naturally derived bioactives,
phytonutraceuticals and health care nutrition.49
The Nestle Growth F hd invests in companies on the
verge of entering the market with their products. 'This fund
will contribute signifcantly to fostering and accelerating
the group's expansion into health, wellness and nutrition, as
it will be investing in companies with products or processes
in the fnal testing stage or about to enter the market. The
idea is to accelerate Nestle's strategic repositioning as a
health, nutrition and wellness company', said Francois
Xavier Perroud, a group spokesperson. 50 The idea is to grow
these companies until they are large enough to integrate
their products into Nestle's mainstream business.
It should be noted that Nestle is one of the most
successful companies regarding the effective integration of
acquisitions. Its secret recipe is its patience. There are, for
instance, no rules whatsoever limiting the amount of time
invested in integrating an acquired company This slowness
provides ample time to identify synergies and select the
most appropriate integration approach. Additionally great
importance is accorded to retaining as many of the acquired
company's employees as possible. Besides patience and
the willingness to accept the acquired company's distinct
culture, Nestle's readiness to promote managers from
the acquired company to its head offce is regarded as a
main success factor.51 The CEO of Rowntree, a company
that Nestle bought in 1988, was, for example, appointed
to its head offce and became the general manager of its
chocolate and confectio nary business. As Tom Coley head
of Nestle's dairy SBU, puts it: 'You obtain additional sales
and, what is a lot more important, you obtain additional
competencies if you acquire a business'. 52
Besides acquisitions, divestitures played an important
role in aligning the group's product portfolio to the
objective of sustainable organic growth. Between 1997
and 2005, Brabeck divested numerous activities that
either yielded low margins, or offered only limited growth
opportunities. The divestitures were related to canned
foods, cheese and meat and parts of the frozen food and
the confectionary businesses. In addition, Brabeck moved
Nestle from commodity food processes, such as raw
material conversion, toward the consumer and added
value areas of the food industry's value chain by divesting
manufacturing assets and processes. The proceeds of these
divestures were reinvested in acquisitions and product
development in areas promising higher growth and
returns. 53 (See Appendices 7 and 8.)
Nestle today
Currently Nestle commands a product portfolio comprising
food for every eating occasion, for every age and for every
evolutionary stage within a country In 2005, the group
posted sales of CHF 91 billion and record profts of CHF
8 billion. 54 Under Brabeck's tenure, the 140-year-old food
giant has been revitalised and well-prepared for future
challenges. Brabeck will hand over the company's reins
in 2008. His successor faces the task of maintaining the
successful company's momentum. Further efforts will be
required to boost the health and nutrition sales in the face
of tough competition. Relentless renovation and innovation
are essential to retaining and improving the frm's position.
(See Appendix 9.) In the words of Luis Cantarell, executive
vice president of Nestle Europe,
I think that the main challenge is a question of
ambition. It is about people not accepting that our job
is done. I think it is also a question of mind-set. We
need to make sure that Nestle's people are thinking
about how we could be delivering better grow tll ,
because growth is the basis of everything we do.55
569 70
ESTLE: SUSTAIN ING GROWTH
IN
�
,�. more detailed information about Nestle's development under
its former CEO Helmut Maucher, please refer to E. Ashcroft and
R. A. Goldberg, 1996, Nestle and the TWenty-First Century, Harvard
Business School cases.
2 W. Hall, 1997, 'Maucher steps aside at Nestle', Financial Times,
May 7.
3 G. von Pilar, 1996, 'Nestle erwartet Nachfragebelebung'. Lebensmittel
Zeitung, November 22.
4 Personal interview with Peter Brabeck (November 19, 2004; vevey,
switzerland). For related quotes, please also see Brabeck's interview
with S. Wetlaufer, 2001, The business case against revolution, Harvard
Business Review 79: 112-119.
5 Real internal growth equals sales growth less impact from acquisitions,
divestitures, price changes, and foreign currency exchange rates.
At Nestle, real internal growth of 4% equals an organic growth of
roughly 6%.
6 For more details about the food industry'S specific characteristics,
please refer to M. O'Bornick, 2004, The top 10 global leaders in food,
Business Insights ltd.
7 Transcript of a presentation on Strategic Demand Generation held by
Ed Marra at the Nestle Investor Seminar 2005.
8 Nestle Annual Report, 1996.
9 K. Mahon and A. Smith, 1998, NestJ Schroders Broker Report.
10 E. Ashcroft and R. A. Goldberg, 1996; op. cit.
11 M. O'Bornick, 2004; op. cit.
12 K. Mahon and A. Smith, 1998; op. cit.
13 Data taken from the Thomson One Banker database.
14 K. Mahon and A. Smith, 1998; op. cit.
15 G. von pilar, 2004, 'Effizienz ist Treibstoff fOr Dynamik'. Lebensmittel
Zeitung, October 29.
16 N. A., 2004, Nestle's future, The Economist, August 7.
17 http://www.ir.nestle.com.
18 Ibid.
19 B. McLannahan, 2003, Nestle's crunCh, CFOEurope.com, February.
20 B. McLannahan, 2003; op. cit.
21 W Ackerman, A. Smith, S. Peterson, and J. Stent, 2006, Nestle SA,
Citigroup Broker Report.
22 N. A., 2002, 'Financing the future at Nestle', corporate Finance,
November 1.
23 Personal interview with Matt Hall (September 21, 2005; vevey,
Switzerland).
24 R. A. Goldberg and H. F. Hogan, 2002, Nestle SA, Harvard Business
School Cases.
25 Personal interview with luis Cantarell (January 16, 2006; vevey,
Switzerland).
26 We calculated these figures based on data published in Nestle's
annual reports.
MATURE MA RKETS
27 D. Ball, 2004, 'With food sales flat, Nestle stakes future on healthier
fare', Wall Street Joumal, March 18.
28 J. Caplan, 2005, 'Nutritious Nestle', Time Magazine, April 11.
29 personal interview with Matt Hall (September 21, 2005; Vevey,
Switzerland) .
30 M. Kowalsky and E. Nolmans, 2005, Peter Brabeck: Der prophet des
Wachstums, Bilanz, March.
31 D. Ball, 2004; op. cit.
32 Nestle Annual Report, 2005.
33 W. Ackerman et ai, 2006; op. cit.
34 N. A., 2002, 'Forschung ist die Grundlage des Erfolges', Die Presse,
May 13.
35 personal interview with Herbert Oberhaensli (October 12, 2005; Vevey,
Switzerland).
36 personal interview with Peter Brabeck (November 19, 2004; Vevey,
Switzerland).
37 Personal interview with Matt Hall (September 21, 2005; Vevey,
Switzerland).
38 Data taken from the Thomson One Banker database.
39 R. A. Goldberg and H. F. Hogan, 2002; op. cit.
40 personal interview with Herbert Oberhaensli (September 12, 2006;
Vevey, Switzerland).
41 Personal interview with Jean-Daniel luthi (September 21,2005; Vevey,
Switzerland).
42 Personal interview with Tom Coley (October 17, 2005; Vevey,
Switzerland) .
43 Personal interview with Tom Coley (October 17, 2005; Vevey,
switzerland) .
44 Personal interview with lUis Cantarell (January 16, 2006; vevey,
switzerland).
45 M. Gelnar, 2006, 'Nestle will continue to look for acqUisitions', Dow
Jones Interational News, April 6.
46 N. A., 2003, Nestle: 'Beh5rde gegen Fusion mit Dreyer's', Lebensmittel
Zeitung, Marz 5.
47 Datamonitor Company Profiles, 2004, Nestle S.A. - SWOT Analysis,
Datamonitor PlC.
48 Nestle Annual Reports (2003; 2005).
49 Personal interview with luis Cantarell (January 16, 2006; Vevey,
Switzerland).
50 T. wright, 2005, 'Nestle surprises with new finance chief and a fund',
Intemational Herald Tribune, September 27.
51 A. J. Parsons, 1996, Nestle: The visions of local managers, MCKinsey
Quarterly, February.
52 Personal interview with Tom Coley (October 17, 2005; vevey,
switzerland).
53 R. A. Goldberg and H. F. Hogan, 2002; op. cit.
54 Nestle Annual Report, 2005.
55 Personal interview with Luis Cantarell (January 16, 2006; vevey,
Switzerland). CASE 13 NESTLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
A P PEN 0 I X 1 Nestle's sales and net income development
Total Sales 1997-2005 (in CHF millions)
95,000,
90,000 f------------:----�£ . '
85,000f---------- t� ---------_
80,000 1-------
�< ------------_
L 75,000 I-� ---- �- ----------------
70,000 f+=-------------------
65,000 f
60, 000 �:- ::��_:__:: __ __: _==
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Net Income 1997-2005 (in CHF millions)
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
�OOO
3,000
2,000
� /
/ �
L
�
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Source: Worldscope.
Source: worldscope.
571 '
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APPENDIX 2 Nestle financial informat ion, 1997-205
m
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Sales 69998 71747 74660 81422 84698 89160 87979 86769 91075 3.34%
(
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Tot al operat ing Expenses 62758 64423 66344 71924 75622 80530 79108 78082 79706 3.03%
-
>
Cost s of Goods Sold 33127 33354 33223 35205 35025 35790 34920 33362 35218 0.77%
z
z
Research and
il
777 807 893 1038 1162 1208 1205 1413 1499 8.56%
G
Development Expenses G
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EB IT 7245 7787 8331 9701 9647 10778 9214 8769 11055 5.42%
:
-
Net Income
II
4005 4291 4724 5763 6681 7564 6213 6717 7995 9.03%
I
z
Total Asset s 53727 54401 56646 62955 91868 85833 88163 85648 101700 8.30%
S
>
Current Asset s 25586 26562 27080 30662 39008 35342 36233 35285 41765 6.32% -
c
Total Liabilit ies 28396 30805 31568 32442 57639 50201 50340 45372 50265 7.40%
:
m
Current Liabilities 20985 22591 22182 23174 41492 33 737 30365 29117 35818 6.91%
S
>
:
Cash Flow 6999 7201 7797 9093 9906 11733 10447 11100 10723 5.48%
;
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-
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II
16.41% 18.64% 19.32% 19.27% 19.85% 21.72% 16.85% 17.13% 16.04%
(
ROA 9.89% 10.03% 10.47% 11.76% 11.97% 9.25% 8.16% 8.43% 10.24%
Number of Personnel 225808 231881 230929 224541 229765 254199 253000 247000 250000 1.28%
Source: Worldscope. CASE 13 NESTLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
A P PEN D I X 3 Nestle's sales per reg ion and product segment, 2005
Nestle Sales per Region, 2005
13%
Nestle Sales per Prduc segment, 2005
12%
/
6%
1%
3% 3%
31%
o Europe
• USA and Canada
o Asia
o Latin America
and Caribbean
• Africa
o Oceania
• Beverag es
• Milk Products, Nutrition,
and Ice Cream
o Prepared Dish es and
cooking Aids
o Ch ocolate, Confectionary,
and Biscuit s
• Pet Care
o Pharmaceutical and
Cosmetic Joint Ventures
o Oth ers
A P PEN D I X 4 Nestle EBITA marg ins per reg ion and product segment, 2005
Nestle EBITA Margin per Region, 2005
18%
16%
14%
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Europe
EBIT A Margins 2005
Americas ASia, Oceania,
and Africa
Source: Worldscope.
Source: worldscope.
source: Worldscope.
573 :74
CASE 13 NE STLE: SUSTA ININ G GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
Nestle EBTIA Margin per Product segment, 2005
EBITA Margins 2005
35% ,
30% r
25% r
20% r
15%
10%
5%
0%
A P PEN D I X 5 Nest le's corporat e sig n and the six st rateg ic brands
I :/./�� : . : : ---
..
--....
. \ .
: � �
• I
.
.
Nesle ,/
""
.. '
Source: Worldscope. C
.
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A P PE N D I X 6 Nestle's worldw ide research and development netw ork
Solon (R&D) -
Marysville (R&D) -
ONRC
• PTCs(8)
R&D Centres (9)
Amiens (R&D)
York (PTe)
Vittel (PTe)
Tours (R&D)
� , . �
Konolfing en (PTe)
Orbe (PTe)
�''
Sing apore (R&D)
� . Sh ang hai (R&D)
.
Lausanne (Nestle Research Center)
1
Parma (R&D)
' Casa Buitoni (R&D)
Source: www.ir.nestle.com/News_Events/Presentations/Group_presentations/Group_General/.
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CASE 13 NESTLE: SUSTAINING GROWTH IN MATURE MA RKETS
A P PEN D I X 7 Total Shareholder Return (T SR) development in healt h, wellness and food & beverag es market s, 1995-2005
10-year (T SR) 08/95 = 100
700 .
600 �
500 �
400 �
300�---------��r�=��--- ���----��
100���= --------------------�
OL_ �L _ � __ � __ � __ � __ _ __ _ __ _ __ � _ �
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
-Healt h -Wellness - Food & Beverages I
2004 2005
Source: www.ir.nestle.com/News_Events/Presentations/Group_presentations/Group_General/.
A P PEN D I X 8 Total shareh older return of Nestle and it s main compet it ors
Food 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 Years
Hersh ey 1% 73% 88% 306%
Nest le 35 44 15 267
Danone 32 46 20 248
Procter & Gamble 7 43 64 235
Unilever 22 10 0 190
Cadbury Sch w eppes 16 56 37 177
General Mills 2 13 26 127
Heinz -11 13 -6 57 Campbell 2 36 -2
31
Coca Cola 3 -2 -27 26
Kraft -19 -22 N/A N/A
Source: www.ir.nestle.com/News_Events/Presentations/Group_Presentations/Group_General/. U
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A P PEN D I X 9 Timeline of Nestle's ma j or strategic and org anisat i onal chang es on th e road to sustain ing gr owt h in mature mar k ets
Announcement Brabeck beats
of 4% RIG targ et of 4% RIG
targ et
Launch of first Launch of GLOBE Foundation of
manufacturing in i tiative Life Ventures
efficiency Fund
pr og ram MH97
Creation of a Introduction of first Announcement of Launch of Foundation of
ded icated unit products enriched transforming Nest l e efficiency Nestle Nutrition
eng ag ed in with BABs into a food , prog rams and the
performance, nutr ition , health , Targ et 2004+ Corporate
infant, and and well ness and Fit Nes Wellness Unit
cl inical company
nutrition
•
1997 1998 2000 2002 2004
Cr eat i on of
clusters to spur
innovation
Foundation of
Nestl e Grow th
Fund
2005
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