Brl_Hardy

The goal of the management at BRL Hardy was to turn the company into one of the most successful wine companies. To implement that goal, the company began making changes starting with the company’s culture, and management. They felt that for the managers to be successful they would need to be more decentralized but still held accountable for daily operations. The success after the merger was remarkable because BRL Hardy had the tools needed for making wine, increasing cash flow and finally had outstanding leadership. Hardy now had the qualities need to make it successful. With Carson having the background in marketing, brand recognition and the company was now on track to become one of the most successful wine companies. When Christopher Carson was appointed, he wanted to implement changes that would cut costs. He also wanted to start focusing on domestic operations. To do that he need to capture the market around the globe. In order to do that he would need to go through the company’s portfolio and line it up with his strategies. Together these changes would lead to quality branded sales and an increase in profit (Bartlett, 2003). There was an important strategic shift of projecting BRL Hardy not as just a “quality exporter” but as an “international wine company” with worldwide product access backed by the marketing capability and distribution muscle to create global brands (Bartlett, 2003). Today BRL Hardy’s activities follow the pattern of how they initially achieved their success. The company vision remains the same today, “To create wines that would be prized in all markets of the world” (Hardy 1853). Keeping that vision, Carson changed the company changed organizational capabilities in order for BRL Hardy to become a global wine company. He purchased facilities that would benefit their making of fine wines and he began to look into markets to achieve that global presence. Though BRL Hardy has seen many successes it has also seen failures. One of the biggest failures was the launch Mapocho. Carson had expected this wine to do as well. He wanted a fine wine that would be affordable for all, and he was banking on the company name to deliver that wine. Then why did the wine fail' It seems the company did not do the research needed to ensure that this was a good venture for them. Many key factors come into play for the failure. At the time, BRL Hardy could have been rushing into a venture that they were not ready for. No research was done. Carson needed to identify the strengths and the weakness in that market. This could have been completed through a SWOT analysis. The analysis would have given Carson an environmental scan of the area. It would have shown the strengths and the weakness of that area and would have allowed the company to adapt to the culture of the area instead of trying to make the area adapt to them. The SWOT analysis would have given Carson a better idea of what was going to produce from that market. Carson went by figures from other markets instead of analyzing what is normally produced from that area. Carson needed to understand the market in Chili prior to going in there. He did not understand the culture. The Chilean’s had a specific way of making wine, and sending a wine maker in who is not familiar with the Chilean process could have been the reason for the unacceptable wine. Instead of sending a winemaker into the facility, Carson should have hired someone who was familiar with winemaking from Chili. This would have ensured that the wine was make to the Chilean standards and not based on Hardy’s culture. BRL Hardy went in with their company culture expecting it to work in Chili. If he would have taken the necessary steps to analyze prior to going into the merger, the wine and the relationship could have been successful.