Sealed Air

SEALED AIR - QUESTIONS

1. Why does Mr. Hickey want to establish a "seamless corporate culture" at Sealed Air?

* Grow the company without becoming centralized and bureaucratic (plan to expand from 25 countries to 50 in the next 10 years)

* Create a company that manages itself

* A company with a strong and healthy culture could perform well with fewer staff, less structure, and less overhead than a company with a weak culture

* "Divisionalization" replaced the geographic structure. Country managers used to report to the head of international business, now divisionalization has focused the company around products, rather than countries. The heads of all divisions are in the United States.

* A seamless corporate culture would be the key to globalization

* Previous CEO (Dermot Dunphy) felt strongly that the non-quantifiable attitudes and habits that guided employees' behavior had a profound influence on the organization.

* The culture contributed to a sense of ownership, entrepreneurship, and accountability among employees that required less "formal rules".

* Build a culture in which trust, cooperation, and mutual respect were commonplace.

* They had NO HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT! Felt that selecting and developing people was a core management function.

* Did not want to add management layers and build organizational bureaucracy.

2. How would you describe the "Sealed Air Way"?

* There is no such thing as a commodity, only "packaging solutions"

* Focus on people, both inside and outside the organization,...leading to good business results and an environment in which people are treated with respect and dignity

* Empower people to do what is right for the company

* Trust amongst individuals

* The strong culture permeates the organization, carrying through with customers, suppliers, and competitors.

* Had no HR Department because selecting and developing people was every managers responsibility

* Do not tolerate bureaucracy (try to minimize organizational layers)

* Maintain high ethical standards of business (both internally and with competitors)

* Must always strive to satisfy the needs of customers

3. After reading "Case B", how would you characterize the culture at these 7 different venues? Do you think it is possible to establish a single culture at Sealed Air? If yes, how? If your answer is negative, what are the implications for Mr. Hickey's vision of a single culture for the firm?

* As you move further east, the culture becomes more difficult to maintain relative to the western culture at Sealed Air

* There is not a seamless culture at this point

* Some aspects of the American culture fit well in other countries, others do not.

o Must overcome other countries perception of what an "American" is like (aggressive, demanding, impatient, arrogant)

o Flat organizational structure went over well in Europe...takes more time