Lindsey Hook Capstone Thesis The American University of Rome 11 May 2017
Table of Contents I. Current Situation 1 Danone’s History 1 The Evolution of Strategy 1 Danone’s Performance Today 2 Strategic Posture 3 II. Corporate Governance 5 Board of Directors (Featuring Top Six) 5 Top Management 6 III. External Environments: Opportunities and Threats 7 Political-Legal 7 Economic 8 Sociocultural 10 Technology 10 Task Environment: Focused on the Fresh Dairy Industry in the USA 11 IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses 13 Corporate Structure 13 Corporate Culture 14 Corporate Resources 15 Research and Development (R&D) 20 Operations and Logistics 22 Human Resources Management (HRM) 23 Summary of Internal Factors 24 V. Analysis of Strategic Factors 24 Situational Analysis 24 Review of Mission and Objectives 25 VI. Strategic Alternatives & Recommended Strategy 26 Strategic Alternatives 26 Recommended Strategies 27 VII. Implementation 30 VIII. Evaluation & Control 31 IX. Conclusion 32 Appendices 33 Annotated Bibliography 36 Acknowledgements 42
I. Curent Situation
Danone’s History
From the beginning, Danone has followed their mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible. This all started in Barcelona, Spain in 1919, when Balkan native
Isaac Carasso noted that many Spanish children were suffering from severe intestinal problems. He introduced a product from the Balkans called yogurt, a food produced by the bacterial fermentation of milk with many benefits to the digestive system (Danone). In 1929, the product was introduced in France with the name ‘Danone’, the nickname of Isaac’s son,
Daniel. Daniel then established the company as ‘Dannon’ in the United States while fleeing persecution during World War II.
The beginning of the company’s major strategic acquisitions began in 1979, with assorted food firms such as La Pie qui Chante, Galbani, and Volvic (Danone). In the early
1990s, Danone made international growth a major priority by penetrating new markets in locations such as China and Eastern Europe by acquiring well known brands in their respective countries such as China’s ‘Amoy’, a producer of soy sauces and frozen foods
(Danone).
The Evolution of Strategy
Initially, Danone was involved in several industries such as beer, frozen food and biscuits. In
2000, in order to realign the company with its healthy nutrition mission, they sold off their brand, Kronenbourg, France’s most popular beer (Capron, 172). From then until 2007, they sold all of their brands such as biscuits, meat and cheese which did not contribute to their company identity as nutrition providers (Capron, 172). Finally, in 2012 they introduced the
Danone company manifesto to strengthen their global economic and social impact in order to bring health through food to everyone (Danone).