Kaper Machinenbau and Tian Fu Tools: Take-over with Chinese Characteristics (B)
Code
CC-311-015
Date
2011
Industry
Industrial Products, Tools & Machinery
Length
5P
Author(s)
Nandani Lynton
Language
English
Company
Kaper Machinenbau
Source
CEIBS
Discipline
Strategy & General Management
Key Words
Emerging Multinationals, Chinese Management, German Management, Sino-European M&A, Cross-Border Business, Machine Building Industry
Description
Zhang Jian is speechless. Looking out his office window at the Tianjin traffic, he tries to understand why the Germans are reacting to his phone call in this untypically extreme and emotional way.
Trained as an engineer, Zhang Jian has spent the last 19 years at Tian Fu Tools (TFT), a Tianjin-based medium-sized state owned enterprise producing industrial machine tools, mills and lathes and employing 5,300 people. In the late ‘90’s, General Manager Cao began paying attention to Zhang, who had risen to head the operations by then. Cao began to include Zhang in discussions about business decisions, and then arranged for him to take an MBA at nearby Nankai University. Though he had learned much from his years in the industry, discussions with his fellow students from other sectors and even two ministries had sharpened Zhang’s strategic thinking. Soon after completing his degree, Zhang was promoted to Deputy General Manager, and in 2005, Cao asked him to manage the acquisition of Kaper Machine Tools (Kaper) in Stuttgart.
Case Sample
