Case DK Mobile

DK Mobile is a leading mobile phone brand in India that is the top-selling Indian
brand. Recently, DK Mobile, in a move to expand its market reach and as a fi rst
step towards reaching a much larger international market, acquired Kuwu Mobile
Company in Japan. The company was down under and had not tapped into the smart-
phone market as fast as its competitors and was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy.
So, when DK Mobiles came in for the merger, it was a boon to Kuwu. The Co-
founder and COO of DK Mobile, Dheeraj Balsaria, was to head Kuwu in Japan. DK
Mobiles unanimously decided to retain the brand name Kuwu as it was well trusted
in Japan and China. The merger was a huge success and Dheeraj was excited to begin
working on the revitalization of Kuwu. To that effect, he called for a meeting of the
top management of Kuwu. The meeting place was to take place at an upscale café in
Tokyo. Dheeraj reached the café fi ve minutes past the agreed upon time to fi nd that
everyone was already seated and waiting for him. He apologized for his tardiness
and took his seat. Himura Miramoto, the Managing Director, and Kusenagi Aika,
the CMO set about briefing Dheeraj about their current position. After hearing the
entire report, Dheeraj shared his vision for the company with the top management.
He wanted to implement the kind of work-place ethics that DK Mobile was famous
for. However, Miramoto explained that the labor union wouldn’t be comfortable
with most of the proposed changes and suggested they keep the working hours and
other conditions same as before the merger. Dheeraj wasn’t really sold on that and
believed that the culture of Kuwu had to change in order for them to be successful.
He felt that the current culture in the company was too strict and curbed creativity.
He also wanted to bring in more Indians to fill top managerial positions in the
company. The meeting concluded with much to think about for Dheeraj.
Over the next four months, he planned on making some huge changes in the
company. As he began unrolling his plan and implementing the steps that he believed
needed to be implemented, workers started raising concerns. They were not
comfortable with being managed by Indians and with the kind of culture Dheeraj
was trying to implement. However, despite Miramoto and Aika’s advice, Dheeraj
believed that the workers would eventually come to accept the changes. Two months
into his plan, the worker’s union had had enough of it and declared a company-wide
strike, bringing production to a screeching halt at all three of their manufacturing
plants. They demanded a meeting with Dheeraj and the rest of the top management.
Dheeraj was aghast at this development; he believed that what he was doing was
cutting-edge and saving their jobs, but the workers saw it as ostracizing and
alienating them. In order to speed up the negotiations, both parties agreed to have a
collective bargaining scenario and take up further discussions. Dheeraj sat in front
of his laptop, with the meeting looming ahead of him the next day. He had to figure
out where he had gone wrong and he phoned Miramoto and Aika to join him, he’d
need all the support he could get.