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CHAPTER 3 • Integrative Managerial Issues 105
Lehman bankers also said they found the process for management needs to be global.” Two years later, however,
getting approval on deals was “slower and more difficult than unable to garner support from Tokyo for an overhaul of
it was at Lehman.” Also, at Lehman, clients were categorized, the global wholesale-banking operations, Bhattal resigned as
in large part, by the fees they paid. At Nomura, more emphasis Nomura’s highest-ranking foreign executive.
was placed on other factors, such as the length of the relation-
ship. The bankers at Nomura said that “their new colleagues Discussion Questions
were too willing to dump loyal clients for a quick profit.”
In its defense, Nomura has tried to blend the two cultures. 3-14 What obvious cultural differences between Nomura and
In offices in Europe and in Asia outside of Japan, there’s a mix Lehman do you see in this situation?
of nationalities. Also, the company has promoted a handful of 3-15 What global attitude do you think characterizes Nomura? Be
non-Japanese employees to high-ranking positions. “To reduce specific in your description. Do you see any evidence of that
the Tokyo-centric nature of the company, Hiromi Yamaji, changing?
head of global investment banking, moved to London, and 3-16 Do some cultural research on Japan and the United States.
Naoki Matsuba, global head of equities, moved to New York.” Compare those cultural characteristics. What similarities and
differences exist? How might these cultural differences be
Until March 2010, Nomura’s executive committee was all affecting the situation at Nomura?
Japanese men. However, in an attempt to make the company 3-17 What could Nomura managers do to support, promote, and
more globally oriented, an ex-Lehman executive and foreigner, encourage cultural awareness among employees? Explain.
Jasjit “Jesse” Bhattal, a native of India, was promoted to the 3-18 What do you think the statement, “When your business is
committee. Nomura’s deputy president and chief operating global, management needs to be global,” is saying? In your
officer, Takumi Shibata, said, “When your business is global, opinion, is Nomura doing this? Explain.

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CAse ApplICATION 2

Serious about Sustainability?

t’s got to be one of the most convenient products ever— Keurig brewer on every counter and a beverage for every oc-
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especially for consumers who want their coffee (or tea or casion.” And the company is taking another step toward that
Iother hot beverage) efficiently delivered without much goal of a beverage for every occasion through its partnership
®
hassle. The Keurig K-Cups were invented in 1992 by John with Coca-Cola Company. It will begin selling, at the end of
Sylvan. Like any innovator, Sylvan was looking for a better 2015, a machine called “Keurig Cold,” which will be used
way. For him, it was finding a better way to provide his 30–40 to dispense Coke’s various brands. The Dr Pepper Snapple
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daily cups of coffee in a way that was customizable and easy. group also recently signed on to allow its flavor options for
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The single-serve brewing pod he created became the Keurig the new machine. Although the Keurig machine is popular
K-Cup. Interesting note: Keurig translates to “neat” in Dutch, and a convenience, it also has a more troubling characteristic:
and the Keurig machine and its ubiquitous K-Cup are quite the constant need to buy more K-Cups. They’re designed as
neat. The single-brew machine is a very efficient and conve- single-serve, and with 9.8 billion of them sold in 2014, that’s
nient alternative to the traditional coffee pot or to stopping and a lot of K-Cups hitting landfills, because they are not recy-
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picking up drive-through coffee every morning. However, clable. Those 9.8 billion K-Cups would circle the globe more
what Sylvan didn’t anticipate was (1) the overwhelming popu- than 12 times. 69
larity of the approach and (2) the amount of waste the single- Environmentalists have criticized the company for its slow
serve pods would create because of that popularity. response to creating and selling a recyclable version of the pod.
Today, almost one in three homes has a pod-based cof- And it’s not that it can’t be done. For instance, when the K-Cup
fee machine. And the sales of those pods accounted for a design patent expired in 2012, other companies brought out sin-
vast majority of the revenues of the company that makes gle-serve cups that are completely biodegradable and recycla-
them—Keurig Green Mountain. The company’s mission is “A ble. To further highlight the sustainability issue, an anonymous