Hitachi must decide whether to make a British executive, who has successfully built its European rail business from scratch, head of its global rail division even though the bulk of revenues for the unit still come from Japan. The case describes, the history of Hitachi Rail as the provider of trains for the Japanese Shinkansen, its struggles to build a European business with expatriates before the success of an outside hire, Alistair Dormer, in winning major contracts in the UK. By 2014, Hitachi is wondering whether to make Dormer CEO of the global rail business in order to further globalise the unit. Will an outsider and a foreigner be the correct choice for a Japanese company? How can the values of the Japanese company be preserved as it globalises? what changes are necessary to further globalise the business?
Keywords: Global Strategy; Leadership; Values and Beliefs; Human Resources; Organizational Structure; Rail Industry; Japan;
Citation:
Collis, David J., Akiko Kanno, and Nobuo Sato. "Hitachi Rail Limited (A)." Harvard Business School Case 721-364, September 2020. View Details