Go Global Case Study

Go Global was a tour operator founded by Dirk Schuyster and a couple of partners in the early

$1990$s$.$ All three of them had learnt their trade with one of the UK$$s premier tour firms, but

they believed they could prosper rather more if they took their business and customer

knowledge with them and set up on their own. They had identified a valid point of difference.

By advertising in the regional press, collecting their passengers from locations close to their

homes and using regional embarkation points they could offer a more customer$-$friendly service

than larger, traditional operators.

Their business aimed to be low cost and was targeted at customers who were retired or on lower

incomes $$ customers who may not have travelled frequently, did not have high service

expectations and who wanted someone else to do the planning and organisation for them. $$Your

holiday begins from the moment you board our coach$,$ claimed the Go Global brochures.

Destinations included proven favourites such as the Dutch bulb fields, the Channel Islands, the

Italian lakes and German Christmas markets. Tours were of short duration with accommodation

in low$-$cost$,$ family$-$run hotels. Schuyster and his partners set up business in rented premises in

Epping, recruiting local Essex staff.

Go Global$$s business model proved successful. There was a real excitement, commitment and

sense of teamwork as the business grew, new tour destinations were added and customer

numbers steadily increased. Schuyster, in particular, took a very close interest in all aspects of

the company$$s operations, including the tour details, the choice of regional titles in which they

advertised and the brochure copy.

But as the business grew, things started to change. In a boardroom coup Schuyster insisted that

his partners resign. Their settlement cost the business $3$ million. He then extended the

business$$s operations into additional market sectors such as ocean cruises, flights and longhaul destinations where established competitors were very strong. The business flourished and

Schuyster relocated into large new premises near Chelmsford that he had bought at a cost of

$8$ million. To manage the increasing scale and complexity of his business he recruited senior

managers from other tour operators, at least two of which had collapsed. The fact that they

were associated with failed operations did not concern Schuyster: they would be grateful to be

employed by him and could be relied upon to comply with his wishes.

In the office, staff felt increasingly apprehensive about Schuyster and his personal style. A

large, burly individual, he was frightening when angered and micro$-$managed the business

obsessively. He could be abusive towards staff, manhandled and made lewd comments about

female employees who were too frightened to complain and coerced them into falsifying

records. He talked about them as $$people I pay$$ rather than team members whose services and

skills he needed to purchase. His style was to control through fear and intimidation. A

compensation of $45,000$ had to be paid to a director to dissuade her from prosecuting him for

sexist abuse. Yet the personal favourites he had recruited were spared such conduct and at the

annual staff parties, it was Schuyster who led the horseplay and merry$-$making.

Schuyster$$s aggressive behaviour also extended to customers and competitors. On one occasion

he strode from his personalised BMW on to a quayside and harangued a group of complaining

passengers who had suffered an ocean cruise in appalling weather, accusing them of plotting

against him. He described his customers as $$horrid little people$$ and happily admitted he would

never stay at the types of hotel into which they were booked, let alone go on one of his own

holidays. Complaints were contemptuously dismissed with the comment $$there are plenty more

little punters where they came from$.$ When competitors went out of business$$ he rubbed his

hands with glee and telephoned his suppliers to ensure they knew.

Thus, as Go Global was prospering and was winning accolades for its growth, including being

featured as a Local Business of the Year, the methods its belligerent and increasingly

dysfunctional owner was employing were starting to put the company at risk. The travel

industry is incestuous and prone to gossip, so people were well aware of Schuyster$$s behaviour

and he started to make enemies. A takeover offer came when the company was at the height of

its success, but he rejected it out of hand. By now, Schuyster was also drawing large sums of

money out of the business as personal loans to buy property in Chingford and to fund the

tasteless and extravagant lifestyle of his estranged wife Cheryl. This was against the advice of

his finance director as well as his non$-$executive chairman, a wealthy former school friend with

no travel industry experience