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Question One BALEX LIMITED - BUILDING THE CONTINENTAL FRAMEWORK Balex Limited which was founded in 2012 is one of the largest cement producers in East Africa. The company offers a variety of cements for various uses including, gray ordinary portland cement, white portland cement, mortar, oil-well cement, and blended cement. Head quartered in Nairobi, the company has over time transformed to a regional multi-national. It is a recipient of major international awards for sustainable development and has grown over the years through a series of mergers and acquisitions to become one of the most successful companies in the cement industry in Africa. To date, it has made over 760 million sales across seven countries in East African region. Its major clients include wholesalers, industrial customers and building contractors. Overtime, the management under the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), experience a myriad of challenges related to the increasingly regulated and turbulent environment. For instance, in 2014, its profits plummeted to an all time low due to global economic meltdown and stringent environmental regulations in the construction industry. To mitigate the challenges, the management resolved to pursue an aggressive acquisition strategy in order to deepen its presence in the East African region in the medium term and other regional markets in the long run. To effectively implement the new strategy, the management resolved to strengthen its internal human resource capacity. Among the interventions, a Chief Information Officer, was recruited to spearhead the automation, sales, accounting and plant operations. By mid-2015, Balex Limited had a company-wide satellite communications system, aimed at transferring data and linking operations around the country, with a global positioning system for tracking and dispatching its fleet. In executing of the acquisition strategy, the management focused on regions that it considered to have a cultural and linguistic fit. Hence, it acquired two local cement producers namely Concretos Limited and Mambacom Manufacturers. By mid-2016, it had acquired the biggest cement manufacturers in the region among them, Mollep Limited and Saggs Limited. Further, it targeted countries with a fairly growing populations such as Ethiopia and Rwanda. In early 2017, it acquired a controlling stake in cement companies in Eritrea Madagascar and Burundi. For efficiency in service delivery, and capacity building, teams of experts were sent to support the integration with its new subsidiaries. The company's best practices and corporate culture were among the key considerations. One of its main focus was branding, superior quality, and excellent customer care. Its main target June 2021 CHRP 20 Page 1 of 3 customers were private home developers as opposed to large contractors. The acquisition enabled it to become one of the largest and most recognized companies in the manufacture of cement in the region. After evaluating the company's operations and management practices in place, the post merger integration team upgraded the information and communication technology system so as to enhance the integration of the system across all plants. Its competitive advantage was defined through its unique and differentiated operations including ability to manage change, owledge creation and sharing and continuous innovation and research. Despite the strategies that the company put in place, employees resistance to new working methods and procedures became a routine. Other challenges were associated with the inability of the company to custom its operations with the local needs. It employed strategies and practices that had successively worked for it in its home country but care was not taken to consider the changes that came with the expansion to the new regions. Over time, employee grievances increased and morale went down. The company lost the cache it enjoyed as a super brand in the past. To mitigate the challenge, the company put in place measures to ensure that superior performance was recognized. Further job rotation and entrepreneurial development were given a priority. Further, measures were taken to initiate the development of an Executive Committee whose terms of reference was to gather information and make recommendations on how the company could overcome the challenges. For efficiency, it was mandated to meet at least once in a month to deliberate on the findings. The the meetings created an opportunity to not only share ideas but also to generate new ones. The meeting created an opportunity for country managers, heads of functions and employees to make report about the developments in their made their functions. The company further established a human resource platform whose objective was to improve its culture in management of human resources, a significant resource in the company. The platform further aimed at building and strengthening human resource capabilities across its various functions through training and development. For best practice, it benchmarked with renowned multinationals in the industry. To date, it has set high work performance standards guided by a code of ethics to keep pace with emerging trends. To instill positive values, the company's core values, of collaboration, integrity and leadership are emphasized Expected behaviour and learning outcomes are clearly spelt out in each undertaking. Further, the Board has taken care to introduce a code of ethics which is supposed to be observed at all levels of the company. All the emnleyees are expected to undertake training on integrity and must demonstrate good understanding of the To effectively implement the new strategy, the management resolved to strengthen its internal human resource capacity. Among the interventions, a Chief Information Officer, was recruited to spearhead the automation, sales, accounting and plant operations. By mid-2015, Balex Limited had a company-wide satellite communications system, aimed at transferring data and linking operations around the country, with a global positioning system for tracking and dispatching its fleet. In executing of the acquisition strategy, the management focused on regions that it considered to have a cultural and linguistic fit. Hence, it acquired two local cement producers namely Concretos Limited and Mambacom Manufacturers. By mid-2016, it had acquired the biggest cement manufacturers in the region among them, Mollep Limited and Saggs Limited. Further, it targeted countries with a fairly growing populations such as Ethiopia and Rwanda. In early 2017, it acquired a controlling stake in cement companies in Eritrea , Madagascar and Burundi. For efficiency in service delivery, and capacity building, teams of experts were sent to support the integration with its new subsidiaries. The company's best practices and corporate culture were among the key considerations. One of its main focus was branding, superior quality, and excellent customer care. Its main target June 2021 CHRP 20 Page 1 of 3 customers were private home developers as opposed to large contractors, The acquisition enabled it to become one of the largest and most recognized companies in the manufacture of cement in the region. After evaluating the company's operations and management practices in place, the post merger integration team upgraded the information and communication technology system so as to enhance the integration of the system across all plants. Its competitive advantage was defined through its unique and differentiated operations including ability to manage change, knowledge creation and sharing and continuous innovation and research. Despite the strategies that the company put in place, employees resistance to new working methods and procedures became a routine. Other challenges were associated with the inability of the company to custom its operations with the local needs. It employed strategies and practices that had successively worked for it its home country but care was not taken to consider the changes that came with the expansion to the new regions. Over time, employee grievances increased and morale went down. The company lost the cache it enjoyed as a super brand in the past. To mitigate the challenge, the company put in place measures to ensure that superior performance was recognized. Further, job rotation and entrepreneurial development were given a priority. Further, measures were taken to initiate the development of an Executive Committee whose terms of reference was to gather information and make recommendations on how the company could overcome the challenges. For efficiency, it was mandated to meet at least once in a month to deliberate on the findings. The the meetings created an opportunity to not only share ideas but also to generate new ones. The meeting created an opportunity for country managers, heads of functions and employees to make report about the developments in their made their functions. The company further established a human resource platform whose objective was to improve its culture in management of human resources, a significant resource in the company. The platform further aimed at building and strengthening human resource capabilities across its various functions through training and development. For best practice, it benchmarked with renowned multinationals in the industry. To date, it has set high work performance standards guided by a code of ethics to keep pace with emerging trends. To instill positive values, the company's core values, of collaboration, integrity and leadership are emphasized Expected behaviour and learning outcomes are clearly spelt out in each undertaking. Further, the Board has taken care to introduce a code of ethics which is supposed to be observed at all levels of the company. All the employees are expected to undertake training on integrity and must demonstrate good understanding of the company's code of ethics. For enhanced performance, the company engages the services of consultants drawn from various specializations on regular basis. (a) (b) Explain how the company distinguished itself from other companies in the cement industry. (10 marks) Determine the strategies that the company adopted to ensure that employees were motivated. (10 marks) Assuming that you are an employee of the company, describe the culture of the organization. (10 marks) (c)