Kimberly-Clark Andean Region: Creating a Winning Culture

Kimberly-Clark in the Andean region had hit a performance plateau. Five years prior, Sergio Nacach had taken over as general manager for the region and had embarked on a cultural transformation to build a winning culture centered on the people who worked for the organization. This case explores what he did and the context within which he did it. Similar to other cases on high commitment work arrangements, but set in a non-U.S. context, the case discusses organizational cultural change, the extent to which high performance work practices generalize across settings, and what made the Andean region a particularly receptive place for this management approach. The case also raises the issues of how to keep the enthusiasm going and the extent to which this transformation depended on a particular individual and his personal style.