Why would Toivonen want to disperse its corporate culture to local subsidiaries in the United States?
Toivonen would want to ensure the local subsidiaries in the United States would eventually be operating in a way where their values, vision, and objectives aligned with those of their corporate culture. Toivonen also has demonstrated their corporate culture has led to success, including improvements in efficiency and profits, which would incentivize them to incorporate their corporate culture into the newly purchased U.S. subsidiaries’ operations. Tiovonen may have difficulty understanding, or working with, the American style of management so implementing their own corporate culture would make operations more
streamlined. If Toivonen, who operated in more than 40 countries, allowed each local subsidiary to operate independently it would make their business extremely complicated, product quality would be inconsistent, and they would need a large number of managers to oversee each country’s operations because they would be significantly different from the Finnish corporate culture.
What potential problems do you see with implementing Toivonen's corporate culture at the Treelin facility?
Some of the major problems I see with Toivonen implementing their corporate culture in the Treelin facility include the increased involvement and oversight corporate would have over the day-to-day operations of Treelin’s operations. This would be a double-sided problem because the employees at Treelin are accustomed to operating somewhat independently of corporate management and would simultaneously remove some of the authority supervisors and mid-level managers would have. Treelin management was accustomed
to independent decision-making, including suppliers, processes, and employee hiring. If Tiovonen implemented a management style that stripped current management of their independent authority, they may
push back and have difficulty adapting to the new style. American culture is based on an individual doing what is best for them, both in the short and long term, including management prioritizing their promotions and bonuses. However, Finnish culture places more importance on what is best for the group, as is evident by Toivonen providing employees training and basing bonuses on team (mill) performance. This may mean individuals need to make sacrifices, or give up power, to ensure the company or workgroup overall will prosper. As is common in Finnish culture, Tiovonen operates in a more group-focused manner where employees have more involvement, their opinions carry more weight, and they have more opportunities to climb
the management ladder. This may be seen as a threat to current management because they are likely to be replaced or passed up for promotions and will be held accountable by floor employees who have concerns about operations. The change from an “individual-focused” to
a “group-focused” culture would also make changes difficult.
