LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY

HR Restructuring at Nissan
Case Study

By Abderezak Ali and Karma Wandgdi

3/9/2013

This case study details the various Human resource issues addressed at different stages of
Nissan. It is prepared in lieu of assignment, and the facts presented are obtained from the
various sources indicated and the personal analysis of the case by the authors.

Contents

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Page No.

INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE....................................................................................... 3

COMPANY BACKGROUND ............................................................................................... 3
KEY POINTS ......................................................................................................................... 4
KEY ISSUES AND PROBLEMS......................................................................................... 4
4.1. Lack of Organizational Philosophy ............................................................................. 4
4.2. No Human Resource Policies...................................................................................... 5
4.3. Problem with the Union ................................................................................................ 5
4.4. Increasing Chain of Command and Layers of Management .................................. 6
4.5. Bureaucratic Practices and Cultural Inefficiencies ................................................... 6
4.6. Poor Work-family Life Balance .................................................................................... 7
4.7. Huge Losses .................................................................................................................. 7
5. SOLUTIONS: The Revival of the Nissan and the HR Strategies Adapted to Turn
Nissan into a Success Story....................................................................................................... 7
5.1. Alliance............................................................................................................................ 8
5.2. Appointment of the Chief Operation officer ............................................................... 8
5.3. HR Restructuring ........................................................................................................... 8
5.3.1. Cutting Cost............................................................................................................. 9
5.3.2. Diversity of the workforce...................................................................................... 9
5.3.3. Compensation....................................................................................................... 10
5.4. Organizational Philosophy ......................................................................................... 10
5.4.1. Vision...................................................................................................................... 10
5.4.2. Mission ................................................................................................................... 10
5.4.3. Value ...................................................................................................................... 11
5.5. Union as a partner ....................................................................................................... 11
5.6. Talent Management .................................................................................................... 11
5.6.1. Competency Management.................................................................................. 12
5.6.2. Performance Management ................................................................................. 12
5.6.3. Career Development............................................................................................ 14
5.6.4. Succession Management.................................................................................... 14
6. CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................... 14
7. THE WAY FORWARD ....................................................................................................... 15
8. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 16
9. ANNEXURE ......................................................................................................................... 17
1.
2.
3.
4.

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

1. INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE
This case study deals with the many issues that surrounded the human resource
restructuring at Nissan Motor Company Ltd. (Nissan), a Japan-based multinational
automaker. The case analysis reveals how the CEO, Mr. Carlos Ghosn (Ghosn) saved
Nissan, which was the then like the sinking ship and made it perfectly sailable in the
rough seas of threatening environment. Ghosn took the ownership of the Nissan Turn
around and adopted various strategies to make it happen, and he had successfully
brought the company back into profits. In the implementation of the restructuring plans,
Ghosn had tactfully tackled many cultural issues. Nissan implemented a new working
philosophy along with the new Nissan Way of doing things. As part of the Nissan Way,
the company provided specialized Career Advisors, for women only for their career
advancement. Nissan had put in place a talent management strategy and adopted an
inclusive whole workforce approach. It included a series of activities, which addressed
Competency Management, Performance Management, Career Development and
Succession Management.
This report is organized into introduction, key points, key issues and problems,
solutions, suggestions and recommendations. The introduction part of the report
presents short history of the company and some theoretical aspects. The second part
i.e. analysis is built up on the problems identified from the case, the possible solutions
created by the company and how the solution affected the company. The last part will
conclude the case by discussing the lessons gained from the case and recommending
ways on which Nissan could further capitalize.
2. COMPANY BACKGROUND
Nissan Motor Company Limited (Nissan), a multinational automaker with its headquarter
in Japan, which was the then the Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd., was established
in the year 1933 by taking over all the operations for manufacturing Datsun cars from
the automobile division of Tobata Casting Co. Ltd. In the year 1934, the company was
renamed as Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. Over the years the company had grown its size and
has ventured into other businesses also. After the World War II, Nissan became the
jewel in the Japanese Industries crown by doing very well and by the end of the 1960s it
was exporting vehicles. Nissan had captured 33.7% market share by the end of 1972.
Aikawa, the promoter of the company wanted to expand his business and started
diversifying into other industries like real estate and insurance. He was not the firm
believer of philosophy or any guiding principles, and Nissan was not provided with any
guidelines that would shape its culture.
Having no proper HR policies led to severed relationships between Nissan management
and workers. There were constant union and management conflicts. The lack of
direction and discontinuity of top management led to further weakening of the corporate
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

culture at Nissan and Nissan saw 7 presidents served organization for three to four
years within 1933 and 1951. This gave the Nissan the reputation of being unstable
organization and led to shortage of skilled managers in the organization. The declining
trend had already set in Nissan and in 1998; it was on the verge of bankruptcy. Nissan
in desperate need of heavy cash infusion and managerial expertise and ultimately
started looking out for a savior and after considering various options entered into an
alliance with Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, in March 1999.
The company revived again after it entered into an alliance with Renault. Mr. Louis
Schweitzer, CEO and Chairman of the Renault, appointed Carlos Ghosn to the post of
COO of Nissan, who by the 2001 had risen to the level of president and CEO. He took
the ownership of the Nissan turnaround, and came up and implemented various
strategies to revive Nissan.
Nissan was selected as one of the 101 Best & Brightest Places to work in Southeast
Michigan, in 2004 and in 2008, it won appreciation for its Women in the Drivers Seat
initiative. Today, Nissan remains as one of most preferred world class companies.
3. KEY POINTS
Restructuring, Nissan Way, Competence Management, Performance Management,
Career Development, Succession Management, Diversity and Multi-Culturalism, Work
Life Balance, Employee Communication and Recognition, Compensation and Benefits,
Employee Education and Development, Recruitment and Retention, Employee
Motivation and Enthusiasm, Community Initiatives, Chain of Command and Layers of
Management,
Strategic planning and Integration, Organizational Philosophy,
Organizational Goal, Performance Driven Culture, Talent Management and HR Policies.
4. KEY ISSUES AND PROBLEMS
Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., a multinational automaker headquartered in Japan, was
formerly a core company of the Nissan Group, but it became independent after its
restructuring in 2000. Nissan after 2000 became one of the most favored places to work
with, and implemented various initiatives and programs that fetched profits. However,
Nissan had not always been so well organized and it had run into heavy losses during
the 1990s. As soon as the millennium changed, so did Nissan, with the help of its
knight Carlos Ghosen, who was able to bring about Nissan turnaround. One of the
major hindrances was companys culture, problems with the unions and strikes. The key
issues and problems encountered by Nissan at that time are mentioned below:
4.1.

Lack of Organizational Philosophy

Mr. Aikawa Yoshisuke (Aikawa), the founder of Nissan, was not the firm believer of
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

philosophy or any guiding principles, and Nissan was not provided with any guidelines
that would shape its culture. The company at this time seems not to have vision,
mission, objectives, specific goals and organizational values. After the World War II,
there was a lacuna of direction and discontinuity of the top Management, which has
further worsened the corporate situation. The company saw 7 presidents served
organization for three to four years within 1933 and 1951. This gave the Nissan the
reputation of being unstable organization and led to shortage of skilled managers in the
organization.
That time Nissan didnt have such philosophy as a result their performance started
declining and ultimately run into huge losses in 1998.
4.2.

No Human Resource Policies

There werent proper HR policies and as a result the relationships between the
management and the workers severed and this further resulted in union and
management conflicts, and some of the conflicts even led to a 100-day general strikes
and lockouts. The rules adopted by Nissan is complex and not user friendly and instead
of facilitating the organization to harness the best out of employees the complex rules
become a burden and reduced their ability to work hard. For instance, a lot of
unnecessary power and politics play came into pictures because of the elaborate
system of employee evaluation.
4.3.

Problem with the Union

Fueled by the lack of philosophy and proper HR policies, there were constant union and
management conflicts, but management did not hedge to these problems. The conflict
continued even after the coming of Ghosn, in a different form; as many jobs were cut,
forcing many employees to make early retirement, part time job, and transfer to least
preferred places. Approximately 21,500 workers lost their job-4000 in production
department, 6000 in sales management, and 6500 sales outlets across the country,
while 5000 workers were relocated due to sales of some businesses. On October 27,
1999 the union set out several demands, which are;

Secure employment for a worker, which means that no union members will be
forced to leave the company against their will.
Creating of a situation where by members could share the pain caused by the
plant closure, while also taking the members will in to consideration.
Better conditions when transferring members to places where it would be
impossible for them to commute to.
Secure jobs for members who could not transfer to another plant because of
family or financial problems.
Sufficient consideration been given to members affected by the closure of the
plants.
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

The case on page 47 clearly indicates that workers union opposed the revival plan by
saying the plan imposes many sacrifice upon workers while disclosing the companies
negligence and responsibility for the past management system as well as its social
responsibility as a well known company.
4.4.

Increasing Chain of Command and Layers of Management

Despite having the problems mentioned above, the company also witnesses growth
simultaneously in the 1970s which added to more complexity in the organization. The
chain of command and layers of management kept on increasing leading to inefficiency.
The problems did not reach the top management as parochial decision became the
order of the day and growth lead to specialization and departmentalization which added
to the already overstaffed organization. The increase in chain of command and layers of
management also means delay in decision making.
4.5.

Bureaucratic Practices and Cultural Inefficiencies

The company adopting the Japanese practices from being bureaucratic to using the
best practices in management or production and following the typical Japanese culture
and Confucian societies in which importance was given to respect the elders led to
senior positions being held by senior people who had been in the organization for years,
irrespective of their level of performance and this people are the highest paid individuals
in the organization. Too much bureaucracy had delayed decision making and had
contributed to the decline in the companys performance.
Despite picking up the best of the talents from the universities and colleges of Tokyo to
work for Nissan, the company had not incentivized performance and they did not have
performance based incentives like promotions, performance based variable pay and
bonuses. Further, the company promising them the work till retirement age had
encouraged complacency fueled by lack of reward for performance and no career
growth perspectives, as the seniority was always on top of the agenda.
The salary increment which doesnt have any relation with the performance had really
contributed to the unnecessary hiked in the organizations overhead cost.
As mention above, the organization did not have vision, mission, objectives and values,
and the top management instead of providing directions and guidelines was only
concerned with the routine operations. The corporate cultures to make a profit through
successfully satisfying the demands of the stakeholders and to raise performance
through performance based incentive scheme were very weak and hardly practiced.
The company, unlike other Japanese Companies did not have team work.

4.6.

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Poor Work-family Life Balance

The changing demographics of workforce promoting individuals to work hard at

balancing work responsibilities family needs and personal life demands, with more
single-parent families, dual career couples with children, workers responsibility for
elderly relatives, balancing work and family roles may sometimes be incompatible
(Mathis R. and Jackson H., 2003). These events are forcing companies to provide
various flexible employment options. The ability of a business to provide family work life
balance was increasingly becoming important factor for company choice by employees.
Nissan failed to provide work-family life balance which can be attributed to the long
hours of work that the company had to adjust as most of the Japanese had the believe
that if they made their presence felt in the office by putting in more hours, they would be
considered as being faithful to the company. Further, these trends had retarded their
productivity and increased the social problems. All these had contributed against the
proper functioning of the organization.
4.7.

Huge Losses

After the Japanese economy saw a boom in the 1980s, Nissan doubled its production
to strengthen its sales network but as a result, its debt rose to US$19.4 by 1998. The
recession of 1990s added up to the already weak position of Nissan, forcing it to record
its first loss since it went public in 1951. Analyst found that the Nissan had lot of
problems at that time; some of them are (Case, Page 37)

Nissan was not pursuing profits; it did not have a goal or vision, which drove it.
No proper product planning process and most often, Toyotas policies and
models were imitated with some modifications.
The company exhibited a lack of urgency required to survive in the highly
competitive industry.
Unlike other Japanese organizations, there was no team work in Nissan

Nissans poor performance was also attributed to its poor styles and design, infrequent
model changes and high manufacturing and parts costs.
5. SOLUTIONS: The Revival of the Nissan and the HR Strategies Adapted to
Turn Nissan into a Success Story
In 1998, owing to the issues and problems mentioned above, Nissan was under huge
pressure from its creditors to find a partner as it had accumulated more than US$20
billion in debt, its sales were declining, the margins were poor, and it was on the verge
of bankruptcy.
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Nissan was by then in desperate need of heavy cash infusion and managerial expertise
and ultimately started looking out for a savior and after considering various options
entered into an alliance with Renault in March 1999. The two companies complimented
each other well.
5.1. Alliance
Strategic Alliance may be defined as two or more independent firms involving shared
control and continuing contributions by all partners for mutual benefit (Yoshino and
Ranagan, 1995). They are characterised by defined business objectives, long-term
objectives, distinct and non-equity contributions by both parties and active participation
by both parties. Alliance is becoming an indispensible business tool for companies
seeking to develop new product and services, technologies, and market for the
international market place.
Nissan made the most appropriate decision of making an alliance with Renault on
March 1999. It was a successful decision as Nissan was in need of solution for the
problems of poor styles and design, infrequent model changes, high manufacturing and
parts costs. Nissan was desperate for heavy cash infusion and managerial expertise.
Therefore, the alliance provided a relief from debt, entry to European market and the
benefits of Renaults innovative design, marketing, and financing of sales and services.
On the other hand, Nissans market share in North America was just what Renault
needed in its bid to expand its business. In addition, Japan companies where well
known for their expertise in quality and manufacturing productivity.
5.2.

Appointment of the Chief Operation officer

It is most often said that to bring about faster changes and affect changes is to change
the head of the organization. Likewise in the case of Nissan, Mr. Louis Schweitzer, CEO
and Chairman of the Renault, appointed Carlos Ghosn to the post of COO of Nissan,
who by the 2001 had risen to the level of president and CEO. Putting right people in the
right job at right time especially in key positions plays a vital role in the success of the
organizations.
In Nissan after it entered into alliance with Renault, competency mapping had begun
with the appointment of COO. The company brought some expertise from Renault;
some of the key position like the Head of the Nissan HR Department was brought from
Renault.
5.3.

HR Restructuring

Ghosn began a radical restructuring, in his Nissan Revival Plan, unveiled on October
1999. He focused on relieving Nissan of its financial burden. Some of the strategic
human resource changes include:
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5.3.1. Cutting Cost

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Ghosn wanted to set direction and goals that direct the movement of resources in the
organization. The first and main goal of the restructuring program was therefore to cut
costs. He adopted various cost cutting measures, like cutting ties with the suppliers,
reducing excess capacity and radical restructuring. The case notes on page 41, Ghosn
intended to cut down on the number of Nissan suppliers, cut down on excess capacity,
and whittle down its shareholdings in Keiretsu companies to free capital, thus used for
strategic purpose. The consequence of these activities was;

Reduction on the board size of Nissan from 37 to 10 members; seniority will

not grant position on the board.

After analysis of the workforce (2002), only 127000 of 148000 Nissan

workers were required. This led to the reduction of workforce by 14% through
pursuing various tactics like early retirement scheme, transfer to subsidiaries
and part-timing, and made Nissan compact and efficient.
5.3.2. Diversity of the workforce

The case study on page 40, notes that Nissan found a great value in the insights of
people who had experience of other corporate cultures and those learnings were
incorporated to the advantage of the company. These were possible as Ghosn brought
in a few experts from Renault to Nissan. He also organized a cross-functional team
dedicated to organizational issues that recommended changes to HR Policy. Many
employees were coming on-board from other companies. The idea of seeking talent
from outside, which was not common amongst other Japanese companies, became a
prominent practice in Nissan. To achieve diversity of work force Ghosn focused on
three issues;

Women in the workforce: Taken the example of women involvement at

work in Renault, Nissan had worked hard to provide women with more
opportunities and participation at workplace.

Mid-career scouting: Nissan found great value in the insights of people who
had experience of other corporate cultures and those leanings were
incorporated to the advantage of the company. This practice was not common
in Japan

Embracing other cultures: Nissan headquarters was swarming with foreign

executives and most of the communication where in English as well as
Japanese. Japanese workers were sent to other subsidiaries of Nissan to
learn the practices of business in other countries and English knowledge
became a prerequisite.
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

All these changes created a diversified as well as complimentary workforce, which led
to the turn back of the company.
5.3.3. Compensation
Employers traditionally based a jobs pay rate on the relative worth of the job, but title
and tenure have been replaced with performance and competencies due to (Dessler,
2011)

5.4.

Traditional pay plans may backfire if a high-performance work system is your

goal.
Paying for competencies enables companies to encourage employees to
develop the competencies the companies require to achieve their strategic
aims.
Paying for measurable and influence-able competencies provides a focus for
the employers performance management process.
Organizational Philosophy

Post 1990s, Nissan had came up with its own Philosophy and the company was
directed on the basis of sound principles and values. Now the company had their
vision, mission and value statement in place.
5.4.1. Vision
Vision is a general statement of the firms intended and shows, in broad terms, what we
want to become (Dessler, 2011). Vision statements reflect the ideal image of the
organization in the future and create a focal point for strategic planning.
NISSAN: Enriching peoples lives
5.4.2. Mission
A Mission Statement defines the organization's purpose and primary objectives. Mission
statements are the starting points of an organizations strategic planning and goal
setting process. They focus attention and assure that internal and external stakeholders
understand what the organization is attempting to accomplish.
Nissan Mission: Nissan provides unique and innovative automotive products and
services that deliver superior measurable values to all stakeholders in alliance with
Renault.

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5.4.3. Value

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Values represent the core priorities in the organizations culture, including what drives
members priorities and how they truly act in the organization, etc. Values are
increasingly important in strategic planning. Value statements define the organizations
basic philosophy, principles and ideals. They also set the ethical tone for the
organization.
Nissan Values:

Foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Invest heavily in training.
Get trade unions on your side.
Involve the workforce in business issues.
Allow individuals to choose the right work-life balance.
Empower employees to find their own solutions.

Having the philosophy in place had enable Nissan to come up with plans directed to
achieving specific time bound goals, for example, Ghosn set a time table within which
the company has to recover from its losses. Hence the principles of goal setting which
has all the attributes of good goals like, specificity, measurability, possibility of
achievement, Possibility of realizing and attachment of time-line to every goals had
begun in Nissan. So, Nissan as of date stands amongst the best world class
companies.
5.5. Union as a partner
To overcome the problems imposed by unions regarding the revival plan, Nissan
implemented certain strategies as part of the Nissan Way. On the first set, they wrote
get trade unions on yours as one of their values. In addition, during the 2007-2008
recessions, Nissan HR led the way in its re-engineering efforts. Nissan did not lay off
employees but those who opted for voluntary retirement were not discouraged. Though
Nissan witnessed losses in one quarter but the re-engineering efforts turned around the
company in profits. Nissans market share went up during recession while competitors
witnessed a declining trend. These activities created an environment of partnership
between the union and management.
5.6.

Talent Management

Talent Management is one of the core HR activities of the organization. It starts from
recruiting talents, developing talents, retaining talents enabling the talents to retire
gratefully. Every world class organization has a set of very good talent management
practices and likewise Nissan emphasized talent management and adopted an inclusive
whole workforce approach. It includes series of activities which addresses competency

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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

management, performance Management, career development

management. Refer to annexure I.

and

succession

5.6.1. Competency Management

The management of knowledge, skills and attitude required to achieve the
organizational goals are known as competency management.
Nissan took time and effort in recruiting talent from the best of universities and the
brightest of brains picked from the top colleges in Tokyo, and then trained them
comprehensively from the beginning.
Unlike in the earlier stage, Nissan offered competence based system. The new comers
were hired at a higher wage with frequent bonuses or raises based on performance and
not seniority as prevalent in Japan.
5.6.2. Performance Management
Nissan Performance Management revolves around involving people, paying people,
valuing people and developing people as shown below:

5.6.2.1.

Involving people

The focus of Ghosn was to empower its management teams to come up with solutions
for operational and functional challenges. Rather than from the top down mandate
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

what needed to be changed, abandoned or expanded the top level managers worked
with subordinates and empowered them to come up with solutions to the daily
challenges, to find ways to control costs, work more efficiently, generate revenues
through changes in operations, functions, facilities. The main activities that are
performed to bring the company back to life include:

5.6.2.2. Paying People

As part of the restructuring Ghosn introduced a new compensation system which was
unique from the traditional Japanese system; the annual base salary was set as the
industry standard, but two things were added:

Performance-oriented pay: the bonuses were linked with performance

Commitment and stretched-target: Employees who met their commitments

and stretched targets were rewarded for their superior performance through
stock options. For example in 2004, 500 employees opted for stock options
and the number kept increasing year after year. (Case page 42).

5.6.2.3. Valuing People

Ghosn considered that his strength was the human capital of the company and keep
employees motivated he offered financial incentives, rewards, promotions and
negotiations with the union.
5.6.2.4.

Developing People

As part of the development and training program, Ghosn established the Nissan
Management Institute in Hakone, which primarily focused on leadership development.
Nissan Next generation leaders were bred from this institute through the programs
designed to nurture them.
On page 42 of the case Philip Ashmore Personnel Director of the company on
commenting about training said, the training practice at Nissan were an important part
of its culture. Nissan took time and effort in recruiting talent, and then trained them
comprehensively from the beginning. It invested heavily in training, almost 4% of the
payroll which was 6 bn Pound Sterling in 2001 This statement clearly indicates how
seriously Nissan had worked on the human capital in the restructuring process.

This practice brought Nissan to the top in the industry where pay scales are concerned;
this also inspired a high-performing corporate culture.
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

5.6.3. Career Development
Career development according to Dessler and Varkkey (2011) is the lifelong series of
activities that contribute to a persons career exploration, establishment, success and
fulfillment. As part of the four talent management aspects of Nissans carrier
development, Ghosn brought the Renault Career Coach System to Nissan, which
provided career development for the individual employee. He appointed five career
coaches, who had to identify people of high potential and made a career plan for them.
They submitted monthly progress report directly to Ghosn. Employees could control
their own career path through an internal self-career system on the companys
intranet. In this employees could apply for the job vacancies within the company in the
open-entry system portal.
5.6.4. Succession Management
The potential employees were always provided with opportunities and were groomed to
be the future leaders of Nissan and on top of this, Ghosn established the Nissan
Management Institute in Hakone, which primarily focused on leadership development.
Nissan Next generation leaders were bred from this institute through the programs
designed to nurture them. Through proper succession management Nissan was trying
to fill in the coming human capital gap. Refer to annexure I.
6. CONCLUSION
The case study depicted the role HR restructuring played on turning back Nissan from
the condition of nearly bankruptcy to profitable and competitive company. The various
problem identified in the case was all properly addressed by the revival policy devised.
Ghosn as a CEO played an important role in restructuring the HR at Nissan and
creating an environment of innovation and accelerated growth, and cost cutting.
The creation a timely plan and program by Ghosn properly solved the problem
associated with lack of direction and HR policy. The cutting of cost and performance
enhancement worked as an instrument for reducing the discontent on the employees of
Nissan and at the same time the chance for everyone to perform and contribute towards
the vision of the company. In the way of doing that everyone was made clear on what is
there for them upon the success of the company.
The development of Nissan way, which clearly shows the roads toward career
development and competence management, also solved the prevalent cultural barrier,
that was given priority of position to seniority and elderly. Everyone was made to clearly
see the path, that prevails for them, and how to achieve it depends upon their
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HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

competence to meet and exceed the standards of work. The provision of stock options
to high performers motivated many workers to boost their effort, and subsequently led to
financial success to the company.
The huge losses that were incurred at 1998 and the subsequent debt crisis that crippled
the activity of Nissan was solved by the alliance with Renault. The positive result of the
restructuring process can be assessed by the financial figures obtained by the
company. The main contributions of Ghosn include;

Increase in market share from 4.6 in 1999 to 5.3% in 2003(Annexure II)

Sales Growth (case page no.44)
Asset streamlining (case page no.44)
Cost cutting (case page no.44)
Highest consolidated Return on Investment 7.3 (Annexure III)
Nissan was selected as one of the 101 Best & Brightest Places to work in
Southeast Michigan, in 2004. (case page no.33)
In 2008, it won appreciation for its Women in the Drivers Seat initiative.
(case page no.34)

The annexure are attached at the end of the report.

7. THE WAY FORWARD
Mr. Ghosn has been successful in reviving Nissan and had become the most important
figure at Nissan. He still emphasized the global talents the organization needed in order
to grow and succeed in the market and hence he had to pool the best talents from
Japan and outside. Nissan still need to pursue vigorous talent management as the
competition is becoming more stiff and complex.
Case page no. 48 states that experts said looking at the future strategies of car makers
across the world, it seem Nissan was not keeping pace. Despite Nissans revival it
seems Nissan is still lacking behind, therefore needs to gear up and come up with better
hybrid system and gain an edge in competition.
Nissan also has to improve the quality of its products and services as there are so many
other companies like Toyota, GM, Volkswagen, Hyundai Motors, Ford, etc., which
provide uncompromised quality of products and services, would certainly encroach
upon their market share. Therefore, it is recommended to rigorously pursue the culture
of creativity and innovation to enable the company to lead the stiff competition.

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8. REFERENCES

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

Books:
1. Dessler, Gary and Varkkey Biju (2011). Human Resource Management.
Pearson. 12th ed.
2. Yoshino, Michael and Srinvasa Rangan (1995). Strategic Alliance: An
Entrepreneurial Approach to Globalization. Harvard Business School Press.
3. Mathis, L. Robert and Jackson, H. John (2003). Human Resource
Management. Thomson Learning Inc, 13th ed.
4. Robbins, P. Stephen and etal (2011). Management. Pearson. 10th ed.
Case:
1. Case Folio (2011). HR restructuring at Nissan. Page 33-48. Human Resource
and Organizational Behaviour.
Websites
1. Nissan
Motors
Global
Website.
Available
global.com/EN/index.html (viewed on 23/01/2012).

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at

http://www.nissan-

9. ANNEXURE

HR Restructuring at Nissan [Case Study]

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