Speed
THE WORLD OF HEINEKEN
similarities between the Italian and the Spanish situation: "There
are indeed some similarities. We were merging companies with
the same products and clients. But the big difference was that in
Spain both companies were making money. Another difference is
the fact that productivity in Italy is much higher than in Spain and
that Heineken Espaha does not have a clear and outright number
one standard brand."
The official starting signal for Heineken Espaha was given in
February 2000, but six months before that Piero Perron and Carlos
de Jaureguizar were already busy making preparations on paper
for the new organisation. In line with the credo of'the right
people at the right time', all top managers of both Cruzcampo and
El Aguila were appraised during that period and appointed to new
posts. "After the authorities had given their approval, we started
straight away, as we had no time to lose. Speed was crucial. Our
very first objective was: combining the sales forces and no loss of
volume in the first year after the merger. That objective was
ambitious, because we had lost 1.3 million hectolitres of sales as a
result of the government measures. We created the two divisions,
south and north, and we placed all sales representatives within
those divisions."
José Manuel del Olmo, commercial director of the northern
division, was well aware that combining the sales forces would be
difficult. Representatives who had competed with each other for
years suddenly had to work together. "A merger is always difficult.
All human elements and emotions that you experience during
your life, such as confusion, sorrow, happiness, uncertainty, come
together during such a merger period. Speed is essential in such a
situation. We started by making a new subdivision of the regions
and by appointing sales managers and senior sales
representatives. On April 1st, 2000, the sales structure was in place
and we then organised the Convention of Porto, in which we
cleared away all uncertainty amongst the sales people by stating
