Studija slučaja "susreta kultura": Hrvatska pivovara u vlasni štvu stranih ulagača
Case-Study of "Encounter of Cultures": Croatian Breweries in the Ownership of Foreign Investors

Summary/Abstract: This case study describes different dimensions of the encounter of Croatian and "Western" cultures in the field of entrepreneurship.The Karlovačka Brewery was an attractive acquisition for foreign investors, regardless of the problem most socialist companies were confronted with – the relatively obsolete technology and too many employees. There is a tendency to concentrate on the characteristics of the local company and post-socialist institutional context. However, important for the process of integration after the takeover are also the characteristics of the parent-company, the strategic goal of the takeover and authority of the foreign managers. The Latin type of "Western" culture and authoritarian style of management has not proved economically successful in the long run. As opposed to a relatively low degree of integration of the brewery into the SBE group's system, Heineken has, as the new owner, initiated an extensive process of integration of the company into its corporative system. Goals clearly explained to the employees and the local community, a long-term development plan with relatively big investments, the authority of the international corporation and open corporative information and knowledge exchange channels have considerably lessened the conflicts in the process of radically restructuring the company. If the changes in the organisational structure, culture and autonomy are observed, the result of the encounter between the local, "Eastern" and "Western" cultures is a cultural hybrid that is very close to the theoretical extreme – the Victory-of-the-West-and-Defeat-of--the-East. However, this is an oversimplified viewpoint because the paradigm "master-subordinate" has proven a losing combination, while Heineken's successful paradigm speaks of winners on both sides.

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