Mercedes 1998 Annual Report Download - page 8

Right now, all across the world, people in DaimlerChrysler are working together to find new
ways of doing things. No longer doing them in “the Chrysler way” or “the Daimler-Benz way”,
but shaping new solutions based on the strength of the diverse views and experiences that have
made them so successful in the past.
This is not always easy, and discussions sometimes get quite heated. But new and better
“DaimlerChrysler ways” of doing things are emerging. Because the best ideas often germinate in
the warm soil of constructive conflict.
Of course, integrating two highly successful organizations is quite a challenge. To meet this
challenge, we have set up an integration process that brings together key people in functional
and cross-functional teams. Their task is to explore an ever increasing number of integration
opportunities – currently around 100 major areas with nearly 1,300 subprojects – and then to
quickly implement action plans. The teams report directly to us and the other DaimlerChrysler
executives who make up the Chairmen’s Integration Council. Built into this process is a sense of
urgency and a high degree of accountability.
From the outset, the teams agreed on some simple guiding principles. The best value-creating
ideas get priority. The people who can implement solutions must be involved. Put pragmatism
before perfectionism – better to be 80 % right now, than 100% too late. Rapid implementation of
agreed solutions. “Lessons learned” are captured and shared across the company.
This integration process acts like a catalyst within DaimlerChrysler – creating a new culture
with new ways of thinking and interacting with one another. We can already see it happening.
There is excitement. There is real commitment to achieving success. Close professional and
personal relationships are being forged. Breakthroughs are happening every day.
For instance, we saw this spirit in action recently when close to 100 specialists revamped a
plant in Graz, Austria, where we had already been building the Jeep®Grand Cherokee. Strong
demand in Europe brought the opportunity to add capacity for our Mercedes-Benz M-Class.
To maximize efficiencies, one group wanted to build both vehicles on the same production line.
Another group wanted separate plants to keep the Jeep®and Mercedes-Benz brands as separate
as possible. After some initially tense exchanges, they came up with a win-win solution – same
plant, separate production lines – that will enable the plant to deliver an additional 30,000
Mercedes-Benz M-Classes annually to European markets starting in the summer of 1999. As a
result, we will achieve bottom-line benefits worth € 280 million (US $330 million).
From this cross-fertilization of ideas between our European and North American plants, we will
also save money and improve quality in our new Jeep®facility that is currently under
construction in Toledo, Ohio.
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CHAIRMEN’S LETTER