How Bata rules its world

Abstract

Although Bata Ltd., the world's largest footwear company, presently markets its own Power brand of athletic footwear, Chief Executive Officer Thomas Bata, Jr., realizes its label will likely never have the same prestige in the marketplace as Nike, Reebok, or Adidas. After the Canadian company refused to back the founder of Reebok International Ltd., Bata is determined never to be on the wrong side of a trend line again. He is currently transforming the manufacturing-oriented company into a contemporary global marketing machine, and he has reorganized the organizational pyramid to make it more responsive to the market. The number of managers between Bata and the key country managers has been significantly reduced, and the power and responsibility of a few key associates at the international head office has been considerably expanded. Despite its enormous size, Bata has been underperforming in recent years. The company's dependency on its domestic market is marginal, earning no more than 3% or 4% of its revenues in Canada.