BARBUSS Global S.A. Globalizing an SME (Portuguese Version, Portugal)

Description

Barbuss Global is an Argentine company dedicated to the management of insurance recoveries. The company started its activities in Argentina as part of the Zass International group in 2002 and expanded its operations throughout Latin America. In 2013, Zass sold its Argentine operation to the CEO in that country, who strengthened the international bet by opening operations in Antwerp, Johannesburg and Mumbai. Barbuss' management was founded on a very strong organizational culture, characterized by the entrepreneurial spirit and high commitment of its top managers. In 2015 the company had achieved the highest turnover and profit levels in its history. The CEO and owner of Barbuss was considering how to continue its international growth, which would necessarily require bringing new foreign managers into the company and investing in offices in new countries, issues that a company of only 54 people had to consider very carefully.

Learning Objective

The purposes of the case are the following: (a) To explain a successful competitive positioning strategy and the importance of internationalization in reinforcing it. b) To illustrate the organizational, cultural and financial challenges that a small company encounters when setting up an operation with offices in several countries. c) Explain the importance of organizational culture as a coordinating mechanism in an expanding small business.

Keywords

Emerging markets Insurance international strategy small and medium-sized companies Strategic positioning