Jurgen Schrempp of DaimlerChry
On an August day in 1999, Jurgen Schrempp, the DaimlerChrysler Auto Baron, found himself indulging in his favorite recreational activity: mountain climbing. He was descending a sheer wall of the 3,905 meter Ortler mountain in the Italian alps, when he got stuck. Flailing, he was unable to find a foothold or toehold. He was attached to mountaineering expert Reinhold Messner, the first man to climb Everest without the help of oxygen. Schrempp asked Messner what would happen if he jumped. Messner replied that he would catch him, and lower him down. Messner afterward marveled, “So he jumped.”Jurgen Schrempp has taken similar leaps throughout his 30 plus year career with Daimler. However, as a youth no one would have guessed that he would lead such an ambitious career. He was born into the small German university town of Freiburg to a university clerk. During his high school years, he too often indulged his love of skiing and dancing, and dropped out school at the age of 15. In response to his father’s urgings to learn a trade, young Schrempp joined Daimler as an apprentice mechanic. At 18 years of age, he met his future wife, 19 year old Renate. The couple were o
Schrempp returned to Stuttgart in in 1987 as second in command in the truck division, and from there worked his way up the ladder. In May of 1995, after working for Daimler for nearly thirty years, he became the company's chairman. For three years, from 1995 until 1998, he was Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler-Benz AG. Many would think that Schrempp had reached his career peak, but the Chairman of one of the worlds largest automakers still had several plans spinning in his head. Schrempp’s ideas for the merger went beyond increasing both company’s market shares on either sides of the Atlantic. His plan involved retaining separate Directive Boards, but to have sitting members on each board that represented the other half of the company. Both Schrempp and Eaton planned to spend time taking inventory and in doing so, determine which market segments to target. Through the process, they determined a budget, set standards and chose which technologies they should focus on developing. They planned to cut their joint budget by $1.4 billion by reorganizing the structure of both companies. Both Chrysler and Mercedes were to maintain their distinct images. They were also to maintain separate showrooms and driving platforms. However, they could streamline by having joint logistics offices, customer service centers, warehouses, and technical training centers. Some production was to be shared as well. An example of this is Chrysler’s Jeep plant in Austria, which will now produce the Mercedes SUV, the M Class. After understanding the potential of the merger of these two companies, it is fathomable that the merger may also ignite a flame of global competitiveness.
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