Four Dimensions Ventures into Europe: When Differences Still Matter (A)

Four Dimensions Industrial Group (FD) is a Chinese private manufacturer of Cash-In-Transit (CIT) vehicles. In 1997, FD entered the CIT vehicle industry by forming a joint venture with Johnson Security Ltd. (JOHNSON), a British family-owned company. With rapid growth, a result of the boom in the professional escort market, FD intended to become the world’s leading provider of special vehicles by combining the advantages in technology and brand-name of foreign companies with the labor cost advantage of FD. In 2007, FD acquired all shares of JOHNSON. However, integration turned out to be more difficult than company founder Dr. Yan Wang expected. The company met with resistance from the JOHNSON staff. FD had to earn the trust of the British staff amid the many differences between the two countries and between the two companies. Poor management at JOHNSON was another hurdle in the integration process. FD was inexperienced in addressing these types of problems. Case (A) presents the challenges FD faced shortly after the acquisition was completed in 2007, and case (B) introduces the efforts made by FD during the first year to create synergies in its first cross-border merger and acquisition.