Culture change enables ambitious growth at Nelsons

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine how the oldest manufacturer of natural healthcare products in Europe, Nelsons, needed to make a leap in its development to take advantage of the opportunities in export markets and to meet ambitious production and revenue targets.

Design/methodology/approach

This case study follows how Nelsons put in place a new culture among managers to achieve its growth targets, which involved moving away from being the custodians of a traditional brand towards leadership of a fast‐moving global enterprise. A management development scheme was introduced to support the fundamental changes, to create a new cadre of staff with the skills and confidence to lead, and overcome the discomfort which can come from rapid and wide‐ranging change.

Findings

If there is a good team of staff prepared to lead as much as manage change, implementing major initiatives can become relatively easy.

Originality/value

The paper illustrates that the program demonstrated the importance of creating leaders for change, which have underpinned record outputs at the firm and strong progress towards the overall targets.

Citation

Rickatson, S. (2013), "Culture change enables ambitious growth at Nelsons", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 12 No. 5, pp. 241-244. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-03-2013-0031