Re: [Leica] Visit from the US Leica rep

["Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>]

From: Marshall C. Hunt Jr <huntmc2@fuse.net>
Sent: Sunday, October 03, 1999 08:31
Subject: Re: [Leica] Visit from the US Leica rep


> Now what's wrong with this scenario? Does Leica USA
> want to move products?

This is pretty typical of foreign subsidiaries of a multinational company.  They
are usually pretty clueless compared to the home office.  It doesn't matter
where the company is based or where the subsidiary is: in general, if you are in
a country that is not the home country of a multinational corporation, you can
expect extremely poor service compared to those fortunate enough to live in the
company's home country.  I've seen this over and over.  It is less obvious with
really large corporations that can afford to have very large subsidiaries in
major foreign markets, but even then it can be a problem.  For example,
technical expertise on a company's products is usually nonexistent outside the
corporate headquarters, no matter how big a subsidiary is.  All subsidiaries
generally act only as storefronts (and thus emphasize marketing and sales, with
a little bit of customer service), unless they actually manufacture product,
which is rare.

  -- Anthony