Toluca (A), (B), (C), (D), (E)

The Toluca case series is a largely autobiographical account of an American senior executive's first major assignment as the Gerente General (General Manager) of a troublesome plant in Mexico. As the sequence of events are described neither the ultimate success of this specific assignment -at age thirty overseeing 650 foreign workers- nor his later promotion to the role of President and CEO of the Corporation seventeen years later, are foreshadowed in the earlier cases. This case series not only decision-focused but also focuses on the antecedents of a formal decision. Namely how a problem or opportunity might be framed as understanding -and the elements of an "Emergent (or Evolving) Plan"- coalesce overtime. As a result, this case series presents instructors with an opportunity to model the value of refection-in-and-on-action which is at the heart of the five century old Ignation Pedagogical Paradigm. For example, at many points there is space for classes to think at multiple levels about the significance of the events that have been described, and how the participants may perceive the problem. Accordingly, this case is also about the development of an executive's habits of thought, action and values, the development of young manager into a senior executive, changing an organizational culture, technology transfer within a corporation, and the challenges of managing a foreign subsidiary during a turnaround.