3. Does the signing of a contract for such major software and solutions development with SAP seem appropriate at this stage? Should the company take one step at a time rather than attempt to do so much at once? The town of Verey, Switzerland, perches among the vineyards above Lake Geneva. Wealthy retirees take in Alpine vistas as they pass their afternoons strolling along the waterfront. The most exciting event is the annual grape harvest. Silicone Valley and the hubbub of high tech seem worlds away. On the edge of town, however, stands the glass and steel global headquarters of Nestlé, the world’s largest food producer.

This setting has now become the epicenter of one of Europe’s most ambitious e-commerce initiatives as Nestlé undertakes a plan to make the company more agile, more responsive to its customers, and more profitable.

Over the next three years it will invest as much as US$1.8 billion in a phased development plan. The company will continue to expand its use of the Internet and Web, acquire additional specialized software and solutions, build data centers, and work toward creating a coherent global information system. Peter Brabeck-

Lemathe, the company’s chief executive, calls the process an ‘e-revolution’ – albeit one that will take several years to complete. He has commented that ‘This might sound slow for Silicone Valley, but it’s very fast’

for a company like Nestlé.

The company Henri Nestlé founded the company in 1867 in order to market the baby formula he had developed. In 1938, Nestlé scientists were the first to produce instant coffee.

These two products fueled much of the company’s growth for its first century. Twenty years ago Nestlé

began a US$40 billion buying spree, acquiring a number of companies including Friskies in 1985, saucemaker Buitoni in 1988, and Perrier in 1992.