Challenges - Within just a few years, Beiersdorf had evolved from a company with stable management and solid profitability to one with high volatility in the top management team and sobering year-end accounts, as well as ever- growing competitors. ' Had Beiersdorf taken too big a bite of the world's consumer market? Was Beiersdorf big enough to take on its major competitors? Had it made the right choice of strategy and was it the right timing for its implementation? And how could it balance profitability while maintaining local responsiveness