This case concerns the Solvay group, a company specializing in chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics. The Solvay group was founded in 1861 by the Belgian chemist Ernest Solvay. At this time, he was experimenting with and inventing an ammonia-soda process to produce sodium carbonate, or otherwise called soda ash. After successfully inventing this process, he founded the Solvay group in 1863 to exploit this process. The case further speaks of the new head of human resources, Marcel Lorent, who must manage a new group called international mobility. This group was formed to facilitate the transfer of employees to other divisions. After nearly going bankrupt several times in seven years, the group decided to enter a phase of global expansion between the 1870s and 1880s, in which at that time the group created facilities in England, France, in Germany, Russia and the United States and has continued to expand over the years through acquisitions and diversifications. The current Solvay group currently has three main sectors which ...