Vista Alegre: the decline of an historical company

Abstract

This case describes the events that took place in Vista Alegre during the last two decades (1989-2007). This historic Portuguese company is dedicated mainly to the manufacture of ‘table art’ products, gaining enormous prestige on national territory due to the excellence of its products. However, this prestige was not sufficient to sustain the company, as this case shows. Information can be found in this case regarding the strategic decisions made by the company based on growth and major investment in new equipment in order to create a truly international group. However, this strategy did not generate the expected outcome and even resulted in the group's steep downfall which would end in the takeover bid launched by Visabeira at the beginning of 2009.