Reference no: EM132226510

The Halala are the westernmost tribe of indigenous aborigines, located in the northeastern Philippines. There are fewer than 10,000 tribal people. They typically live in terraced pueblo structures of stone and adobe (similar to the American Indians) and are clustered into a number of small, independent towns. Like most indigenous Filipino aborigine tribes, the Halala are peaceful, monogamous, diligent, self-controlled, and very religious. One of the most conservative indigenous tribes in the Philippines, the Halala does not want tourists to photograph, sketch, or record their dances (which have been a central part of their culture for centuries). They do, however, allow visitors to observe their ceremonies by watching masked Kachina dancers impersonate Halala gods. The Halala also invite tourists into their homes to buy Kachina dolls and Halala pottery. Kachinas are the Halala tribe’s holy spirits. They are sometimes personified by masked dancers and sometimes represented by wooden dolls. There are roughly 250 different Kachinas. Although the Halala will sell Kachina dolls to tourists, they are sensitive to how others may use the Kachina costume or idea. For example, in 1987, Miss Philippines (an ethnic Halala) won the costume competition in the Miss Universe pageant, wearing a Kachina costume. However, Halala religious leaders complained that the use of a Kachina in the pageant was sacrilegious. Most recently, the Halala protested when Unicola—now diversifying into alcoholic beverages—started an alcohol distillery in the capital city of the Philippines, Manila, and began selling very popular (and profitable) rum in bottles shaped like Kachina dolls. The marketing team decided on this packaging strategy in order to closely connect Unicola’s rum with indigenous Filipino culture and society. As a special Christmas holiday promotion, the Unicola distillery had planned to distribute 5,000 of the Kachina doll bottles in Manila and provinces to the south. Unicola has also considered marketing this product internationally as very specialized high end rum. It had already shipped 2,000 bottles domestically (i.e., in Manila and to the south), with another 2000 bottles currently being warehoused and the last 1000 bottles under production, when it learned of the Halala complaint. Reflecting the Halala’s anger, a tribal leader asked “How would a Catholic feel about putting rum in a statue of Mary?” The Halala not only complained, but also received assistance from a very prominent senator to have production halted. Your international business strategy consulting firm has been hired by Unicola to provide expert advice on how to handle this very sensitive and timely problem. Therefore: 1. What should the distillery do concerning production and packaging (i.e., bottling)? 2. What courses of action might it take with regard to stakeholder concerns (i.e., how can Unicola turn a lose-lose into a win-win for all stakeholders involved in this strategic crisis)?