ABSTRACT
Novia is a limited-liability company, founded in April 1992, that produces hosiery and knitwear. It was founded by five former executives of the Czechoslovak knitwear giant Elite. Novia started its life as a limited partnership that submitted a privatization project and actually leased the plant before the project came through. The governance structure of the privatized company is more like that of a family business. The intention of the new owners is to build Novia into a standard-quality, low-cost producer with a high degree of flexibility. The situation regarding supplies for knitwear production is much easier. The high degree of depreciation also suggests that Novia’s machinery is obsolete and has low productivity and negligible automation. In light of deteriorating Czech-Slovak relations, the breakdown of Novia’s traditional Central and East European markets, and the influx of imported goods on domestic markets, Novia had to move quickly.
