1956, GAC's first year of operation, saw Bertil Ahlm installed in GAC's first agency office in Kuwait. His immediate superior was Åke Svensson. Bengt Lindwall, who had established the agency, received reports of progress every three months.
These three GAC men along with the GAC local partners, Al Kazemi and Alghanim, comprised the entire management structure at the inception of GAC operations in the Middle East. Within a year another office in Basrah was opened. As each successive agency opened another manager came under Svensson's supervision. Each manager in turn was responsible for his agency and all employees.
From the beginning of GAC operations each manager exercised wide powers of supervision and decision making. Major decisions were approved from either Svensson or Lindwall. The reasons were two-fold: The communication infrastructures were extremely primitive and forced decision making downward. Also, Lindwall encouraged competition between his managers.
This structure served GAC well until business became too complex for this elementary management structure.