How to (really) reorganise a company: case history no. 3, part I
Training
Sustained growth can hide structural weaknesses and wipe out results, if the organisation does not keep pace. This is the story of a company that decided to stop, analyse and start again with method.
Case History #3 – Part I
Sector: design and delivery of customer loyalty promotional campaigns for retail and pharmaceuticals.
Turnover: about €40 million.
Problems:
- no structured processes for strategic and operational planning and controlling;
- contribution margin measured only in aggregate, not for individual jobs;
- inefficient logistics, entirely outsourced.
In short: the company was growing, but without a measurable direction.
The intervention: building vision and control
We started a reorganisation that lasted 24 months, with a clear goal: to turn growth into conscious management. A process of strategic redefinition but above all of building method:
- Vision and Mission: what the company aims to become (Vision) and its deeper purpose (Mission), translated into long-term measurable KPIs;
- 5-year baseline projections: the «inertial» scenario, with no corrective action, to understand the natural course of the business;
- internal analysis: strengths and weaknesses compared with competitors;
- external analysis: the macro-environment and Porter’s five forces (barriers to entry, the power of customers and suppliers, the threat of substitutes and competitive intensity), to identify the company’s real positioning;
- from there, the SWOT analysis, a clear map of opportunities and threats;
- the economic and financial impact assessment of opportunities and risks, leading to the adjusted baseline, the updated and realistic projection of the company.
From strategy to action
The next step was to put the strategy into practice and turn theory into concrete results.
We defined the «key challenges», the strategic areas on which to act to neutralise threats and seize opportunities, building on strengths. And we built the action plan on two levels:
- continuous improvement plan, based on the OKR system (Objectives and Key Results): a few clear, measurable and shared objectives, achievable without new investment;
- strategic initiatives plan, with medium- to long-term actions to support structural growth and achieve the company’s Vision.
A process that introduced vision, method and shared responsibility: three pillars for solid, lasting growth.
What next? In part II we tell the concrete results: how these tools changed the way the company decides, plans and grows.