A Growth Consulting Case Study:
Pan-European Opportunities

Challenge

The European division of a global packaging company, an $800-million business unit, found that their base business was declining. The packaging market had become commoditized over time. Moreover, the organization was run by country. In other words, each country was its own little fiefdom. Each made its own decisions and there was little thought about broader pan-European opportunities.

The President of the division approached Strategex for a process to challenge his group to consider new opportunities for growth and new methods of organizing to achieve the new goals.

Process

Strategex was asked to facilitate a strategic planning process to look at diversification options beyond the company’s current core market. The scope was to host a number of off-site meetings. Between meetings, Strategex would organize the development and writing of a new business plan.

Over a four-month period, the team met three times as a group and committed to work projects between sessions. The major breakthrough in the first session was that there were several business successes in one region of Europe that could be exported to other areas of the continent. Market sizing estimates were quickly computed and confidence grew that these opportunities could be sold into other parts of Europe. Each area of the continent had hidden assets that could be exploited if properly supported and organized.

From the subsequent sessions, the team set out to consider the organization changes and resource implications of the new plan. Organization charts were drawn up, options debated, and tensions mounted. In the end, the group collectively agreed that the old way of working was simply not going to work and a new Pan-European organization was required to ensure the transformation occurred.

Results

By the end of the process, the new business model was approved by the board with strategies agreed upon, resources assigned, and financials established. The business is now executing the plan with a renewed sense of commitment and drive.