A global champion in the metals industry recognized early on that its existing business would be eroded by the inevitable shift from the combustion engine to electromobility. The company therefore commissioned a consulting firm to develop a strategy for adapting its product portfolio. Based on this strategy, it hired the interim manager as a business and organizational developer to drive forward the long-term transformation towards e-mobility.
Business model and business plan developed for start-up
The interim manager therefore came across a ready-made strategy from the consultants. The plan was to build an ecosystem of partners in the new technology. In discussions with the car manufacturers, however, it quickly became clear that this market strategy was not feasible. The interim manager also realized that the core team in the product area was blocking any significant change in thinking and procedures. The major transformation task was therefore impossible without tackling an even bigger task at the same time: changing the core team's thought and behavior patterns.
The interim manager therefore came to the conclusion that the new business area could not be built with the core team of the "old" product area. So he developed a new strategy. Within a few weeks, he outlined a new business model and suggested to the CEO that a start-up be founded on this basis. Once the key milestones had been outlined, the interim manager drew up a detailed business plan. He presented the concept to the supervisory board and was given the green light for the project by a large consensus.
The interim manager became CEO of the start-up. His business plan envisaged acting as a specialized product developer for manufacturers and suppliers. In this way, the start-up leapfrogged several levels in the supply chain.
Combination of agile methods | co-creation with external partners
The interim manager built the new company's core functions such as design, development, business development, sales and marketing from scratch: with a new team, located in the center of the customer ecosystem. To this end, he made targeted use of new methods such as Lean Start-up and Scrum. Where necessary, proven processes and specifications from the automotive industry were taken into account. For example, the interim manager relied on a quality management system in accordance with ISO9001 right from the start - with the option to expand in the direction of IATF16949.
The start-up lacked expertise and capacity at the beginning. The interim manager compensated for this with a co-creation approach in conjunction with external specialists. Expertise beats size. Employees from the Group and the partner companies complemented the lean, fast and creative network. The project teams used sprint working methods derived from Scrum right from the start. All support functions such as finance, HR and IT were provided by the Group.
Presenting the prototype of the new product after 15 months
The result: the new company was launched on the market just 9 months after approval by the Supervisory Board. the first prototype was presented 6 months later. At the same time, the company developed various approaches for other new business models.
Sales crisis and COVID: the entire company becomes an agile speedboat
Then came two unforeseeable crises: a sales crisis followed by COVID-19. The normal reflex in the automotive industry would have been a cost-cutting program, to which the start-up might also have fallen victim. In this case, however, it was different. The parent company recognized that the agile structures of the "start-up speedboat" had the potential to successfully transform the entire company. The crisis was therefore used to restructure the product area in the core company along the lines of the start-up. This was successful - with significantly better results than a general cost-cutting program. The interim manager handed over the company to the new CEO.
The external expert was named "Interim Manager of the Year" for the project in 2020.
