tolino is the successful response of the leading German booksellers to the huge success of the Kindle eReader. In order to join forces against the financially strong competitor from the USA, Thalia, Weltbild and Hugendubel have joined forces and launched a joint eReading product. Before the launch of the first eReader, the interim manager was commissioned as head of the project management office (PMO) to coordinate the cooperation between the competing booksellers and Telekom as the technology service provider and accompanied the tolino alliance over several eReader and tablet product generations on its way to market success.
Virtual organization with central PMO management
The interim manager was the only neutral unit within the overall organization to manage the cooperation between the partners at all levels, from management to operational teams. As no joint venture was established, it was necessary to find efficient ways of virtually managing agile product development, customer service, marketing and PR without violating antitrust regulations. To this end, cross-company workstreams, processes and governance rules were jointly developed and introduced. The functioning organization became the basis for market success.
tolino on par with Amazon
Within 3 years, tolino successfully established itself as the eReader brand of German booksellers. Germany became one of the few international markets where Amazon/Kindle is not the sole market leader. At the end of the multi-year mandate, the interim manager was able to hand over a well-established organization to Allianz. This can be seen as a role model for how competitors in a product segment can work together to successfully compete against a seemingly overpowering disruptive competitor from the USA.
