The company, with around 6,000 employees, is one of the leading manufacturers of building materials in Germany. A vertically integrated production structure was represented in four legally independent divisions with a wide variety of processes. The results were declining. 300 plants in one division were not optimally aligned from an integration and cost perspective, and working capital was also very high. The shareholder threatened to sell the company to a competitor. There was a change in the management board. During this phase, the interim manager was hired as Chief Finance Officer (CFO) and restructuring manager.
Self-healing powers of the company activated in workshops
The task was clear and the CFO immediately created a restructuring project organization with a small team. He then developed an overall strategy at Management Board level. One of the challenges was to break down the strategy to the next levels and resolve resistance. To this end, he moderated a number of workshops in which he communicated the strategy and underpinned it with initial measures.
Top-down strategy filled with bottom-up content
The aim of the workshops and the strategy as a whole was to activate the company's self-healing powers. This meant installing the strategy "top-down", but generating the measures "bottom-up" across the entire company. Good ideas were presented by corporate communications in the corporate communication channels and idea providers were incentivized accordingly. This gave the project a positive image.
The measures were then quantified and monitored by the project team during implementation. Another success factor was the intensification of communication with shareholders, supported by appropriate reporting; in line with the motto: "Do good and talk about it".
Restructuring makes the company more agile - earnings increase by €20 million
As a result, cross-divisional processes were standardized, an internal service center was created, plants were sold or swapped with competitors and the product portfolio was thinned out. The result improved by €20 million. In addition, the company was subsequently more agile, the shareholder was satisfied and the plans to sell were shelved. Overall, the company experienced a culture of continuous improvement. One of the challenges is to maintain this attitude, particularly in the face of (external) disruptive factors and management changes.
