A family-run German mechanical engineering company was looking to enter the Japanese market. The client for the interim mandate is one of the world's leading providers in its field with a consolidated turnover of €200 million. With a double-digit market share, the company is well represented worldwide, but has not yet been able to generate any sales in Japan itself.
Go-to-market in a complex environment
For the company, Japan is a market that is as complex as it is strategically important. However, the company had previously been unable to enter the market due to a lack of experience in Asia and local knowledge. As Executive Vice President, the interim manager was tasked with analyzing a potential partnership with a competitor, determining the details of a cooperation and negotiating a joint venture with a production facility in Japan. He was also mandated to be responsible for all necessary steps in the post-merger integration and go-to-market process. The investment volume amounted to €30 million.
Joint venture negotiated and founded
The Japanese partner already had a production facility in Japan, which was to be developed into the nucleus of the future Japanese business as part of a joint venture. At the beginning of the interim mandate, the expert carried out a fundamental analysis and led the joint venture negotiations - from the letter of intent to the initialling of the cooperation agreement.
Concept developed for the new organization
In parallel, the interim manager developed a concept for the new organization. It quickly became clear that converting the acquired production facility to the client's products alone would not lead to success. The interim manager drew up a strategic business plan with the components of reorganization, outsourcing, business development, focusing on core products and increasing sales.
Intercultural management challenges overcome
Despite all the globalization, projects in Asia pose particular intercultural challenges for management. Having lived in Japan for more than 10 years, the interim manager is very familiar with the Japanese language, culture and mentality. The project benefited considerably from this. The interim manager made a significant contribution to avoiding and resolving intercultural tensions. In doing so, he created the basis for efficient and results-oriented work.
His expertise in market entry processes, post-merger integration and change management did the rest to convince both partners that the interim manager had the necessary practical experience and expertise to implement a project of this scale sustainably.
Turnaround and positive earnings forecast
The project was successfully completed after a period of 14 months. The final result was:
- Turnaround of the negative EBITDA of €400,000 and an earnings forecast of €560.000 for the first 4 financial years
- Staff reduced by 40% in a socially responsible manner
- Overall change from a pure production unit to an assembly, sales and service unit
- Deficient products eliminated and product range restructured
- Market penetration and focus on new markets realized
- Company agreement negotiated and concluded
