An international Swiss air freight company had unexpectedly lost several top managers in its international finance team within a short space of time. The situation was exacerbated at very short notice when the Senior Business Controller EMEA had to go on maternity leave unexpectedly quickly for medical reasons.
Mandate as Senior Business Controller EMEA accepted within 48 hours
In addition, the company was under considerable pressure from its private equity (PE) owner because it had regularly missed its financial targets since the takeover. As a result, the company commissioned the highly experienced international controlling expert to stabilize the day-to-day business as Interim Senior Business Controller EMEA and to develop proposals for improving the result.
The interim manager took up the mandate at very short notice within 48 hours. Due to emergency maternity leave for medical reasons, there were only two days left for the handover. In addition, there was no documented handover material; all handovers were verbal.
Intensive data collection in twelve EMEA national subsidiaries
The size of the area of responsibility, with twelve national subsidiaries from Europe to the Middle East (EMEA), was also one of the particular challenges of the mandate. In the first week of the mandate, the interim manager held intensive discussions with the managers of the national companies and the shared service center in Thailand. He used the information gathered in these discussions to divide the companies into top performers and underperformers. After intensive coordination with the CFO of the parent company, he developed proposals for measures to reduce costs and increase income, particularly in the economically weak units.
Proposals for cost-cutting measures developed
The package of measures recommended by the interim manager included, among other things
- Closing two low-growth and loss-making sites in the Middle East
- Relocating and expanding one UK site while closing another UK site
Day-to-day business more focused on business and international collaboration
In day-to-day business, the interim manager focused primarily on providing advisory support to controlling and managers in the national companies. The US-Swiss national's extensive international experience played a key role in enabling him to very quickly establish a reliable, trusting working relationship with most stakeholders and strengthen cooperation between the national companies. For example, he was instrumental in ensuring that a restructuring in France was supported by the Dutch subsidiary. In another sub-project, the interim manager was instrumental in the successful conclusion of two major global contract negotiations.
EMEA controlling handed over to newly appointed senior manager in an orderly manner
After four and a half months, the interim manager's mandate ended with the appointment of a new EMEA controlling manager. The client was very satisfied with the expert's results: he had not only secured the day-to-day business, but even improved it. The controlling of the EMEA organization was now more business-oriented and cooperation between the national companies was strengthened. The new Senior Business Controller EMEA further developed the proposals drawn up by the interim manager and reviewed their implementation.
The next step was to develop controlling into a genuine business partner for the national companies and to lead the organization into the future from a technical perspective as well.
