In many Arab countries, intensive investment is being made in aviation infrastructure in order to expand capacities. German and international companies are forming partnerships. These joint ventures deliver and provide products and services over several years of project phases with changing clients.
The interim manager was hired to set up the office of such a bidding and execution joint venture in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and to manage it for two years. His responsibilities included:
- Developing the customer relationship with Arab partners and clients
- Managing plant construction and infrastructure projects in Jeddah, Riyadh and Medina
- Managing the tender teams for tenders in Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia
- Structuring the collaboration of international teams from different trades and disciplines.
- Setting up the project processes for sales, purchasing, technical implementation, construction, commissioning, controlling and service.
Project under economic and intercultural pressure
The entire interim mandate was characterized by two strong influences:
At the beginning of the mandate (duration from 2014 to the end of 2016), the oil price had fallen to an unprecedented extent. All market participants were under intense pressure to overcome this oil price crisis.
Relationship management with customers and partners required particular sensitivity in order to take account of all cultural and commercial peculiarities.
Planning and building aircraft refueling facilities
The project scope included planning the facilities (storage/transport/transhipment of petroleum products, e.g. JetFuel) for refueling aircraft at the new international airport in Medina. The interim manager and his team delivered the master plan for the construction of tank farms, loading facilities and underground supply centers, among other things. He was also responsible for the planning, development and delivery of the control systems (hardware and software).
Airport infrastructure projects go into operation on schedule
The infrastructure projects in Medina, Jeddah and Riyadh went into operation at the expected seasonal peak times of the customers and continue to operate reliably. The interim manager was able to make a significant contribution to the success, as his combination of classic project management and adaptation to the cultural particularities provided a key to cooperation between all parties involved.
Individual solution strategies for intercultural challenges
Despite all the successes, cross-trade integration always remained a challenge. Here, the interim manager impressed with his flexibility and situational understanding for both contractual partners and clients - and with his individual solution strategies.
