CHALLENGE | ACG APPROACH | RESULTS

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ACG APPROACH

The client had several key issues that needed to be resolved prior to the expansion effort. A talented team with a broad range of expert capabilities was promptly assembled and dispatched to the client's corporate headquarters. The team had initially spent considerable time getting acquainted with the business and understanding the technology. We became internal experts on the company and its business by interviewing the entire top management of the company and carefully analyzing the working environment and company dynamics.

Subsequently, through multiple brainstorming sessions with the client and within the team, we identified all of the major problem areas that were the foremost impediments to the expansion effort. Right away it was apparent that the company was missing personnel for some key top positions, which they did not want to fill permanently until they found just the right fit. Therefore, the first thing that we did for the client was to provide them with several of our expert consultants as key interim personnel for the required top management positions.

Once the company was no longer debilitated by lack of top experts in their respective fields, several deep investigative analyses were undertaken simultaneously. The team created dynamic spreadsheet models for the procurement department, researched alternative ESOP possibilities, assisted the management in contract review and negotiations with their existing suppliers, restructured the organizational configuration of the company to better fit with their core competencies, performed due diligence on a number of potential new tactical suppliers, assisted with investor relations, and developed a new strategic business plan for the company incorporating our clients ambitious desires.

As soon as all of these tasks were completed, our team began to assist the client in the implementation of our recommendations, which was no easy feat given the size of the clients organization. Each team member was assigned to overseeing the implementation efforts of the specific task that he/she had made recommendations on and actually assisting in carrying it out to completion. As soon as results started to be noticeable, quantifiable, and self-propelling, the team moved on to the next phase of our project the global expansion. The team first analyzed several potential geographic regions that were of interest for the early expansion to begin. Although the emerging markets of Eastern Europe did not initially seem appealing, several small market studies, additional surveys, and a pilot project successfully validated the concept. This was merely the initial step and a lot of additional work was needed to get the client to the desired goal. The team undertook a detailed analysis of the local market demand and of the key competitive forces in the region. Through various interviews with local industry leaders, business intelligence, and secondary data, we completed a comprehensive research study resulting in valuable recommendations, which included best market penetration methodologies, associated costs, a competitive landscape, possible distribution channels, and the best product groups to launch.

The next step was to do the necessary due diligence on various distributors, agents, wholesalers, retailers and other sales channels to determine whom to begin negotiations with, which again required additional field work. Once the original pre-selection was made, the team began the negotiations phase with the chosen local partners. This required more on-site meetings and contract review. Due to our great local legal support teams we were able to expedite this process. During these negotiations the team was the client's sole representative on the ground. For several months after the contract execution and actual active collaboration, the team took a back seat approach and merely monitored the process.

After months of successful operations in every local market, the team began to determine whether it would be prudent to set up some sort of local representation for CRM and business development in the area and considered such options as local offices, mergers, acquisitions, and strategic alliance possibilities. Our team identified all possible M&A targets, made recommendations on which ones to pursue and why, and provided a detailed roadmap for the implementation.

The team then once again assisted the client in the implementation of our recommendations. We were able to set up and staff the local offices, court the potential acquisition targets, administer a detailed valuation study of all possible targets based on public and private information, pursue to the negotiation stages with the acquisition targets and assist in contract review and all other related activities. We also further assisted the client with post-merger issues, such as convergence of goals, cross-cultural issues, strategy review, corporate control, organizational structure, risk mitigation, currency hedging, pricing, branding, enterprise resource planning, and corporate governance.

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