Successful Transformation Case Studies
Starting Situation
Our client was a sixth-generation family-owned company, always managed by family members, and for the first time was undertaking a CEO search process external to the family ownership. Additionally, the group wanted to introduce significant changes in its business model supported by an ambitious strategic transformation plan. It was a difficult challenge with no option for failure. Another complexity was meeting the diverse needs of the Board members and breaking the inertia of a stable business in the present but difficult to maintain in the future. We had to anticipate this future.
Outcome
We managed to find the optimal leader. Today, he has been at the helm of the group for over 10 years. With his incorporation over a decade ago, the company:
tripled its turnover (reaching €300 million).
changed the culture, developing internal talent and hiring top professionals from other companies in the sector.
led a transformation towards digital businesses alongside traditional ones.
instilled confidence in shareholders to invest in inorganic growth and internationally.
Keys to Our Success
We are experts in solving difficult challenges.
In this case, the most critical factor was understanding each shareholder and knowing their purposes.
It was essential to understand where the group was and where it wanted to go and grasp the pace of change desired. Knowing this allowed us to see that the candidate's training and experience were important, but even more critical was their value as a person.
Additionally, we needed to assess the candidates' ability to project themselves into the future.
Another key was being able to manage a support process during the candidate's landing phase, followed by a subsequent development phase.
Today, we continue to maintain a relationship of trust and work with this group: we have filled more than 10 positions among directors and managers.
Starting Situation
One of the R&D centers in the field of biotechnology and medicine in Barcelona needed to incorporate internationally renowned scientists into its team who would also bring knowledge and project funding. We had three challenges:
Identify potential candidates, who were not common on social networks.
Attract them, considering that they were already linked to other research centers.
Overcome the resistance that any change of country implies for their families.
Success in the mission was crucial because their incorporation meant increasing international prestige for the center.
Outcome
After 10 months of search, international meetings, negotiations, and meetings between the client and candidates, we managed to incorporate 5 internationally renowned professionals. Over the years, they have achieved industry transfer projects that, in addition to revenue, have positioned them at the forefront of the scientific world and attracted other collaborators internationally.
Keys to Our Success
It was a highly challenging project that initially seemed very complex. But a good identification of the fundamental elements allowed us to achieve it. The keys were:
Identifying what would attract these professionals, emphasizing the options that Barcelona offered for them, beyond those of the center itself.
Analyzing what difficulties might arise in moving families and providing solutions: helping their partners find work, advising them on their establishment in Barcelona (housing, schools, etc.) with specialized advisors, and facilitating their social networking in the city by leveraging our contacts.
Starting Situation
Our client is a family business. At that time, it had just brought in an investment fund in part of its capital, with a turnover of over €400 million. We were entrusted with finding a person to take on the General Management, which had to undertake three processes of considerable difficulty:
Promote a significant restructuring of teams, with layoffs and new hires.
Change the company's culture while respecting the fundamental values of the family business.
Activate, in a third phase, a growth plan to add value to the company and proceed with a future sale with capital gains.
It was necessary to reconcile the interests of the fund with those of the founding and owning family, given their permanence in the shareholding but not in the management.
Outcome
Five years after incorporating the new CEO:
the company had become the core of a much larger group in its sector, doubling its turnover through the identification of opportunities and acquisitions of companies.
its EBITDA had tripled.
it won the Best Place to Work award.
it was sold (including the family's part) for 7 times its EBITDA.
Keys to Our Success
In this case, two key factors were crucial to successfully completing the mission.
