Mosaic International was engaged by a UK manufacturer with an overseas PLC parent company to moderate and facilitate a high-level strategy meeting between the directors of both entities. The objective of the three-day meeting was to establish the UK company’s strategic positioning for the mid-term. The process involved formal presentations, informal discussions, and dinners.

Challenges

The biggest challenge was to try to bridge the difference in language and culture of both boards and to find sufficient common ground to achieve their goals. A more practical challenge was to devise a method of capturing, retaining and understanding the wealth of information provided by various department managers without sacrificing the nuances.

Preparation

We had several calls prior to the meeting with both the UK and PLC team. It was an opportunity to understand their intention and what they wished to achieve, and to determine what tensions there may be underneath the surface with a view to minimising the same.

We researched both company’s vision and mission statement and used that as our ‘north star’. At a practical level, we made a few suggestions on the set up of the room and ensuring that department managers addressed their main drivers and barriers in achieving their goals.

Delivery

We had to understand the inner workings of the business very quickly. We queried various aspects of the presentation to challenge or highlight points which were important. The drivers and barriers were appropriately noted.

On completion of the presentations, we prepared a summary using a framework linking two distinct performing parts of the UK company. This was then presented to the board with our observations. We also made some suggestions for both the UK and PLC company.

The differences between the UK and PLC board’s preferred strategies were acknowledged and with careful use of language, we crafted three strategic positions taking into account each board’s preferred wording. We included illustrations of what these positions would mean in practical terms. Following that, we helped facilitate the discussion between the two boards and ultimately, all three were accepted with only minor adjustments.

Outcome

After three days of meetings, both boards agreed that the wording of the strategic positions with the minor adjustments. The UK directors used our summary to debrief department managers internally and are now able to forge ahead with their detailed planning to deliver the strategy.

Feedback

‘Kiley handled the whole process well and managed to get a very good understanding of the business during the two days of presentation. His ability to summarise the many presentations made during the first two days into a cogent and understandable framework gave us the opportunity to focus our minds. The strategic position statements laid the foundations of our discussions on the final day. Without Kiley’s involvement, there was every chance that we would not have achieved the goal.’

Mr C, UK Company Board Member

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We were tasked with sourcing alternative supply manufacturers in other parts of Southeast Asia, and a key factor for our client was that our role was not to get in the way of the client and the supply manufacturer, but to facilitate it. Our client would have full autonomy once that relationship was bedded in.

By having a local auditor, we can help businesses increase their yield by identifying and tracking improvements along the whole supply chain. For more information about the key benefits of a localised supply chain, follow this link or contact Kiley Tan on 07885 784783 or kiley.tan@mosaicint.co.uk

The post Manufacturing Audit and Control appeared first on Mosaic International.

Our plan of action was to determine the exact technical details of the equipment, and source the appropriate suppliers all with a view to getting the best value for our client. Our knowledge of the market and local culture would help our client move forward quickly while avoiding costly mistakes.

In a global business world where sustainability and survival go hand in hand with monitoring metrics and third-party relationships, a localised supply chain auditor is the key to achieving increased margins and avoiding reputational damage. For more information follow this link or contact Kiley Tan on 07885 784783 or kiley.tan@mosaicint.co.uk

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We spoke to a number of such operators and two were shortlisted.

We made arrangements to introduce parties and hosted various meetings to assist both parties in their dealings. The client then appointed one of the shortlisted operators and agreed to work together with them to enter the market in Malaysia. An application was made for a licence to the central bank in the name of the UK operator with the entrepreneurs named as local partners.

Unfortunately, the application was not approved but parties remain in talks on other ongoing projects. Throughout the whole process, we were privy to their discussion and acted as an enabler to ensure that cultural and language idiosyncrasies were aligned.

The post Joint Ventures appeared first on Mosaic International.

Due to our understanding of the region, we were able to identify memorabilia which would be more likely to succeed than others. This was useful to maintain focus on products which had a higher possibility of sale rather than to confuse the offering made by the client.

We carried out research by visiting stores in Singapore and Malaysia. Contact was made in attempt to purchase these items but to no avail. We quickly identified that there was a gap in the market for our client’s products, which were highly sought after but difficult to come by in the market.

Approaches were then made to the purchasing managers of interested resellers with a view to appointing them as agents or distributors and negotiations are now ongoing to ensure that the appropriate commercial terms are agreed.

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We were made to understand that the client was mainly interested in placing its wine in fine dining restaurants. The client was very clear that the distributor had to have an understanding of Margaret River region. After careful research into the industry, we identified a number of potential distributors.

Some initial due diligence work was carried out on the potential distributors and including meetings and telephone calls with the potential distributors. Following that, we matched the potential distributor against the client’s requirements and only one potential distributor was put forward to the client.

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