Challenges with European Subsidiaries of Foreign Companies

1. DAY: STRATEGY CHALLENGE

Boston Business School research shows that 70% of the U.S. subsidiaries of European companies underperform. The reasons are manifold, but one common denominator is a misunderstanding of what each management culture perceives to be the appropriate strategy process.

Our team of bicultural and dual-national strategy advisors understands these challenges. They have experienced and solved predominant problems themselves. Most importantly, they have done it with their engagements in Mittelstand companies as well as companies listed on major U.S. stock exchanges. In just one day you will find answers to the question “do we really have to accept lackluster performance in our subsidiary”, and you will find a pathway to the proper expectations you should set into your business abroad.

This course will provide eye-opening insight into the core of strategic challenges facing every international business, midsize or large, private or public. You will receive confirmation for many strategic moves, but you will also learn that certain of your well-perceived moves have widened a strategic performance gap.

The BBS Advantage is that our senior lecturers are successful strategy consultants with extensive and hands-on entrepreneurial and corporate experience on highest level.

• Original Strategic Intent: What has been our original intent with the venture abroad, what have we accomplished since then?

• Market Expectations and Own Competencies: In what “business” are we in on either side of the Atlantic, and what do markets expect from a company in our business?

• Operative Performance: How do we perform on the Balanced Scorecards Parameters?

• Current Competitive Position: Comparison and delta-analysis of the challenged organization respective to performance on markets, financial performance, processes efficiency, and people management.

• Stakeholder Expectations and Owner Strategy: Expected competitive position and long-term behavioral goals of the subsidiary.

• Future Competitive Position: What is our goal? What do we expect from the subsidiary three years, five years from now?
• Opportunities and Threats: Overall assessment of outside forces, drivers, and inhibitors.

• Strategic Options: Creating strategic options on the way to the goal. We have to decide between optimistic, pessimistic, opportunistic, and cautious strategy patterns.

• Biz Plan to Goal: What business plan is needed to craft a strategy for outstanding market performance, sustainable finances, effective processes, and a high-performance organization?

• Implementation: Once teams have agreed upon goals and plans, strategies need to be enforced – the top-down approach remains the only way of doing that.

Day 2: Solutions

Solutions