Dr. Russell F. Henke -- Business Consultant
Case #4 -- Re-Organization & Business Planning
A software company has become too large to be run as a single P&L and decides to re-organize into multiple business units that each carry P&L responsibilities for software product marketing, software development and software support. Unfortunately, many of the newly-appointed business unit managers have had little experience in running or managing a P&L business unit. Moreover, the company’s consolidated business plan for the next fiscal year is due in two months time.
Energized by the recently initiated pattern of quarterly management meetings (see Case #3), the company asks the same outside business consultant to help the new business unit managers to write their individual unit business plans and consolidate them smoothly into the corporate whole.
Realizing that the job of individual and custom assistance with each of a dozen new business unit managers could not be accomplished in the limited time available with any hope of consistency and roll-up potential, the consultant first develops a unified Planning Tool Kit for all business unit managers to follow step-by-step, whether the unit manager is a neophyte or an experienced manager. The consultant then facilitates a series of planning review meetings with all unit managers present together with the CEO and CFO.
Not only is the consolidated company plan enriched and done on time, but also the individual business units each come away with written operating plans for immediate implementation and each business unit now has a leader who has begun the invaluable process of real-world management education.
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This page was last updated on December 29, 2008