A useful way of knowing more about a foreign subsidiary is to prepare a strategic plan. However, the plan is only as good as the input data. Many medium sized Companies have never attempted a strategic plan.
Many Financial Directors in such Companies have great difficulty in working with projected figures. Managing Directors of such Companies are often sales orientated with little understanding of the medium term implications of sales price movements, cost variations and product mix variations. Their idea of a strategic plan is to take last year's figures, add 5% and assume the same gross margin. In other Companies internal conflicts between Directors may make the preparation of a strategic plan a virtual impossibility.
In these circumstances the Holding Company has three choices :
The Interim Director will carry out an in-depth analysis of :
...and will submit the report to the Holding Company.
With the help of the local management team the Interim Director will also prepare a Three Year Plan, with detailed figures, Profit and Loss Accounts (if possible by product or market segment), Capital Expenditure requirements and projected Balance Sheets.
The report and the Three Year Plan plus the feedback obtained during their preparation, give the Holding Company a clear view of where their Subsidiary is and where it should be going. Naturally the Interim Director has no decisional power and will be extremely discreet as to his opinions. He/she must nonetheless be a strong motivator and persuader.
My first main assignment as an independent, in 1997, was to draw up and implement a Strategic Plan.
Print this pageInterim Manager (Managing Director or Financial Director) since April 1997, based Madrid working both in France and Spain.
British national speaking perfect French and excellent Spanish.
Hands-on, pragmatic, natural leader.