Leading Enterprise Transformation

Several years ago, I was the value chain lead for a computer peripherals company. The company served a large funnel for retail consumer peripherals as its main business model. However, it had several other hardware device businesses that were struggling to establish effective end-to-end value chains to support their business models, from sales through reverse logistics. The three business models used by the company were:

B2C - positioning products with retailers via distributor channels

B2B - positioning products with businesses via integrator channels

OEM - making and positioning customer branded products via customer channels

My job was to assess each current value chain for each product line business model, identify the gaps, recommend solutions, and put together cross functional teams to make the changes. When the newly hired OEM sales executive approached me with her strategy to turn around our flagging OEM business, I was excited. The business had been in decline for several years. She had developed a new sales strategy for engaging the OEM customers that was designed to increase revenues, drive down cost points, and be much better positioned and more responsive to product demands. Our discussion and my excitement for driving the transformation resulted in me becoming an international road warrior spending the better part of my life in Asia and Europe, touching every function in the company, on our journey of transformation.