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Consumer Project
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The client, one of Southeast Asia's largest food companies, had successfully navigated the crisis years of 1997 and 1998, remaining financially and commercially robust. However, the company continued to be reliant on two key business units for 75 per cent of its sales and profits. These two categories were subject to increasing competitive pressure, raising concerns about our client's ability to continue to create value in the future.
BCG was engaged to evaluate the company's portfolio of businesses. We were asked to identify opportunities to improve performance in each business; identify the potential for some of the smaller businesses to become core businesses in the near future; and identify categories where the company should develop a presence.
In this project, we made significant use of BCG's proprietary value measurement tools. While the results of our analysis were often the subject of heated debate with the client CEO, a consensus view eventually began to emerge. Our client is now focused on the key value creation levers in each business, and BCG continues to support the company as it rolls out its value creation agenda.
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Click on the image to read some more personal perspectives on the project.
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This case had all the elements of the 'ideal' consulting assignment.
First, it was a very challenging, pure strategy case. Our client is involved in many different types of businesses, both upstream and downstream in the value chain. It is the leading player in some of these businesses and a new market entrant in others. Imagine the strategic complexity associated with marrying those two elements and you won't be far away from the work we did for this client!
Second, the Indonesian consumer goods sector is a very 'sexy' area. Our client's businesses affect everyone, and everyone in this case translates to more than 200 million people, since our client's products are consumed by almost everybody in Indonesia. In this very dynamic sector, the competitive landscape constantly changes as new products are developed and launched. We began a competitive assessment for the client on the first day of our engagement, but it was continually renewed until the end of the first phase!
George, Project Leader in the Jakarta office
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This must be one of the most interesting and challenging cases in my career at BCG. In my first consumer goods project, my role was to work alongside the head of the largest business unit to develop a business plan that meets the company's aggressive growth aspiration. The task was very challenging, as the client had already commanded major market share with its packaged foods products.
My experience prior to the case was limited to consuming the client products for midnight snacks. But having spent almost a year conducting numerous focus group discussions, tried out over a hundred variety of the products, and reading all possible materials regarding the subject, I am now one of the select few experts in BCG who can talk passionately about the product. Not bad if you want to impress friends with your packaged foods expertise!
Dean, Project Leader in the Kuala Lumpur office and currently, SEA Ambassador to Vienna office
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