Holding companies typically comprise complex global operations and multi-faceted structures – which often means complex and multi-faceted challenges.
Senior managers must tackle difficult decisions about resource and cost allocations across multiple, fundamentally different business units and product lines. How can holding companies navigate the complexity and diversity inherent to their businesses, while ensuring a widespread focus on value creation?
Our complex transformation specialists have worked with holding companies across the globe. We apply our market-proven transformation expertise, rooted in Lean and with cutting-edge digital technologies, to make a lasting, meaningful top-line and most importantly bottom-line impact.
The first step is to objectively understand the big picture and set the overall direction, starting by clarifying the operational role of the holding company, determining and optimizing its core functions and tasks.
You need to review how the business units operate, with the aim of defining and analyzing internal value streams. Based on these insights, business units can be empowered to act flexibly and with appropriate autonomy, while generating sustainable profitable growth.
Next is to consider where expertise can be aggregated and services shared, identifying synergies and areas of functional excellence to eliminate inefficiencies and waste. Assess the costs and benefits of outsourcing and digitization to define what can be done internally and what can be done more efficiently externally or through automation.
You must also decide whether assets with sub-par performance merit investment or divestment. Will they benefit from capital injection – or would it be wiser to allocate the proceeds from their sale to a more robust or potentially profitable part of the business?
Our Lean digital transformation expertise helps holding companies navigate complex strategic decision-making by providing a proven, systematic methodology and approach for reviewing portfolios.
Holding companies are frequently characterized by their complex global operations. Take Berkshire Hathaway, for example, a holding company with positions in multiple, disparate industries—stretching from utilities to railroads and insurance—and operations around worldwide.
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Our vision is to be the highest quality and most reliable partner for our clients on their lean journey to become the most efficient and effective competitors in their industries.
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