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Operational Assessment

Viewing posts tagged Operational Assessment

25 Jan 2020

HR & Executive Recruitment: Interim General Manager & Recruitment of a Permanent General Manager

By Arthur Elliott

Background

  • A metal fabrication WOFE located in Changzhou with a US parent was faced with a situation involving an ineffective General Manager
  • EWA was engaged to:
    • Recruit and supervise an Interim General Manager
    • Identify, qualify and recruit a permanent General Manager

Approach

Step 1: Recruitment & Supervision of an Interim General Manager
  • Preparation & alignment
  • Selection
  • On-boarding & engagement management
Step 2: General Manager Candidate Criteria, Development & Assessment
  • Hard & soft skills definition
  • Individual interviews
  • Selection of 3 top candidates
Step 3: General Manager Candidate Due Diligence
  • Determination of scope
  • Desk-top audit & field research
  • Forensic review
  • Legal issues
Step 4: General Manager Candidate Final Report
  • Analysis, recommendation & rationale

Results

  • Successful search to find a General Manager fitting a specific set of client requirements:
    • Integrity
    • Employee relations
    • Financial
    • Operational skills
  • Six-week search resulted in:
    • 3 highly qualified referrals
    • 1 individual was hired
  • Three months after the new GM reported to work:
    • Plant productivity increased from less than 55% to over 85% and rising
    • Staff productivity increased 15% in the same time frame
    • Customer complaints reduced to less than 1 per month (vs. 7+ over the previous 12 months)
25 Jan 2020

Risk Management: Investigation and Correction of Employee Trade Secrets Theft

By Arthur Elliott

Background

  • A manufacturer of specialty chemicals had lost 70% of company customer base due to TS theft
  • The previous Operations Director in China had removed electronic drawings and other IP over a 2-year period, set up a competing company and bribed the purchasing managers to move their purchases to his new company.
  • EWA was engaged to investigate the claim and develop counter-actions

Approach

Step 1: Risk Identification
  • Investigation and confirmation of the existence of the new company and the individual’s equity ownership
  • EWA obtained product samples and verified a trademark violation
Step 2: Risk Mitigation
  • Recruitment of local Chinese attorneys and the filing of a legal claim against both the company and the individual
  • The competitive office, workforce, sub-contractors and customer base visitors were investigated
  • EWA contacted the client’s original customer base to inform them of the various illegal actions and acts of corporate espionage
  • Legal proceedings cannot be disclosed due to confidentiality restrictions
Step 3: Long-Term Risk Prevention
  • Development of a comprehensive asset protection program

Results

  • 75% of the lost customer base returned to the client within 7 months
  • No new acts of corporate espionage or theft