Our Approach

We get a short term mandate to analyse the situation, execute interviews , research with all stake holders and develop suggestions for improvements . Clients can choose to implement the improvements with CBI support or internally. In most real crisis situations, we join the management team in order to achieve the necessary leverage with all stake holders.

CBI’s experience:

Interdisciplinary team:

CBI’s interdisciplinary team has deep experience in the management of crises. We have the expertise to guide the team to the right decisions. The effective, practical implementation of these decisions is equally important. The team has to follow-through with the right resources and create the desired outcome even in a highly challenging environment. To achieve this, they need commercial, financial, legal, HR, change management, technical and negotiation-expertise.

CASE STUDY:

Managing the fallout in Japan from one of the most significant insolvencies in German automotive history, Karmann, by successfully restructuring numerous companies, managing downsizing after the Lehmann Shock and by keeping businesses operational after the Tsunami in 2011.

NEGOTIATION:

We know how to negotiate major deals with customers and how to align teams towards new targets. In all our projects we apply our holistic approach, a combination of technical, HR, finance, legal and market-specific customer know how. We also turned around underperforming businesses in China and India understand what a crisis means for all involved people and how to motivate them to come out of a crisis as winners.

IN A CRISIS:

Often, in a crisis, the head office management team is stretched and unable to support group subsidiaries fully. This is particularly true of the current COVID-19 crisis and especially significant for Japanese subsidiaries.

Changes to government rules and regulations are poorly managed and require interpretation. The processes for applying for government support for staff and the business are complicated and require judgement. Supply chains are interrupted, cash flow is reduced or stopped, and the company is unable to produce.

Local management is often unprepared for these challenges, unable to explain the situation clearly or has not learned or been empowered to manage with the necessary authorization. This creates a paralyzing effect in a crisis, especially in case of Japanese companies, which are naturally hierarchically structured.