Case study · China · organisation & operating model
Turning a corporate target into work each department can do
A one-day workshop that decoded the year’s targets, produced functional objectives, and named the three things blocking the business.
What they asked
A Chinese startup biotechnology company, engaged in 2019, needed its senior management team aligned around corporate targets the team perceived as very demanding — and a structured way to break those targets into concrete departmental tasks rather than aspirations.
What we did
- Workshop design and facilitation on strategic alignment and target setting
- An assessment tool for translating company goals into functional tasks
- Identification of the obstacles blocking business effectiveness
How it ran
Decode the target in two steps
A full-day workshop separating two questions that are usually confused: what the targets actually are, and how they will be achieved. Alignment on the first is worthless without the second.
Let leaders challenge each other
Brainstorming among the business leaders, deliberately structured so that plans were tested by peers rather than presented to a consultant.
Give each function a tool, not a target
A specialised assessment tool let each function head convert company goals into specific tasks, and define the methods that would support them.
Name the three stumbling blocks
We focused the group on the top three obstacles to business development and assigned task forces to each, with a monitoring mechanism attached.
Outcome
- Full leadership understanding of, and commitment to, the year’s corporate targets.
- Function heads leaving with defined objectives they could cascade to their own teams.
- Three major effectiveness issues identified, each with a task force.
- A monitoring system, and noticeably better team spirit among the leadership.
What it taught us
A target that has not been broken down is a wish. The value of the day is not the alignment — it is the arithmetic that follows it.
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