ICL(Fujitsu)
The company was keen to improve its line management and internal collaboration capability. It launched a massive development programme 'People and Change' at the heart of which lay a 360 degree survey managed by London Business School. Executives attended a programme - part tutored, part small group facilitation configured to accommodate matrix relationships.
A spin-off took the form of an exercise in representation and collaboration between R&D, manufacturing and the sales and marketing communities. Teams needed to select, brief and exchange cross-functional 'ambassadors' based on an assessment of the skills needed.
'But I'm an engineer, not a sales person!'
Maintenance engineers had traditionally been wedded to a service rather than a sales culture. This was reinforced by their accounting status as a cost centre. The company had introduced a strategy through which service engineers needed to generate incremental sales without prejudicing their primary role. There was a great deal of resistance among the engineer community who as part of the change were to be managed as a profit centre.
The assignment focussed on the Director and team responsible, with the aim of introducing a more sales-oriented approach to management.
