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ZPA
Krizik Factory
ZPA
Krizik
Headquarters
Building
Marketing
Workshop
Presentation
of Marketing Results
"Ownership"
of Plan achieved!
Factory
Tour: Philip Ammerman w/Director of Production
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BACKGROUND
In September 1999, NAVIGATOR Consulting Group
provided consultants to a framework contract consortium
led by Tractebel Development Engineering of Brussels.
The objective of the framework was to support a group
of heavily-indebted enterprises in the Slovak Republic
implement turn-around management projects designed
to ensure corporate survival. The contract was financed
by the European Commission's PHARE programme.
The first project to be launched in which NAVIGATOR
participated was ZPA Krizik, a major manufacturer
of electro-technical meters and measuring equipment
that had been privatised in the early 1990s. Severe
financial losses had been encountered in the preceding
two years of operations. NAVIGATOR's task was to:
Analyse the departmental structure and corporate operations in the Department of Marketing & Sales;
Recommend a new organisational structure and core marketing tasks;
Determine emphasis on marketing within the overall turn-around strategy for the company;
Implement a short training programme for the Department on marketing strategy, marketing planning, product life cycle management, portfolio management, and export development.
ACTIVITIES & RESULTS
Upon arrival in Presov, NAVIGATOR launched a full
analysis of Marketing Department functions, as well
as a wider review of corporate profitability and turn
around needs. With 70% of sales going to export markets,
it was clear that Krizik depended on foreign sales
for survival. However, there was no consistent marketing
plan, either for a particular region / country, or
a particular product or client group (e.g. household
meters, factory meters, regional power utilities,
etc.).
NAVIGATOR developed an inter-active training programme
that presented basic principles of industrial product
marketing, and then worked with the Marketing Department
to develop the company's first marketing plan. This
was a departure from previous practise, because not
only were regional managers expected to set sales
targets and develop customer segmentation, but they
were required to present and defend their plans before
the entire department.
The marketing plan served as a basis for determining
the wider corporate restructuring and turn-around
needs, particularly since the major challenge was
to restore sales levels. The outputs of the project
were two-fold:
A tested marketing plan as a basis for a wider corporate turn-around plan developed by the department with the assistance of EU consultants;
The training programme for senior managers as well as departmental staff.
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