Background

My client plans to aggressively invest in several emerging trends including data utilization, artificial intelligence, IoT, cloud computing, cyber security, 5G, and large-scale, leading-edge innovations such as super-computers. IN addition to investing in these areas, the company plans to devote 500 billion yen (~$4.5 billion) over the next 5 years to build and acquire businesses that will expand the company’s digital transformation capabilities. Finally, for its own internal digital transformation, the company will invest in relevant new people and processes and upgrade infrastructure ensuring the right team, skills, and systems to make the company’s bold vision a reality.

One early step in this transformation is the establishment of a new “Office of M&A Strategy & Execution” within the company structure. While the client certain conducted M&A activities and drove strategy from within, much of the heavy lifting was done via external consultants. Going forward, leadership felt it was essential to bring these capabilities in-house and to integrate that capability into the fabric of the company. In early 2020, they hired a senior leader from McKinsey to guide this new Office and to build out the team and capability.

Role Description

The Strategy Manager will be responsible for supporting the creation and evolution of a growth and transformation plan for the organization with the overarching goal of accelerating the client’s transition to a Digital Transformation services company and supporting the change agenda. An underlying assumption for the role is that a significant piece of transition plan will require the application of inorganic growth techniques such as acquisitions, alliances, and ecosystem formation.

To be successful, the Strategy Manager would need to help produce a consolidated plan that is customized specifically for the client and can serve as a guide for the broader Office of M&A Strategy. This should be a “living, breathing” plan, constantly being updated to reflecting the evolving needs of the business and with a clear prioritization of efforts. As such, he/she should build relationships with business leaders and maintain an ongoing conversation with those leaders to track impact and support them in the growth of their business units.

In addition to the larger plan.

This role reports to the Strategy Lead who is ultimately responsible for the creation of this Acquisitions and Ventures plan and ongoing strategic support to sponsors. The two roles will team very closely together, dividing the work as required. We anticipate that this role – Strategy Snr Manager – will be responsible for engaging with the Japan business as well as with sponsors in Japan for whom English is not readily spoken. That said, the Strategy Manager will also support opportunities outside Japan; fluency in both Japanese and English is therefore required.

The Strategy Lead and Strategy Manager will collaborate to manage the deal flow / workload; as such, the ideal candidate will be flexible, able to balance multiple projects at the same time, and be a strong “team player”.

It is worth noting that while the strategy team may want to engage external resources to help with the development of the strategy, this should NOT be a strategy driven by these external consultants. Instead, it should be purposely built BY The client’s FOR The client’s (i.e. not an off-the-shelf strategy crafted by external consultants). While this approach may, in theory, take more time to construct, this approach should facilitate stronger engagement from the business units and, ultimately, be more effective in terms of execution.

On this last point (execution of the strategy) it is important to note that the Strategy Manager will be expected to be hands-on; in other words, he/she will not simply document a strategy and walk away. Instead, he/she will be involved with the M&A & Strategy Office colleagues as they execute against the objectives outlined in the plan as well as providing hands-on support to deal sponsors – especially while the process is still new within the company.

Candidate Profile

• Because of the create + execute nature of the role, it is essential that the candidate has demonstrated both an ability to develop, organize, and document a strategic growth plan AND actively participate in activities to execute a plan. For example, he/she should have participated in M&A activities, engaged in structuring alliances and third-party relationships, and built partnering programs. This is not a role for a pure strategist.
• He / she should have experience working both in technology and in consulting / strategy / services; a strong understanding of the growth triggers of a services business is essential in this role
• The ideal candidate will possess:
• Excellent personal leadership and communication skills
• Very strong written (English and Japanese) communications; this person will regularly need to create clear, concise documents (Word and Powerpoint) materials to explain an approach or idea
• A deep appreciation for change management and the need to accompany any strategic plan with a detailed change management agenda
• An ability to quickly develop a baseline understanding of a very complex company
• Experience creating strategic plans and designing/evolving business programs
• A “can-do” attitude; willingness to dig in and develop and document plans from scratch based on detailed discussions with business leaders
• Flexibility and a strong multi-tasking capability
• Demonstrated ability to achieve through influence and achieve results in a matrixed organization; An ability to work across cultures and at all levels
• A strong ability / experience in “thinking outside the box”; often, the person will need to raise new ideas to solve challenging situations
• An ability/willingness to travel globally as needed

Metrics of Success

• Contribution to documenting and executing a coherent and consistent M&A and Ventures plan and prioritized agenda
• Involvement in plan execution as a member of the Office of M&A and Strategy
• High-quality guidance and hands-on support to deal sponsors
• Own and/or participate in the creation of processes and capabilities to execute the strategic growth plan (e.g. an M&A playbook, hiring alliance management team if/when needed, etc.)
• Balanced contribution between strategic plan documentation / evolution and active participation in strategy execution
• Positive feedback from business unit leaders regarding his/her ability to understand their strategy and growth requirements and recommend / apply appropriate strategies to assist them in their objectives

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