Lantmännen Unibake

Developing an expansive growth strategy through a shared identity and an innovative process

By Frode Horsted

Background

Lantmännen Unibake is a profitable part of an international food group with unique expertise within its core field – fast food bread, frozen bread and pastry, and with a vision to become a market leader. Lantmännen Unibake is owned by the Swedish Lantmännen Group, and was in the process of implementing a new organization after the merger of the Bake Off and Fast Food Frozen business areas. The company has several well established brands, e.g. Hatting, Unibake and Schulstad, with an expected turnover in 2005 equaling 2,8 billion SEK and aiming at an EBIT on 10+%. The merged company is now in all markets known as

See further information at Lantmännen Unibake

Following a dialogue on the concept of LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™, Lantmännen Unibake wanted to explore how this concept could add more value to the future strategy processes.

LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ is a methodology which suited to the specific customer effectively is able to strengthen ownership through involvement, and at the same time ensure a fast reaction and flexibility throughout the organization.

Internationally, LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ has been documented in cases concerning strategy and innovation processes, product development and development of business processes.

Trivium has considerable experience in designing and leading a variety of these processes.

The challenge

Lantmännen Unibake intended

• To get the participants involved in and committed to the overall vision and strategy of Lantmännen Unibake.
• To establish strategies for the different geographical areas in order to ensure a healthy business development.
• To establish shared pictures of the various strategic possibilities and give feed-back to each other.
• To develop a complete overall strategy process ensuring that the management group and all participants are focused on a continued development of their competitive edge.
• To make a professional presentation of the strategies to the Corporate representative.

The objectives, for the management group at Lantmännen Unibake, were to ensure a focus on:

• Utilizing synergies across the different geographical areas and the new organization.
• Establishing each geographical area in at least two business areas.
• Ensuring that the intensified competitive situation in the markets for bread will be addressed.
• Ensuring that the organization is developed in order to think and act as one world wide organization.
• Ensure expanded growth

The solution

• The solution was a process orchestrated by TRIVIUM with a 3 days workshop as the core element.
• The participants were 35 key members from the different geographical areas, typically directors and managers of various departments.
• English was the spoken language when communicating in plenum sessions, in groups across the geographical areas and with the facilitators. Local languages could be spoken when working in country specific groups.
• The time frame for the strategy was 18-24 months.

The main steps in the process were:

1. Pinpoint the problems to be addressed and the results to be achieved by going through data, interviewing managers and other key members when necessary.
2. Make a project plan leading up to the strategy workshop.
3. LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ workshop with the management group and the managers of the geographical areas at Lantmännen Unibake. The goal was to develop the overall strategy and the strategies for the separate areas.
4. Briefing and evaluation of the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ workshop.
5. Communicating the results throughout the organization.
6. Develop the complete strategy process.

The workshop design was summarized this way:

The workshop output

A number of physical models representing dynamic Lantmännen Unibake strategies with a common picture of:

• The Identity – ”who are we and where are we going?":
  • A common future Lantmännen Unibake Identity
  • Future identities for each market/business areas
• The Landscape – what does the world look like?
  • A picture of what the world looks like, and how we interact with the key players
• Strategic target areas:
  • Stating the precise strategic focus areas on each market and business area
• Overall goals:
  • A set of overall goals for each market and business area incl. the overall group goals
• Simple Guiding Principles:
  • Specific guidelines on how to act and make decisions in the daily work
• Team stories showing the different steps in the process are documented on video.
• A recorded and edited video tape showing the final strategy story telling:
  • A communication platform to be used for the further work on the strategy, and to be used to tell the strategy to internal and external stakeholders in order to work together on developing the strategy.
• A list of the central conclusions from the process, including the strategic target areas and key areas for Lantmännen Unibake and the geographic areas.
• Team building: Getting to know each other, understanding the challenges and focus areas of each other, etc.

Results

The workshop was followed by a TRIVIUM debriefing with workshop conclusions and recommendations. Management and participants gave an overwhelming evaluation of the workshop, and the following process successfully included the internal communication, approved business plans and budgets for the Business Areas and the local business units. Based on an internal follow-up 6 month later management requested TRIVIUM to design and conduct a new workshop for 50 participants, as part of next years strategy process.

Contact:

TRIVIUM Partner Frode Horsted, Phone.+45 2030 8143 or +45 7532 1821
Case approved by Managing Director Bent Pultz-Larsen, Lantmännen Unibake.

For more information on LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY™ please visit http://www.seriousplay.com