Kellogg’s Recaptures 66% of Lost Market Share in Under 2 Years

Organization Description

International manufacturer, marketer and distributor of cereal, yogurt and confectionery products.
Twenty-two person Senior Management Team, forty-six next-level Key Managers.
Historical national leader in cereal brands, sales, profits — with eroding market share.
Culture of quality, innovation, people development, profitability and growth.

Situation

Eroding market share and increasing competition had caused some deterioration of a common agreement on business recovery priorities.
CEO observed a disconnect between several senior and next-level management functions regarding business priorities.
Organization was self-assured and confident that the market share trend would be reversed “because we are the best.”
Front-line people were unaware of the implications of continued market fragmentation.

Approach/Process

Discovery – accurately determine the current management and leadership situation [one-on-one interviews/discussions with entire Senior Management and Next-Level Management groups].
Briefed CEO, COO, Business Development Officer and Vice President, Human Resources on findings and preliminary Vision/Strategy Process.
Collaboratively design, develop and deliver the Vision/Strategy Process.
Off-Site retreat for twenty-two person Senior Management Team to agree on Values, Vision, Implementation.

Outcomes

A common Vision that captured the imagination of the organization was developed and agreed-to:
“Kellogg’s will recapture its’ rightful market share” [That which was owned and taken from us]
The organization became very innovative and aggressive in pursuing what had been taken from it. All functions were affected — manufacturing, sales, marketing, technical, product development, distribution, business development, human resources.

Business Results

Innovative, risky distribution efforts secured much more business faster than expected.
Kellogg’s recaptured 2/3 of the lost market share, in a very competitive environment, in less than two years.
Kellogg’s was on the Business Week list of top five firms with the highest ROE, three years running.