Case Study 01

Driving Disciplined Growth Through Cross-Border Integration

Client Context

A U.S.-based private equity firm acquired a Belgian industrial company as part of a portfolio growth strategy. The acquired business had strong technical capabilities and deep domain expertise, but operated with informal management practices and limited performance transparency.

The PE sponsor and U.S. portfolio leadership sought to standardize management processes across the platform to accelerate growth, improve profitability, and enable scalable execution.

The Challenge

While technically strong, the Belgian management team faced challenges common in cross-border integrations:

  • Limited use of structured management and execution frameworks

  • Resistance to adopting U.S.-driven management processes

  • Cultural pushback against perceived “over-management”

  • Inconsistent KPI tracking and prioritization

  • Difficulty translating strategic goals into focused execution

The introduction of policy deployment (Hoshin Kanri)—a disciplined goal-setting and execution methodology—was met with skepticism. Local leaders viewed it as bureaucratic and misaligned with their entrepreneurial culture.

Our Role

We supported the integration by acting as a cross-border execution and cultural alignment partner, ensuring that the management system was adopted in a way that respected local strengths while introducing needed discipline.

Our work focused on:

  • Adapting policy deployment to fit the Belgian operating culture

  • Aligning leadership expectations between U.S. owners and local management

  • Clarifying priorities and decision-making across levels

  • Embedding KPI discipline without undermining technical autonomy

Rather than imposing a framework, we helped leadership teams understand why it mattered—and how it could enable, not constrain, performance.

What We Did

Operating Rhythms & Cadence

  • Introduced a regular management cadence aligned with policy deployment

  • Established clear review cycles for objectives, KPIs, and countermeasures

Cross-Border Decision Alignment

  • Clarified which decisions remained local and which required escalation

  • Reduced friction between U.S. ownership expectations and local autonomy

Disciplined Execution Through Policy Deployment

  • Translated strategic growth objectives into clear, prioritized initiatives

  • Linked daily management activities to top-level goals

KPI Tracking & Countermeasures

  • Introduced a focused set of performance KPIs

  • Built capability around identifying gaps and implementing countermeasures

The Results

Within a short period following implementation:

  • Sales increased by over 50%

  • EBITDA more than doubled (2× increase)

  • Leadership alignment improved across U.S. and Belgian teams

  • Management focus shifted from reactive problem-solving to proactive prioritization

  • The organization developed a repeatable, scalable management discipline

The Belgian team retained its technical strength while gaining the structure needed to drive sustained growth.

Why It Worked

Success came not from the management framework alone—but from culturally informed implementation:

  • Respecting local expertise and identity

  • Adapting cadence and language to fit cultural norms

  • Making execution visible and measurable

  • Aligning leadership behavior across borders

Key Takeaway

Cross-border integrations succeed when discipline and culture work together. By turning cultural resistance into engagement—and structure into enablement—this integration delivered measurable value.

 

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