Rapid Operational Restructuring

When earnings pressure and structural inefficiency coincide, short-term stabilisation is not enough. In these situations, the operating model itself is part of the problem and must be radically rebuilt under time pressure. Rapid Organisational Restructuring delivers this rebuild with immediate results impact.

Context and relevance

Existing operating models are designed for growth or stable market conditions. Under acute earnings pressure, their structural weaknesses become visible. Grown process landscapes, oversized organisational structures and an overly broad product portfolio tie up capital and capacities that are not available for crisis management. Proactive transformation programmes are the wrong instrument in this situation, because they presuppose stability and take effect in the medium term. The right intervention is the radical rebuild of the operating model to what is structurally and financially necessary.

Our approach

FOSTEC & Company’s crisis operating model is rebuilt along four dimensions (Figure 1: Key areas for rapid operational restructuring). Each dimension is analysed independently, realigned and brought together in an integrated Structural Cost Reset Plan with a quantified P&L effect.

1. Cost-structure assessment: the existing cost structure is examined in full for drivers, levers and reduction potential. The Structural Cost Reset Plan translates the results into prioritised measures with a clearly assigned P&L effect and sets the financial target framework for all further redesign decisions.
2. Process simplification & automation: process layers that generate no value under crisis conditions are eliminated. At the same time, processes are identified that can be operated faster, more cost-effectively and with lower staffing effort through AI-supported automation. FOSTEC & Company assesses not only simplification potential, but also the concrete degree of automation per process type – from rule-based processes with immediate automation potential to judgement-intensive processes that are streamlined in a targeted way. The result is a prioritised process redesign map with quantified efficiency potential per measure.
3. Organisational-structure rebuild: automated processes require different organisational structures from manual ones. Organisational rightsizing therefore aligns the organisational structure consistently with the crisis operating model – with explicit consideration of the automation potential identified in step 2. Spans of control, management levels and responsibilities are reduced to what is operationally necessary in order to ensure decision speed and the ability to act in the crisis situation.
4. Product-line clean-up: the product portfolio is assessed by contribution margin and strategic relevance. Segments without sufficient margin or strategic priority are deprioritised in order to concentrate resources on profitability-relevant areas.

Figure 1: Key areas for rapid operational restructuring

Results and impact

Clients receive a fully developed crisis operating model with a quantified Structural Cost Reset Plan, a prioritised process simplification and a consistently implemented organisational rightsizing. The results impact is immediately measurable through reduced structural costs, simplified management and a focused product portfolio, and creates operational ability to act in the crisis situation. The crisis operating model is explicitly designed for reactive results impact under time pressure and thereby differs fundamentally from the target operating model, which is geared to structural excellence under stable conditions. The structures and documentation developed during the crisis process also form the basis for an orderly transition into a stable growth phase.

Position within the service portfolio

The Turnaround & Restructuring portfolio brings together the central levers for stabilising, restructuring and repositioning companies in critical situations. Optimisation takes place along clearly defined fields of action:

• Commerce & Digital Performance Diagnostic
• Rapid Profit & Margin Recovery
• AI-Accelerated Turnaround & Performance
• Commerce & Channel Restructuring
• Crisis Operating Model & Structural Cost Reset
• Stakeholder & Investor Communication
• Value Creation & Exit Recovery

Let us assess in an introductory conversation which structural fields of action exist in your organisation – data-driven, pragmatic and with clear, actionable recommendations.