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Vice President, Corporate Strategic Initiatives
Organization
Energy Company
Situation
While conducting research for a major group of search assignments (building a marketing department for an electricity company), the Director managing this search networked with an Executive Vice President at an energy company who was impressed with the professionalism and level of industry knowledge demonstrated by our consultant. Subsequently when he had a need, he awarded the assignment to The ExeQfind Group.
Assesment
As the energy industry was still in the midst of deregulation, the landscape was rapidly changing with new competitors, regulatory changes, diversification and aggregation impacting on how these companies conduct business and position themselves for the future. In executing against a new corporate strategy, our candidate would have been responsible for directing the execution of strategic initiatives including mergers, divestitures, acquisitions, partnerships and alliances- on an international level.
Challenge
Finding individuals with extensive knowledge of the power generation business, an understanding of market issues and sufficient understanding of various business disciplines (e.g., economics, finance, accounting) to assess potential opportunities and work through critical business issues was the challenge. In addition, the ideal candidate would have had experience within an industry that had gone through deregulation and would have led merger and acquisition activities for projects in excess of a billion dollars.
Solution
Consultants from our New York and Toronto-offices collaborated on this search. They developed a strategy that involved researching key international markets where electric power had recently gone through deregulation and where, as a result, significant merger and acquisition activities had taken place. These markets included the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom. A long list of potential candidates was identified, and extensive phone interviews were undertaken resulting in a short list of candidates that were flown in for interviews from Dallas, Chicago, Baltimore, Los Angeles and Calgary and subsequently interviewed by the client.
Candidate
The successful candidate had an excellent educational base with a combination of degrees in business, finance, and engineering. He had led international mergers and acquisitions valued in the billions of dollars for both US and Canadian companies. He had extensive experience in developing complex strategic partnerships and alliances and had moved from the previously deregulated gas industry into the electricity industry.
Postmortem
One year later, one major deal had been successfully completed and the groundwork had been put into place to execute additional deals as the deregulation continues to evolve. The ExeQfind Group has subsequently placed a Director of Corporate Strategic Planning into the same group.