IMFA:
Driving business results through
organizational transformation
Client profile
IMFA, established in 1961 and based in the eastern state of Odisha, is
India’s largest producer of ferro chrome (an alloy of iron and chrome) with
an annual capacity of 275,000 tons backed by 258 megawatts captive
power generation capacity and extensive chrome ore mining tracts. It
pioneered the production of silicon-based alloys and went on to focus on
the high-quality ferro chrome for stainless steel applications. IMFA exports
ferro chrome to leading stainless steel producers in South Korea, Japan,
China, etc.
Opportunity
In early 2012, IMFA set out aggressive growth targets through a focus on
strengthening core and adjacent diversification. IMFA collaborated with
Accenture Strategy to define its vision, articulate the strategy and identify
key focus areas for strengthening its existing businesses as well as
de-risking its portfolio through diversification. To realize IMFA’s business
aspirations, IMFA and Accenture Strategy together initiated Project ILA
(Innovate, Lead, Accelerate).
Project ILA covered multiple dimensions including defining the business
strategy and strengthening the business foundation through operational
excellence, risk management, business process reengineering and talent
management. A subsequent business diagnostic run by Accenture Strategy
identified leadership, talent and organizational structure as key imperatives
for growth.
Accenture Strategy partnered with IMFA to help manage the long-term
journey of Project ILA with a particular focus on Leadership Development
and Performance Management.
Solution
Accenture Strategy worked with IMFA across critical talent and organization
areas, supported by other workstreams in parallel such as strategic planning,
joint-venture analysis, operational excellence, enterprise risk management
and process reengineering.
• Business planning: Accenture Strategy helped define the 3-year
business plan for IMFA, refreshing it annually in line with the
business environment and other parameters.
• Organization design: Accenture Strategy worked with IMFA to
design, plan and implement a shift from its legacy location-centric
organization structure to a more forward-looking business-unit
focused organization structure. Two separate business units – Ferro
Alloys and Power – were created to push down accountability,
increase product and customer focus, and standardize leading
practices and processes across locations. Work in this area included
organization design, defining the role of corporate, job description
design, chart of authority and employee incentives.
IMFA | 2
• Leadership development: IMFA identified the need for a
strong leadership pipeline to achieve a culture of learning and
intrapreneurship, to improve accountability and decision making and to
successfully lead IMFA’s growth journey. Accenture Strategy designed
and implemented an end-to-end leadership development program for top
and middle management. This work used a proprietary Accenture Strategy
leadership asset – the “Personal Leadership Profile” – which enables
executives to benchmark their leadership characteristics against a database
of around 8,000 other C-suite leaders. The leadership development program
defined successful leadership attributes based on IMFA’s core values and
focused on innovative learning methods as well as Action Labs and Action
Learning Projects. Accenture Strategy also created a Leadership Center of
Excellence for IMFA as a way to cascade the leadership development
program and sustain benefits.
• Operational excellence: Accenture Strategy helped IMFA identify, design
solutions for and implement operational excellence initiatives in areas such
as procurement, logistics and operational efficiency. Over 3 years, Accenture
Strategy evolved its role from a ‘doer’ to an ‘architect’ for these initiatives.
• Organization change: To enable a smooth rollout of the new
organization structure and sustain the Leadership Development Program,
the Accenture Strategy team planned and executed a comprehensive
organization change program. This included overall journey planning,
tools and support to enable successful change, and communications
planning to encourage employees to take ownership of the change.
The IMFA-Accenture Strategy team also worked in areas including
learning & development strategy and identification of high-potential
employees.
Results
Accenture Strategy’s work in organization design, leadership development
and other talent management initiatives has led to multiple positive benefits
for IMFA including moving toward developing the requisite mindsets and
culture to aid in IMFA’s growth journey.
In organization design, accountability and responsibility have been shifted
down the line into the business units providing IMFA’s senior management
bandwidth to focus on strategic decisions and speed up decision making.
The new structure was also supported by redesign of management and
governance processes.
To support the new organization structure and to create a culture
of performance, Accenture Strategy helped IMFA design, institutionalize and
implement a robust performance management process across all locations,
covering all executives.
The leadership development program has helped hone talent available within
the organization across identified leadership competencies. A Leadership
Center of Excellence is helping IMFA sustain and cascade the benefits from
the program.
IMFA | 3
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing
a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital,
technology and operations. Combining unmatched experience and
specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all business
functions—underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network—
Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
stakeholders. With approximately 375,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the
world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.
About Accenture Strategy
Accenture Strategy operates at the intersection of business and technology.
We bring together our capabilities in business, technology, operations and
function strategy to help our clients envision and execute industry-specific
strategies that support enterprise wide transformation. Our focus on issues
related to digital disruption, competitiveness, global operating models,
talent and leadership help drive both efficiencies and growth. For more
information, follow @AccentureStrat or visit www.accenture.com/strategy
This document is produced by consultants at
Accenture as general guidance. It is not intended
to provide specific advice on your circumstances.
If you require advice or further details on
any matters referred to, please contact your
Accenture representative.
This document makes descriptive reference to
trademarks that may be owned by others. The
use of such trademarks herein is not an assertion
of ownership of such trademarks by Accenture
and is not intended to represent or imply the
existence of an association between Accenture
and the lawful owners of such trademarks.
Copyright © 2016 Accenture
All rights reserved.
Accenture, its logo, and
High Performance Delivered
are trademarks of Accenture.