CASE 01 · KONICA MINOLTA

Reshaping Customer
Operations at Scale

Organizational redesign · Cost transformation · Service improvement · Digitalization
65 FTE Starting organization
Customer Operations Service · Contracts · Billing
Operational Board Executive leadership exposure
Transformation Organization · Process · Digital
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

More than a restructuring.

I joined Konica Minolta to lead a fragmented 65-person Customer Service & Contract Management organization following multiple leadership changes and years of dispersed process ownership.

Shortly after joining, COVID-19 created an additional business challenge and accelerated the need for structural change.

The transformation moved beyond cost reduction. It redesigned the operating model, clarified ownership, simplified and digitalized processes and rebuilt the organization around stronger customer and business outcomes.

BUSINESS CHALLENGE

A fragmented organization in a rapidly changing environment.

Customer Service had been created through the consolidation of activities from different business units. The organization had experienced several management changes within a short period and processes remained dispersed across Customer Service, Logistics and Accounting.

Collaboration with Sales was limited, legacy activities remained within the function and the operating model required fundamental redesign.

ORGANIZATION 65 employees across Customer Service, Contract Management and Billing
LEADERSHIP Multiple management changes over the preceding two years
PROCESS Fragmented ownership across several business functions
BUSINESS CONTEXT COVID-19 accelerated the need for structural change
MY ROLE

Transformation leadership from diagnosis to execution.

As Head of Customer Service & Contract Management and a member of the Operational Board, I led the transformation from diagnosis through operating-model redesign, restructuring, centralization and automation.

My responsibility was not simply to reduce the organization. It was to define the Customer Operations model the business needed, protect continuity during a major disruption and build an organization capable of delivering stronger customer, people and business performance.

TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY

From diagnosis to a scalable operating model.

The transformation followed a structured sequence — understanding the operation first, protecting business continuity, redesigning the operating model and only then reshaping the organization.
01
Diagnose
Conducted a 3–4 month end-to-end assessment of processes, organizational structure, responsibilities, workload and collaboration with the teams and key business functions.
02
Stabilize
Protected customer service and operational continuity during COVID-19 while contributing at Operational Board level to business-continuity priorities, remote working, employee and customer communication, supply-chain priorities and receivables.
03
Redesign
Defined a new operating model by clarifying ownership, simplifying structures and determining which activities should remain, move, be centralized, digitalized or eliminated.
04
Restructure
Accelerated a planned 6–12 month restructuring into approximately three months, reshaping the fragmented 65-person organization into a leaner 27-FTE operating model while maintaining continuity.
05
Transform & Digitalize
Reduced manual work, strengthened process ownership, supported digitalization and expanded customer self-service while improving collaboration between Customer Service, Sales and other business functions.
06
Rebuild
Rebuilt clarity, accountability and organizational confidence following major structural change, with strong Employee Engagement results across key leadership dimensions.
07
Prove
Demonstrated measurable impact across organizational efficiency, operating cost, customer service and commercial outcomes.
08
Scale
Used the transformed Polish organization as a foundation for designing a planned regional Customer Operations Shared Center covering Poland and the Baltic markets.
TARGET OPERATING MODEL

Redesigning how the organization worked.

01
Ownership
Clarified responsibilities across Customer Service, Sales, Logistics and Accounting.
02
Organization
Aligned organizational structure and capacity with redesigned processes and actual business requirements.
03
Centralization
Consolidated selected activities and expanded the scope of Customer Operations, including distributor order management.
04
Digitalization
Reduced manual transactional work and promoted digital customer channels and self-service solutions.
05
Collaboration
Strengthened Customer Service collaboration with Sales and other functions around customer and commercial priorities.
BUSINESS IMPACT

Lower cost. Better service. Protected business.

65 → 27
FTE
organizational redesign
>40%
Cost Reduction
operating cost base
14d → 24h
Complaints
resolution time
PLN 10M+
Business Impact
over three years
100%
Retention
assigned at-risk contracts
PEOPLE LEADERSHIP

Rebuilding after major organizational change.

Structural change was only one part of the transformation. Following a major redesign, the leadership challenge was to rebuild clarity, trust, ownership and confidence across the remaining organization.

Employee Engagement results highlighted strong leadership dimensions across the transformed organization.

Leadership Signature
Making difficult organizational decisions while rebuilding engagement, customer performance and business confidence.
FROM LOCAL TRANSFORMATION TO REGIONAL SCALE

Designing the next-generation CEE Customer Operations model.

Following the Polish transformation, the organization progressed toward a regional Customer Operations Shared Center concept covering Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

As co-Project Lead with the Business Development Director, I worked across Country Management, HR, Finance and IT on country assessments, the Target Operating Model, organizational design and transition planning.

The program progressed through design and migration planning before being stopped in April 2022 following structural changes in the wider organization.

REGIONAL SCOPE
Poland
Latvia
Estonia
Lithuania
01 Current-State Assessment
02 Country & Process Assessment
03 Target Operating Model
04 Organization Design
05 Transition & Migration Planning
TRANSFORMATION LEADERSHIP

Restructuring was an outcome.
Building a stronger operating model was the objective.

The Konica Minolta transformation combined organizational redesign, cost discipline, process improvement, digitalization, customer performance and people leadership — and ultimately created the foundation for a broader regional operating model.