Industry: Telecom
Initiative: Operations Capabilities
Challenge
Two major telecom carriers and a large wireless distributor lacked the collective scale to achieve optimal purchasing savings and negotiating power with global device manufacturers. The strategic imperative was to establish a new Joint Venture to consolidate buying volume and drive massive procurement efficiencies.
Project
Engaged in the 2.5-year initiative to design, implement, and scale the new organization, drawing heavily on my experience designing the global buying division for handsets at SoftBank. The project was executed in three phases:
Phase 1 (Design): Established the fundamental operating requirements, ways of working, and organizational structure for a global purchasing entity.
Phase 2 (Implementation): Built out the full operational infrastructure, which involved selecting and deploying the required ERP and systems, securing the necessary headcount, and establishing operational capabilities for Sourcing, Procurement, Planning, and Finance Operations.
Phase 3 (Scaling & Expansion): Oversaw the rapid expansion of the organization, resulting in the successful opening of four highly scalable procurement operation hubs (Singapore, Tokyo, London, and Miami) and steering the organization from initial design through full functionality in just five months within the first year.
Outcome
Successfully launched a fully functional global buying group that coordinated with the legal department to pull together essential contracts and master agreements. The organization scaled to a team of 200+ employees across four continents and delivered significant, multi-billion-dollar purchasing savings and efficiencies for the member carriers (SoftBank, Sprint, etc.) through collective negotiating power with major manufacturers.
