Building and Launching a New Operations Structure in Italy.
Introduction
As part of a strong business growth, a major French luxury group needed to improve and organize its presence in Italy. The goal of this interim management mission was to create a new operations structure with a local logistics platform. The aim was to bring the different business units closer together, strengthen relationships with Italian suppliers, and better fit the local way of working.
The mission included both strategic and operational aspects: defining a future vision and launching first steps.
Main goals:
Improve structure and synergies across all business lines to support growth.
Strengthen the group's presence in Italy through a local organization.
Align operations with group standards (Quality, HSE&S, supply chain).
Incorporate local specificities and define adapted governance.
Build a bridge between French corporate culture and Italian industrial dynamics.
The new structure had to match the group’s values, while helping teams to work together easily.
Approach
Initial analysis: Interviews with the business units to understand needs, supplier mapping, and site visits in Italy.
Strategy: Design of a flexible and clear matrix organization. Creation of a roadmap and a proposal for how the new local organization should be managed. Implementation:
Set up the legal and fiscal structure.
Define responsibilities and roles.
Launch regular project meetings.
Share the project internally to get everyone on board.
Cross-cultural approach, to make the project successful, I used a bicultural approach:
I built trust with Italian teams through local presence and open communication.
I adapted the governance model to local rules (Datore di Lavoro, Decreto 231, etc.).
I co-designed the new organization with the teams, using a collaborative approach.
This helped create strong engagement and made the transition smooth and efficient.
Results
A new organization was built and formalized in Italy.
A clear and solid governance model was defined and approved.
The new structure followed group rules for Quality and HSE&S.
The teams got involved and supported the changes, thanks to clear communication.
Key Learnings
Understanding local culture is key for a successful transition.
Getting people involved early helps the project move forward.
A mix of clear strategy and practical actions works best.
Conclusion
This mission helped the luxury group grow in Italy and start a well-organized local structure.
It showed that success in a new country needs more than good operations—it also needs strong communication, trust, and a governance model that fits the local context.
The feedback from the client was positive and showed the value of the work done.