MA Industries (Makhteshim Agan) (TASE: MAIN) CEO Avraham Bigger made his first public appearance in his new role today. Bigger declared that the agrochemicals company was setting out on anew path, with the goal being to make the company leaner, more efficient, and more competitive.
"The previous strategic plan isn't relevant right now," Bigger said, referring to the five-year plan the company has been acting on to date, a plan shaped by former CEO Shlomo Yanai, who was recently appointed CEO of drugs giant Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq: TEVA; TASE: TEVA). Bigger hinted at criticism of the way Makhteshim-Agan has been managed up to now, saying that "fron now on, managers at the company will have equal rights, and will be much more involved than they were in the past in operative and strategic decisions."
Instead of the quantitative goals set out by Yanai in the past, Makhteshim-Agan has now set out a series of new goals, as part of the restructuring plan Bigger drew up when he took over his position and with the transfer of ownership from Koor Industries (NYSE: KOR; TASE: KOR) to the IDB group. The plan, formulated in conjunction with consultants McKinsey, talks of making the company market oriented, a change in its organizational culture, offering a rich an attractive range of products to customers, and an emphasis on expansion through mergers and acquisitions.
On a practical level, the company plans, among other things, to consolidate the operational headquarters of its subsidiaries, Makhteshim at Ramat Hovav and Agan at Ashdod, an emphasis on improvement in the supply chain and marketing networks, and voluntary retirement for a few dozen workers. These measures should make an impact "a little in 2007, mostly in 2008, with the remainder taking effect in 2009," as Bigger explained today, without providing numerical targets.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 13, 2007
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