Proposal for Vigor Skin Care (Hbr)

9/24/2013

Peter Markles

Vigor Skin Care

Dear Mr. Markles:

Thank you for meeting with us last week for an initial interview of your company Vigor Skin Care. We are happy to offer you this proposal of a three-month project that will help you to assess your company’s current issues, to identify solutions that address those issues, and to develop a long-term plan to help Vigor transition smoothly from its status as a recent turnaround success to one of a maturing company with a more predictable and stable business model.

Context

Four years ago, you were selected by your parent company to lead a team tasked to turn around the performance of one of its divisions, Vigor Skin Care. For several years prior to your taking over, Vigor had demonstrated mediocre results, struggling to break even. In the years since, the dynamic team you assembled achieved incredible results at improving Vigor’s performance. Successes have included,

* Increasing Vigor’s sales numbers by an impressive 68.2% over the four years, turning it into one of the most profitable units of your parent company.

* Creating and successfully marketing the Ageless Vigor line, a major player in the newly forming “cosmeceutical” industry trend of fashionable and healthy skin care products.

* Securing agreements with several major national retailers to carry the Ageless Vigor line.

* Developing one of the most dynamic and respected teams in the company and receiving its most prestigious performance-based award.

By achieving outstanding results turning around Vigor’s performance and reputation, the division established itself as a proven entity. Your senior team now faces the task of transitioning from a turnaround project into a manufacturing operation. This natural transition does not come without several obstacles, some of which you have experienced, as you indicated during our initial interview session.

Key Issues

As reported, the issues arising with the maturation...