Marketing

Heineken makes global changes

There will be no impact on Heineken Ireland of the global restructure of the Heineken organisation which announced this morning that it’s making changes to its operating model and regrouping the ways in which it works.

A spokesman for Heineken Ireland told Drinks Industry Ireland, “There may be wide-ranging implications for the organisation as a whole but there will be no job cuts in Ireland as a result”.

The biggest change involves combining Heineken’s Western Europe region and the Central & Eastern Europe region into one Europe region focused primarily on the European Union markets.

Stefan Orlowski, President Americas, will lead this region.  The existing Africa Middle East region will be combined with Russia and Belarus to form a new region, Africa Middle East and Eastern Europe.

According to a statement from the company, “The changes will allow the business to better focus on growth opportunities, to be more agile in responding to consumer needs in the marketplace and be more cost-effective in doing so”.

As a result, the business will now be regrouped around four rather than five geographic regions.

“Functional and regional” streamlining will also take place in Heineken’s Head Office organisation.

“The composition and structure of the management reporting directly to the Executive Team has been redesigned, subject to consultation with the relevant Works Councils,” stated the company, “In the coming three months, further work will be undertaken in order to eliminate duplication, streamline processes and simplify decision-making”.

The company also stated, “Strategy development will be embedded in the organisation and the role of Chief Strategy Officer will be phased out. The key functions currently within Global Business Services are now successfully established and so will transfer to the Chief Financial Officer.  As a result the new management group will be leaner and renamed Executive Team”.

The roles of Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Sales Officer will be combined at a global level in one Chief Commercial Officer role. Jan Derck van Karnebeek, President of Central and Eastern Europe and Global Chief Sales Officer, will assume this position.

Taken together, these changes will underpin delivery of the company’s medium term target of improving consolidated operating margin (beia) by around 40 basis points per annum, believes Heineken.

“The changes announced today will make us a more agile organisation,” said Jean-François van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive of Heineken, “Our management structure will be flatter, our operating companies more empowered and our cost of doing business lower.”

Heineken also announced a number of departures at Executive Committee level.

The new structure will be operational from 1st July 2015.

 


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