Nord(b)Est: “It’s like we have won ……….”

Tosingraf, is a company in the Veneto Region with 25 employees and a turnover of 10 ml euros. The company’s business is to manufacture and trade after printing machines and 95% of its turnover comes from the Italian market. “Too much” – says Giuseppe Tosin, CEO and leader of the company – “The Nord(b)Est Award was too good an opportunity to miss ……and we jumped on it….. With the support of four CIMBA students, from Slovenia, the United States and Italy we decided to start a project on business development in other EU countries and Russia”.

We interviewed the protagonists of the project which was awarded second place in Nord(b)Est Award 2011-2012 edition, missing first place by a whisker.

We interview the internal project leader, first. His name is Andrea Rossi.

1. What do you think of your relationship with team members?

Owing to our similar age, education and experience we could establish a good team spirit open to critically discuss any proposals and ideas. As a consequence we could avoid a too rigid approach and we were able to explore in depth all aspects and problems without any preconceived limitations.

2. What do you think of the methodology applied?

Since the very beginning the students have set up an action plan clearly indicating the activities to be performed, and for each of them the person in charge and the due date. Cooperation among the students has been excellent and it has been aided by ICT tools which have solved the problem of distance. In particular we have created a work area containing all relevant files which were automatically updated every time some of us did anything new. That made interaction among team members and in particular between them and me easy and effective. I also think that the suggestion by Mr. Lino Canepari of GC&P to hold monthly project status meetings have been very useful in order to keep the status of the project under control and to discuss new ideas or possible changes to the plan.

3. What do you think you have learned from this experience?

First of all I have understood the complexity of an internationalization project which involves technical aspects (what products? what kind of technical assistance?), financial aspects, evaluation of the risks involved and, last but not least, problems linked to the culture of the country that can be significantly different from our culture.

I have also learned the importance of implementing a project according to a well defined method which includes the creation of a conceptual map of actions and analyses needed, a reasonable implementation plan and a systematic control of actual vs. planned results.

4. What are in your opinion the main results of the project both for you and for your company?

The main result both for me and for my company is that the project has helped us make a selection among the many ideas we had and to clarify our priorities and define a clear strategy.

Now we have an action plan that will guide us step by step and without any waste of time and resources in our approach to foreign markets.

5. What would you suggest in order to make this initiative more effective in the future?

I think that the students could have done even better if they were allowed more time. The need to attend their courses and to take their exams allowed them to be present in the company no more than half day a week, A more frequent presence especially in the first month could be useful to make them more familiar with the company’s business and with the company’s people and this is definitely important in order to define a good realistic project.

Now, it’s the turn of Giuseppe Tosin, the company’s CEO.

1. Why did you choose to take part in the “Nord(b)Est Award?

I decided to participate because I felt the need to verify my ideas with qualified people outside my company and my business world. I think that an entrepreneur should open the doors of his company in order to challenge his own ideas and methods in search of the continuous improvement of his business.

2. What do you think of the relationship between your people and the project team and of your personal relationship with the team members?

The relationship with the four splendid young people assigned to the project has been good far beyond any expectations.

Heather Schnacke (the only female member of the team) is a sunny American girl who knows many languages and is particularly attentive to socio cultural aspects.

Mitja Petellin, Slovenian, is a very meticulous person who, thanks to his previous experience, could understand our sector (after printing machinery) very well.

Galen D’ Attilio, whom I call the American dreamer, is an enthusiastic young man who worked hard and passionately on the project.

Andrea Monico, the only Italian in the team, is a hard worker, pragmatic, very well prepared and very familiar with ICT.

Our man Andrea Rossi has been a very good project coordinator, professional, meticulous, concise, curious, eager to know.

These have been the protagonists of our project and theirs is the merit of its success.

What impressed me the most, beyond their capacity to understand our reality, was their enthusiasm, the purity of their passion for what they do, something that we tend to lose as years go by. With their positive energy they have certainly given me an injection of confidence and optimism about the future.

I realize more and more that it would be important to have in our companies people from different cultures and languages: they would give us a better vision of the present and the future..

3. What results have you got from the project?

We got many ideas and a lot more information than we had.

The team performed a useful analysis of the European market, suggested, on the basis of a complex analysis, five countries on which concentrate our efforts, selected a number of potential dealers that we will approach in the near future.

To all this we can add a new methodology to evaluate a potential customer which is now performed by our CRM program.

I have also appreciated the attention given to the cultural aspects of the various countries, aspects that have helped us to change some of our sales actions.

I judge very interesting and useful the study done with the help of a questionnaire which was submitted to a number of potential foreign customers in order to understand what they expect from a new supplier in terms of products, prices and pre and after sale services.

Many other results deserve to be mentioned. For instance the critical analysis of our on line communication strategy and of our web site made on the basis of a comparison with our competitors.

Very useful was also the work done on our “Mamo” logo.

Last but not least I’d like to mention the analysis made on our after sale assistance and spare parts management, a very critical aspect in our business. In a word now we have more practical information and clearer ideas, which will become very soon an action plan..

4. Would you propose this experience to other entrepreneurs?

I definitely would. You always have something to learn and it is important to open your door and compare your ideas with other qualified people. It is also important to learn new methods for analyzing problems and managing projects.

5. Do you have any suggestions to improve this initiative?

I do not have much to say. I think I would reward the excellent work of these young people with a larger sum of money and make their work more visible through the media.

…..and last but not least we ask a few questions to the students.

Galen D’Attilio

1. What do you think of your relationship with the company?

Our team spent a great deal of time with the client and managed to develop a close relationship with both our client’s representative and the family. We are very happy to have had the opportunity to work for Tosingraf and hope the work we provided is both intuitive and useful.

2. What did you learn from this experience?

I learned a great deal about my own management abilities as well as interacting with others in a professional setting unlike any I have ever worked in. Our experience led me to learn about how to manage a project, develop useful/dynamic processes that can be applied in any setting, and providing those processes to a client so they can be used again to help with future business.

3. Do you think this kind of projects is useful for CIMBA students?

Assuming students are placed in the same situation our team was, I can imagine this project is useful for any MBA student to learn about process development and application. Considering how much understanding and free rein our team was given, we could really run with the project to any length we pleased.

4. Do you have any suggestions that could help improve this initiative?

I believe finding good matches for the students takes precedence. Although we are versatile to the situations we are given, some companies may not be so interested in the project, and that really affects motivation. At the end of the day, we just want to help, and we need a company that wants help in the first place.