"I left with
feeling of pride
"A Heineken export
manager wants to
be a pioneer
the meeting and back out again and
there's no need to waste time travel
ling to Amsterdam city centre and
back".
But the move to Schiphol also
brought a centralisation of export
activities. The logistics and adminis
trative section of Export had always
been located in Rotterdam, whilst
the commercial activities and plan
ning control had been based in
Amsterdam. The amalgamation
involved quite a lot of work. "For
Heineken Export the relocation
meant that two distinct subcultures
had to be welded together. Im
provements are still possible, but
since the move we have made a lot of
progress towards working together
more effectively."
GROWTH
If we were to use a mathematical
equation, then you could say that
Heineken Export equals growth. But
life does not always work according
to strict mathematical principles.
Although Heineken Export as an ope
rating unit still makes the highest
contribution to profit, its growth is
starting to falter. Asia, once the con
tinent of unlimited opportunities,
was found to have its limits in terms
of economic growth. Sales of
Heineken Beer in important markets
like Hong Kong and Taiwan stagna
ted as a result of the economic reces
sion. But Frans van der Minne is opti
mistic about the future of Heineken
in Asia. "I am still convinced that the
recession is temporary. I anticipate
that the economy in certain parts of
Asia will pick up again in the year
2000."
Mr Van der Minne expects that
Export will achieve further growth
through the increased professionali-
sation of the organisation and thanks
to extra emphasis on the foods chan
nel. "Export is renowned for having
built up and expanded the Heineken
brand mainly via the on-premise.
That was not surprising, as the on-
premise sector has always been an
important channel for communica
ting the brand. But we are now
seeing that the retail trade in gener
al and supermarket chains in particu
lar are becoming more professional.
The Export organisation and espe
cially our distributors must respond
to that development. For us that
means that we need to provide our
distributors with better support, for
example by developing more effec
tive shelf-space plans and improved
selling techniques."
PIONEERING WORK
The success of Heineken Export, says
Frans van der Minne, is attributable
to the competencies that the organi
sation possesses. "Those competen
cies are unique. Heineken Export
knows how to set up distribution
systems, knows how to deal with
wholesalers and distributors through
out the world. All those experiences
then serve as building blocks for
establishing and enhancing market
positions in other countries. The cul
tures may be different but the basic
foundations you need to build up
that position are the same for all
countries."
The competencies of Heineken
Export are in fact the competencies
of the people that work for it. When
he interviewed job applicants, Mr
Van der Minne soon knew whether
the candidate possessed the qualities
that were required for the job. "A
Heineken export manager has guts.
He wants to be a pioneer, a business-
builder. And a very important point
in the export organisation: the
manager always has to work
together with a third party. So he or
she has to have the right intuition,
must be able to choose the right
partner. And that has to be a partner
you can be sure about, one with
green blood flowing through his
veins."
As Cluster Director Europe, Frans
van der Minne still has to get used to
the new style of management in his
new role. At Heineken Export he was
closely involved in day-to-day opera
tions and he had the freedom to
make his own choices as an entrepre
neur. "In my new post I feel more like
the conductor of an orchestra. I am
responsible for the final result, but
I can't pick up an instrument myself
and join the players. As conductor I
can tell them more during rehearsals
about how the music fits together.
That should bring the score more
alive for the actual musicians and
hopefully that will result in a better
performance."
