Global battery manufacturing joint venture: Two cultures become one enterprise team

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Leadership Alignment

A new battery factory, run as a joint venture between a Korean manufacturer and a United States carmaker, was fractured by two clashing cultures and a language barrier. We helped its leaders stop working as two sides and start working as one, reaching 90% production yield within four weeks of launch.

Outcome 1: 90% production yield achieved within four weeks of launch
Outcome 2: Outperformed a comparable factory by six months on both yield and use of capacity
Outcome 3: More than 200 employees and eight directors developed through leadership programmes

The challenge

A joint venture between a leading Korean battery maker and a major United States carmaker launched a new lithium-ion battery factory. From the start, clashing cultures, a language barrier and competing management styles split the leadership team. Decisions stalled, accountability blurred, and an ‘us and them’ feeling between the two parent companies was hardening, putting production targets and the factory’s role as a national benchmark at risk.

Left unaddressed, the misalignment would bring mounting losses: production delays, inconsistent quality and lost credibility with both joint-venture partners, all of it compounding over time.

The approach

From the factory floor to the executive suite, we ran more than 100 interviews and surveys to find the real causes of underperformance. Through facilitated leadership sessions and coaching, we helped leaders move from ‘us and them’ to running one operation with shared accountability. Together we found six points of greatest leverage, launched five cross-functional projects, and developed more than 200 employees and eight directors.

The impact

The factory reached 90% production yield within four weeks of launch, and outperformed a comparable site by six months on both yield and use of capacity. Two separate corporate cultures became one high-performing organisation, more than 200 employees and eight directors grew as leaders, and the factory became the model for all future North American operations.