Rik Basi

Case study

Building a more strategic, scalable global marketing team

Elevated a reactive support function into a more strategic commercial partner—strengthening leadership depth, operating discipline, and organizational capability while scaling the team from 7 to 15.

Executive summary

Business context

A seven-person global services marketing team supporting a growing services portfolio operated largely as a reactive support function.

Commercial challenge

Marketing needed to move beyond reactive execution and become a more proactive commercial partner—with a clearer mandate, stronger strategic planning, better-defined ownership, greater accountability, and deeper leadership capability.

Transformation objective

Build an organization capable of setting clearer priorities, improving decision quality, developing leaders, and influencing commercial strategy—not simply executing requests.

Leadership role

Led the global services marketing organization and its evolution in structure, capability, planning discipline, and commercial partnership.

Outcomes

7 → 15

Global marketing team scaled

Evolved from a primarily reactive support function into a more capable and influential commercial partner.

Supported a global services portfolio that scaled to approximately $500M.

Building the capability

Clarify the organization

  • Defined a clearer team mandate, strategic priorities, and areas of ownership.
  • Reshaped roles and responsibilities around business needs and individual strengths.
  • Scaled the organization selectively as portfolio scope and commercial requirements increased.

Strengthen leadership

  • Coached team members to improve strategic thinking, judgment, and decision quality.
  • Developed individual contributors into people leaders.
  • Increased leadership depth and accountability across the global team.

Establish operating discipline

  • Introduced stronger strategic-planning and KPI-management practices.
  • Built clearer performance expectations and review rhythms.
  • Strengthened cross-functional credibility through more proactive, accountable commercial partnership.

The shift

FromReactive support
ToProactive commercial partnership
FromActivity-based priorities
ToMore strategic, business-led planning
FromBroad or unclear roles
ToClearer ownership and accountability
FromLimited leadership depth
ToStronger managers and leadership bench
FromEpisodic measurement
ToMore disciplined KPI management

Capabilities demonstrated

  • Organizational design
  • Leadership development
  • Strategic planning
  • Operating discipline
  • Performance management
  • Commercial partnership

Commercial impact

From reactive support to strategic commercial partnership.

By clarifying the team’s mandate, strengthening leadership capability, and introducing greater planning and performance discipline, the organization became better equipped to prioritize opportunities, influence commercial decisions, and execute across a growing global services business. The result was not simply a larger team, but a more capable and scalable marketing organization.

Let’s connect.

Interested in discussing a leadership opportunity, commercial challenge, or strategic growth priority?