Five-year regional strategy for a European industrial and petrochemical multinational

A European industrial and petrochemical multinational with operations across the Middle East and North Africa had outgrown the bottom-up regional planning approach that had served it for a decade. The three priority markets — each on a different macro-economic and regulatory trajectory — had each built its strategy in isolation. The result was a regional portfolio that lacked a single articulation of where the firm was going, what it was trading off, and how the market plans aggregated into the regional ambition. The regional MD requested a single five-year strategy that would withstand board scrutiny and would translate cleanly into market-level operating plans.

Xelyr led the development of the regional five-year strategy. Scope covered: review of the existing vision, mission, and strategic goals against the changing regional context; articulation of three to five strategic initiatives with measurable five-year targets; alignment of the regional ambition with the firm's priorities at the market level; and the proposal of tactical implementation steps with named owners and decision gates. The mandate was structured around three formal board engagement points and a series of working sessions with market leaders.

The work began with a structured review of the existing strategy through three lenses: the macroeconomic and regulatory trajectory of each priority market (energy transition policy in the Gulf, industrial localisation programmes such as Saudi Vision 2030, currency and import-substitution dynamics in North Africa); the firm's competitive position in each market against named regional and global competitors; and the internal capability portfolio relative to the strategic ambition. Five strategic initiatives were articulated, each with a five-year target, the major investment and operational moves required, and the market-level translation. Initiatives were stress-tested against three board-level scenarios — a baseline, a high-volatility downside, and a Gulf-led acceleration upside. The final document combined a board-grade strategy summary with operational plans for each market head to execute against.

Strategy adopted by the regional board and ratified at the global level. Market-level operating plans aligned to regional initiatives within the following planning cycle. The regional planning cadence was permanently restructured around the new strategic framework.