Peter Ritter takes over E-Book

Ralph Peter

• Herausgeber: novum publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 246

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

Once again, the number of circuit boards supplied is incorrect. At the MemOX branch in North Rhine-Westphalia, the salespeople are dancing on the table. LOS GmbH's service contract with an important customer is terminated. There is only one solution to all these situations: Peter Ritter has to get involved! He conducts talks, understands the parties involved, skillfully combines and implements solutions. But will he succeed? This question arises anew in each of the entertaining stories! In his stories, Ralph Peter takes his readers into the everyday life of the business world in upper management. Through the interweaving of ambition, criminal machinations and the influence of private life on the various characters, each story becomes an exciting adventure.

Leseprobe

Dedication

For Petra.

About the content

In his short stories, the author skillfully cmbines business issues and management topics from personal experience to weave an exciting storyline.

Peter Ritter maintains a results-oriented overview. Flashbacks to the beginnings and other stages of the protagonist's life are interspersed with present-day events. Let yourself be carried away into the entertaining world of Peter Ritter.

The characters and actions in the respective short stories are fictitious. Any similarities with actual events or living or deceed persons would be purely coincidental.

Prologue

After more than forty years of professional experience, mostly in management, board or executive positions, I write these stories to inspire mindfulness and maintain respect for employees. I also want to reinforce the role of the manager as a creative visionary and organisational developer, not just a functional controller.

Transition

Story

Ritter takes on the job of rescuing a company for Dr. Stuhlstadt.

Despite sales successes, profitability is dwindling. Kahl succeeds in putting Ritter in the firing line. Through intensive research, Ritter is able to uncover a pattern of fraud in which Kahl and his mistress Carmen have a hand.

People

Peter Ritter - Economic mercenary

Dr. Stuhlstadt - Lawyer, Partner

Dr. Blondage - CEO of the Group

Karl Kahl - Managing Director

Sandro Wagner - Senior technician

Maria Feuerstein - Sales Assistant

Carmen Lacroix - Assistant to Kahl

Siegfried Bayer - Sales Manager

James - Head of Purchasing Germany

Alfonso Lomghi - Head of the Autogarant garage

Mr. Xu - Chief buyer international

Mr. Zhang - Managed Services Europe

Martin Grauheck - Dr. Stuhlstadt's confidant

Luise Ritter - Peter Ritter's wife

Chapter 1

Ritter looked at his cell phone. It was Dr. Stuhlstadt, highly intelligent and just as unpredictable. "Dear Mr. Ritter," he cajoled, "you should know that I am not only a not insignificantly successful lawyer, but also the owner of a group of companies with several thousand employees. When can you come to my office? I'm not thinking of two to three weeks. That's clear, isn't it?"

Ritter saw himself as a commercial mercenary - a taker of risky cases with a high payout if they succeeded. Stuhlstadt had gotten to know him as part of a mandate that Ritter had procured for him. Now he needed him.

Ritter met Dr. Stuhlstadt at his office at 5.30pm on the Thursday following the phone call. "You will be separated from your family. This unit will go down the drain if we don't take countermeasures. I need a transition. They work for the Chinese. I don't know exactly what they do. I need a concept on Monday," Stuhlstadt continued in his inimitable style. Saturday and Sunday were forty-eight hours of available working time for him. "I'll have figures sent to you. Meet with Dr. Blondage." Dr. Blondage was CEO of the company Stuhlstadt had acquired. Stuhlstadt called Blondage and gave instructions.

As life would have it, Ritter was familiar with Blondage. He was a product manager at the company where Ritter began his career. That was over thirty years ago. They hit it off straight away.

"Listen, Ritter. This subsidiary is a key asset of the Group and we have a good controller in Kahl as Managing Director. What's missing is a salesman like you. I would like you to work with Kahl to develop the company back into a profitable part of the Group. We have agreed with Stuhlstadt that we will also appoint you as Managing Director. You can do it, I have a good feeling," said Blondage fatherly.

Over the next few days, they exchanged papers. It was important for Ritter to negotiate an attractive success component. This was granted to him.

Ritter's introduction took place in a hall above an ICS warehouse. ICS stood for Intelligent Communication Services. He entered the building and was greeted by a young-at-heart senior: "Sandro Wagner my name, welcome, Mr. Ritter. May I show you into the room? I recognise your picture from Xing." They entered the already well-filled venue when a loud voice called out: "Mr. Wagner, aren't you going to introduce me?" Wagner turned around and led Ritter to Kahl: "Mr. Kahl, our Managing Director." - "Peter Ritter, nice to meet you, I've heard a lot about you," Ritter introduced himself. No reply, just a strange grin. "Communication embryo," Ritter thought to himself and continued in the direction in which he had discovered Stuhlstadt and Blondage.

"Dear colleagues," Dr. Stuhlstadt began, "you do not yet know me as the new owner of the Group, so it is a particular pleasure for me to be here today. We want to grow together with good earnings and ICS should also make a tangible contribution to this. Dr. Blondage and Mr. Ritter will explain the strategy to you."

Blondage was a good speaker, albeit of limited use to the audience here. "The strategic climate," he said, "is characterised by tremendous dynamism. New megatrends such as digitalisation and globalisation demand alternative approaches and a re-orientation. Mr. Ritter, who will introduce himself to you in a moment, will lead ICS into the future together with Mr. Kahl and, of course, you. Thank you very much." No one had understood a word of what Blondage was saying and, in particular, what this had to do with each individual.

Ritter stepped up to the lectern: "Dear Dr. Stuhlstadt, Dr. Blondage, Mr. Kahl, dear ICS employees. My name is Peter Ritter, I am 45 years old, married, have two children and am delighted to welcome you here today. I was very happy to accept the position of Managing Director of ICS and I promise to take everyone with me on the interesting and certainly successful journey that lies ahead of us. We will take care of new customers and business areas in order to significantly strengthen the company's earning power, in line with the expectations of the shareholder, Dr. Stuhlstadt. Thank you very much and here's to good cooperation."

Afterwards there were snacks and small discussions. "My name is Maria Feuerstein, I'm a sales assistant and I'm supposed to show you to your office in the head office. I'll wait until you're finished here." - "Who gave you the assignment?" asked Ritter. "Mr. Kahl told me to do it." Kahl had already disappeared. Ritter had a few more conversations, said goodbye to Stuhlstadt and Blondage and followed Maria Feuerstein.

Chapter 2

Ritter left the apartment at around 6:30am and headed for his destination about 5 kilometers away. He looked for a place where he could get a good view of the entrance to the building without being seen by guests leaving the hotel. He waited for about half an hour, then saw what he had suspected: Kahl and Carmen Lacroix came through the doors together.

He drove to the office - they were both there before him.

He had been trying to get an overview for a good week. Due to the company's special know-how - the construction of wide area communication infrastructures - the customer structure was clear: large telecommunications companies and manufacturers of corresponding technology that required service partners. The framework agreement with one of the world's largest manufacturers was coming to an end. In addition, the portfolio was heavily reliant on installation - dominated by roll-outs and commissioning; there was a lack of higher-value services and significant revenue from managed services, which can secure recurring income over several years.

Kahl stormed into his office without warning: "The contribution margins from the projects are below 20%. If your sales department doesn't step on the gas, we can close down here. My assistant can give you the figures if you're interested in that sort of thing." Then he buzzed out again.

Ritter's relationship with Kahl was icy. They had agreed on a weekly management meeting with the functional managers. For each project, the technical department lamented how difficult it was to generate a reasonable gross profit with the prices negotiated by the sales department. Sales countered that they were selling in line with the market, even better in some cases - and the competition could live very well with the prices.

Ritter became suspicious when Kahl dismissed the controller assigned to him and transferred the tasks to his assistant. He justified this measure with a reduction in overheads, as the project margins did not allow for a separate controller. This measure was extremely well received at Group headquarters.

Carmen Lacroix knocked and asked if he had a few minutes. She was extremely attractive and reminded him of a young Brigitte Bardot, but with glasses, which gave the whole look a business touch. "Sure, come on in." She sat down on the visitor's chair next to his desk, her skirt riding up to the top of her stockings.

"I have the project controlling reports for the last month here - may I explain them to you?"

Chapter 3

"We need about 10% off," Ritter and his sales manager Siegfried Bayer sat opposite the Chinese buyer. He called himself James. The Chinese give themselves understandable aliases abroad. James was responsible for a budget of several hundred million dollars in purchasing volume. "James," said Ritter in fluent English, "let's look at the entire value chain!" - "Sure," replied James, "total cost of ownership." Ritter had expanded the battlefield and was looking forward to the rest of the negotiations, because that was his profession.

Ritter's analyses had shown that although the Chinese were purchasing installation services from ICS - and this with ever-increasing price pressure - they were not ordering managed services, which generated significantly better margins for ICS. In addition, the handling of the roll-out projects was underdeveloped in terms of system support: Documentation was laboriously prepared at weekends by the technician using his handwritten notes; the technology installed was not properly stocked; multiple trips were necessary as the prerequisites for commissioning were not met by the upstream supplier's technology and much more.

Bayer presented the current components of the framework agreement and Ritter added how it should be expanded in order to gain future benefits for both sides from the collaboration.

James and Ritter understood each other, but it quickly became clear that international purchasing would have to be involved, as both the volume and the content of the expansion Ritter had brought into play exceeded his decision-making authority.

Ritter received an invitation to the headquarters for the international partner conference, which was to take place in Shenzhen in two months' time. This would be an opportunity to talk directly to the international purchasing department and the decision-makers responsible for managed services.

In the meantime, preparations could begin at local level, which Bayer took in hand. Ritter envisaged that, in addition to the planned development business, in which he wanted to make concessions, the service delivery program that was already being used very successfully in other countries could be used exclusively by ICS for a period of twelve months. He also wanted to take over a managed services contract that the Chinese themselves were only able to fulfill to a very limited extent.

Chapter 4

Carmen placed her right hand on his crotch. Her head lay on her left hand, her elbow right next to his head and her full breasts swayed at the height of his shoulders. She enjoyed the power over him. So she pontificated, "He bought it. My reports fit. He is satisfied. My taking over the project controlling was an important step. The Chinese will demand price concessions from him, so we'll kick him out for good. Just let me get on with it." Karl nodded sympathetically and tried to close his eyes. She wouldn't let him. He had to give it his all once more.

The next morning, they made their way to an industrial area about 50 kilometers to the south and visited an authorized ICS workshop, Autogarant, where ICS vehicles have been repaired for several years, especially after the end of the leasing period.

Alfonso Lomghi, the boss of the garage, arrived. He always got slightly excited as soon as he saw Carmen Lacroix. She visited him occasionally when Karl was with his family. "Good morning, you two, what can I do for you?" he greeted her. "Alfonso," Carmen began, "we're planning a short trip to Lake Garda - wouldn't you have a nice convertible for us?" Lomghi, who ran a small car rental business on the side, took a look. "I have a BMW 420 convertible - is that okay?" - "Great," confirmed Kahl with another grin. "I'll get you ready for two weeks, you can take it with you right away," confirmed Lomghi. "Ten of your vehicles are due to come in this week, is that okay?" he asked. "It's fine," Kahl confirmed curtly.

The convertible was driven up and Carmen took over. They said goodbye to Lomghi and drove off.

He took another look at the report on the current results with ICS. The financial year to date had brought him several hundred thousand euros in turnover and over fifty thousand in additional personal earnings. Things were going well with ICS.

When the workflow system was introduced in the ICS group, they had refined their method of diverting funds from the repair of ICS leased vehicles. It worked as follows: Lomghi simply doubled the respective repair expenses and sent the invoices directly to the head office. The head office scanned the invoice into the workflow system and did not check it. The head office assumed that the subsidiary had done this. The ICS purchasing department also did not want to assess whether, for example, the replacement of a car door including assembly and painting cost 1000 or 2000 euros, and assumed that the management would notice this in the event of an error. The purchasing department sent the invoice in the workflow system to Kahl, the responsible managing director, who approved it for payment. It worked perfectly.

They had agreed that Lomghi would be allowed to keep 30% of the additional income, with 70% going indirectly to Carmen and Kahl. Autogarant received invoices for this share from a marketing agency owned by Carmen Lacroix's brother.

Chapter 5

Ritter and Bayer had been traveling for almost exactly 24 hours when they entered the Interconti in Shenzhen. They had booked a flight via Dubai to Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, they took a shuttle to Shenzhen. When a border police officer unexpectedly held a kind of gun to their heads as they entered China, Ritter was briefly startled - but this was only to measure their body temperature.

The hotel was extremely modern - at the edge of the lobby, opposite the entrance, stood a red grand piano in Colani design. A pianist regularly entertained guests in the lounge bar next to it.

The two checked in and arranged to have breakfast together the next morning before the conference was due to start.

Ritter had Sandro Wagner, a very experienced technician with whom he had met several times since he had greeted him so warmly on his first day, analyse the deficiencies in the roll-out processes. He put the relevant costs at an average of 4% of the hours to be spent on each project. With an integrated system such as the service delivery program, ICS could compensate for these and also achieve further productivity improvements.

He had discussed his China mission in detail with Dr. Blondage, who supported him extensively. Blondage also informed him that Kahl had communicated the costs of this trip to Stuhlstadt in the background as inappropriate. Kahl had obtained the flight and hotel costs from Maria Feuerstein, who had made the bookings. He told Stuhlstadt that the Chinese were price squeezers and therefore margin eaters anyway and that this trip was throwing good money after bad business. In his view, this was completely unnecessary. Stuhlstadt replied that this was a matter for Dr. Blondage, who had agreed to Ritter's China mission. Moreover, he said that maintaining contacts at higher decision-making levels was a measure that he fully supported.

After breakfast together, James welcomed them in the entrance area to the conference and introduced them to the head of purchasing, Mr. Xu. Mr. Xu thanked Ritter and Bayer for making the trip to Shenzhen to attend this very important conference and invited them to take a photo together. Ritter in turn expressed his thanks for the invitation and emphasised his desire to expand the business into other areas.

The official speakers emphasised the strength and ambition of the Chinese group to further expand its global technology leadership - particularly in telecommunications and in the end customer segment with smartphones, tablets and routers. In the corporate customer market, the company is focusing on data centers and is recording above-average growth rates, particularly in the financial sector. In the area of public administration, the company is the market leader in the field of security and safer cities as part of the smart city concept. Smart City refers to the intelligent networking of all control tasks to master the municipal infrastructure. Safer City enables comprehensive security management through pattern recognition and real-time communication across all media and with the involvement of all relevant institutions (such as the police, fire department, hospitals and control centers). This is being used in China, but penetration in Europe is not yet advanced - as the speaker emphasised.

Against the backdrop of data security on the one hand and the increasing threat of terrorism on the other, Ritter pondered whether this was a good or bad thing, but was torn from his thoughts when James spoke to him.

"Mr. Ritter, may I introduce Mr. Zhang, who is responsible for decisions about managed services partners in Europe".

Ritter and Bayer followed Zhang and James into the lobby and ordered water. "We know ICS as a service partner for installations in Germany, James told me that you also have managed services capacity - that's news to me, tell me, what do you do in this area?"

Ritter had to think carefully about what to say. The Managed Services division of ICS was still small and ICS worked as a subcontractor for another system house.

"Mr. Zhang, we specialize in connecting business customers for one of the largest carriers in Germany."

Ritter knew that the Chinese were trying to provide this service for another carrier and were considering outsourcing this service.

"We can set up such a team especially for you if you like," Ritter added. Zhang felt a little taken by surprise. Nevertheless, he seemed interested and asked: "How long would it take you?"

"If you commission us, the team will be in place within eight weeks." Ritter was going out on a limb. Nevertheless, he was convinced he could do it if the Chinese would bite. Zhang smiled and said goodbye: "Sounds good - and Mr. James will discuss further details with you."

"Can we have a look at it, at your place?" James returned from a short debriefing with Zhang to the lobby, where Ritter and Bayer were still talking. There was no more talk of a price reduction in the assembly area. If ICS could provide the Chinese with a good quality managed service for one of Germany's largest carriers, the Chinese had a lot more to gain.

"Of course, let's arrange an appointment for this in the next few days."

Ritter's cell phone vibrated, it was Dr. Stuhlstadt: "Dear Mr. Ritter, when can I welcome you back to Germany?"

"In two days," replied Ritter.

"And what are you actually doing there? As far as I know, the Chinese are more likely to cost us money than bring us any." Ritter wanted to answer, but Stuhlstadt continued: "Never mind, you'll explain that to me when you get back. Please prepare for the group's annual meeting in four weeks' time. Value creation hasn't really improved. You present the sad development. Kahl sent me last month's figures yesterday. I need four bullet points from you that credibly show how you intend to improve the situation. Have a good flight." He hung up.

During the dinner, Ritter met the Chinese service manager responsible for introducing the service delivery program to improve roll-out processes and reached an agreement that ICS would become a pilot customer in Europe.

A dedicated team would be formed to facilitate the introduction of the system. The Chinese would also be prepared to certify the ICS technicians in an on-site training course and provide smartphones and tablets to record the technology, document it and transfer it to the central control system directly from the site.

Chapter 6

Bayer reported on the results of the trip to China at the next ICS management meeting.

The opportunity to pilot the SDP system was seen as a significant improvement in processes and Ritter received praise from the management for this for the first time.

Kahl did not grin, but asked the responsible service manager why he had not come up with this idea. If this system was so helpful in improving our added value in technology, then he would be responsible for the low margin, as he had neglected to make an effort.

A task force consisting of Bayer and team leaders from technology and production was formed to implement the managed services options.

Shortly after the meeting, Dr. Blondage called him: "Kahl told me that the service manager should be fired. What do you think?"

Basically, Kahl was right. The service was in an old-fashioned state as far as processes were concerned. A breath of fresh air would be good here. Besides, he didn't want this front with Kahl.

"I see it the same way," replied Ritter, "Nothing has been done here for too long."

Shortly afterwards, Dr. Stuhlstadt called. "Dear Mr. Ritter, are you back in the country? You sent me your points for the annual meeting. Those are just empty words: expansion of managed services, piloting the service delivery program and then data centers as a possible new business area - according to Mr Kahl, ICS has nothing there. I can't imagine any of this - and I'm sure the members of the audience can't either. We are changing that: from now on, the sales department will sell at better prices. That's enough of a message."

He called Luise. He hadn't been home for almost three weeks due to his trip to China. He missed her and she missed him too. "Tell me, where do you want to go together tonight? To the water at Westhafen?" he asked. "I'd love to, my darling, when can you be here?"

"I'll be with you in four hours and I'm looking forward to seeing you and having a wonderful weekend."

During the journey, he thought about the situation and came to the conclusion that something fundamental was wrong. Kahl was a schemer - why was that? The added value from the projects in the monthly reports never turned out as originally calculated, but always worse. Dr. Blondage stood by him, but proved to be too weak and an opportunist when in doubt. And Stuhlstadt seemed simple-minded: When things went well, everyone was his best friend, otherwise enemies were quickly identified - and at the moment he, Ritter, was in the firing line.

That had to change.

Chapter 7

The annual meeting was an ordeal for Ritter. He explained, as requested by Dr. Stuhlstadt, that the sales department would now sell at better prices, but added that this would of course require higher quality services and optimised processes. He could already see Stuhlstadt getting nervous and ended by saying that he was looking forward to being able to report on the first positive results of the joint efforts at the next meeting.

After the official part, where Dr. Stuhlstadt and Dr. Blondage also explained their growth strategy through value creation, an entertainment part with various groups was planned, followed by dinner and the party.

Ritter dispensed with the entertainment part and withdrew to a separate corner with Bayer to discuss the next steps with the Chinese. A small delegation was scheduled to visit in ten days' time. Ritter wanted to instruct the manager of the division and have the best man from processing with him at the meeting, who could explain how systematically and efficiently the team was proceeding in the Managed Services area of ICS, which still had considerable room for improvement. The team was also to prepare anonymised customer praise.

The party began with one of the best cover bands in Germany and Ritter stood aside to watch the hustle and bustle on the dance floor and at the bar from a distance. Carmen Lacroix approached him from behind: "How can I cheer up the lonely Ritter?" She came so close that he smelled her perfume, and he felt her breast on his arm. "What a bitch," he thought and turned to face her. He looked her straight in the eye: "How long have you and Kahl been going at it?" She was surprised for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"Just as I say."

"Do you like the party, Ms. Lacroix?" Dr. Stuhlstadt was her savior.

"A great party, Dr. Stuhlstadt, will you accompany me to the bar?"

"With the greatest pleasure," he cajoled.

She gave Ritter another very stern look. She and Stuhlstadt floated towards the bar.

Chapter 8

Ritter had to come up with something.

The course was set for a sustainable improvement in the earnings structure. Both the improvement of the service process and the implementation of the Managed Services strategy would make a positive contribution.

However, the current results, on the basis of which he was currently being assessed, were worse across the board than originally calculated. This made him suspicious. In the contracts, he and Bayer had meticulously ensured that any additional services that went beyond what had been agreed were also remunerated separately. Waiting times for technicians were a typical example: in order to gain access to the customer's premises, their employees had to come. If they waited too long, the entire deployment plan was disrupted, which cost money. From now on, these waiting times were not only documented precisely, but also had to be invoiced contractually at a standard hourly rate.

But it still didn't fit.

Ritter put in a night shift. He planned to delve deeper into the ICS management information system. Normally, it was Kahl's or Lacroix's job to compile and evaluate the reports. He wanted to get his own, more detailed picture, especially to find out where the discrepancies were coming from.

The planning was based on the cost side of both personnel costs and other project-related costs. As the problem lay in the operating margin, he was initially able to disregard internal personnel costs and other operating expenses. Ritter first looked at the last month. He opened up the personnel costs, unfolded the sub-lines as far as possible and compared the actual values with the planned values. As turnover was slightly higher this month, personnel costs were also slightly higher, which made sense. He looked at the relative proportions to turnover, but could not find any significant deviations.

Then he checked the other project-related costs. That was striking. Significantly higher costs than planned. "Okay," he thought to himself, "maybe an outlier this month." He couldn't expand any further - sublines were blocked for him. Ritter was puzzled and looked at the total line of project-related costs for the previous nine months of the current year. He found the same trend everywhere: significantly higher costs and relative proportions of turnover than planned.

He finished his analysis around midnight, drove home and let the matter run through his mind. He couldn't reveal himself too soon.

The next morning, he called Dr. Blondage and asked him to speak with central IT to give him access to the sublines of other project-related costs in the system. A short time later, Blondage called back. IT had been surprised that Kahl had not released this view to him, Ritter. Blondage told him: "You have access, I've just arranged it. What are you specifically interested in here?" - "Dr. Blondage," Ritter replied deliberately calmly, "I am firmly convinced that the current margins do not correspond to the sales performance. I'm going to get to the bottom of this." - "Do that and keep me informed," was the terse reply.

After the next night shift, Ritter found what he was looking for. The vehicle costs were significantly higher than planned, both in absolute terms and relative to turnover. As ICS had a large fleet of technician vehicles, the contributions to the margin were significant.

Chapter 9

Kahl stormed into Ritter's office: "What are you doing? Do you also want to do the controller job now? You should concentrate on your tasks."

The head office had informed him of the release in the information system. "Don't worry," Ritter countered, "business development is on the right track. I think we should invite Dr. Stuhlstadt for an update as soon as possible."

Ritter stood up, walked past Kahl and left the office. He had an out-of-town appointment. As he left, he noticed that Carmen Lacroix's seat was empty. He turned around and asked Kahl: "Where is she today?" - "She called in sick, but that doesn't matter to you."

Ritter left the office and made his way to Autogarant. Over the last few days, he had had invoices for the vehicle costs sent to him from the accounts department.