BrazilRoland Berger makes three partnership promotions across Asia
Global management consultancy Roland Berger has elected two new partners in Asia; Mohit Gidwani in Singapore and Masashi Onozuka in Japan. Soosung Lee, of the firm’s South Korea office, has also been made a senior partner. CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée, however, has stepped down.
Twelve new members have joined Roland Berger’s worldwide partnership ranks following the global management consultancy’s mid-year international partnership meeting in Berlin, with Mohit Gidwani of Singapore and Masashi Onozuka of Japan among the mix. Soosung Lee of Roland Berger’s South Korea practice was also one of six promoted to the senior partnership – but the firm, however, lost its most senior leader, with CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée departing.
A consultant in Roland Berger’s Southeast Asia TMT (Telecom, Media and Technology) practice, Mohit Gidwani joined the firm in Singapore in 2013, and has since served clients including mobile and fixed telecom players, digital and tech companies, and late-stage start-ups from across region with support in areas such as new business launches, organisation transformation, commercial strategy and implementation and due diligence and regulatory.
Prior to his near six years with Roland Berger, Gidwani spent just over a year as a senior manager leading Singtel’s group enterprise strategy engagement across existing and new geographies, before which he served for four and a half years as a management consultant with Value Partners, crossing with the firm from India to Singapore in 2011. Gidwani holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and a BA in Technology.
New Tokyo-based partner Masashi Onozuka joined Roland Berger’s Japan practice in 2007 following a three-year stint as a consultant with ICT company Mizuho Information & Research Institute, as well as three years as a researcher for leading Japanese think-tank Fuji Research Institute prior to its merger with Mizuho. Onozuka holds a Masters in Media and Governance from Keio University – the oldest higher education institute in Japan (est. 1858).
With broad-ranging experience in new business development, growth strategies, corporate turnarounds, operational improvements, merger & acquisition strategies, and supply chain management among other areas, Onozuka serves Roland Berger’s client-base in the logistics, distribution, manufacturing, and finance sectors as well as numerous other industrial fields. He is also a contributor to the Japanese version of Roland Berger’s though publication, THINK: ACT.
Meanwhile, the managing partner of Roland Berger’s Seoul office, Soosung Lee, has been made a senior partner after seven years with the firm. An MBA graduate from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, Lee has over twenty years of international management consulting, investment banking, and entrepreneurial management experience and with Roland Berger focuses on strategy, transformation and leadership, private equity and corporate finance.
Altogether, Roland Berger took the opportunity of its bi-annual partners meeting to elect 12 new partners and elevate six to senior partner status worldwide. However, coming somewhat as a surprise, considering his reelection to the post just last year, was the announcement from CEO Charles-Edouard Bouée that he would be stepping down, effectively immediately, to pursue other opportunities – including a fresh role with the WEF as a Global AI Council member.
Bouée, who last year invested in Vietnam-based online retailer Leflair and spends part of his time in Shanghai, said; “We have all witnessed how globalisation and digitalisation are turning the world on its head. These developments are also offering incredible opportunities that I’m thrilled to explore and seize. After 18 years in consultancy at Roland Berger and after having successfully led the company’s transformation as part of a strong team, I am ready to put this invaluable experience and expertise into entrepreneurial practice.”
