CDI Holdings · Case Study Library
MBU Model — MDW® · Vientiane, Laos — First Southeast Asia Case · Presented by Stefan Dunger
Lao Tobacco Limited
Adapting MDW to Local Culture — 1,708 Ideas, 1.5 Years Without a Lost Time Accident
LTL · Vientiane, Laos · 400+ Staff · Vertically Integrated: Growing → Manufacturing → Sales · Government Revenue Contributor
1.5yr
Without a Lost
Time Accident
Time Accident
1,708
Improvement ideas
in one year
in one year
+17.3%
OEE gain
in making
in making
2,149
Near miss reports
YTD vs stretch
YTD vs stretch
Background
The CDI Library’s First Southeast Asia Case
Lao Tobacco Limited is a vertically integrated tobacco business and a major revenue contributor to the Lao Government, employing over 400 staff across operations spanning tobacco growing, cigarette manufacturing, and sales. The MBU model was introduced in 2016 to integrate Lean principles with local cultural identity — transforming leadership behaviour and frontline engagement in a context that is culturally and operationally distinct from the majority of the CDI library.
The Challenge
Lean Principles in a Laotian Cultural Context
Implementing a structured improvement methodology in Southeast Asia requires adaptation that technical programmes rarely anticipate. Leadership communication styles, the relationship between authority and participation, and the way improvement ideas flow between levels are all culturally specific. The LTL implementation had to honour those specifics while building the team ownership and daily performance discipline that MDW requires to work.
They were not managed into improvement. They were invited into it.
They were not managed into improvement. They were invited into it.
The Approach
Cultural Adaptation, VUCA Orientation, and Leaders Who Listened Before They Led
1
VUCA Education — The Why Before the WhatThe LTL implementation began not with an MBU launch but with a townhall kick-off for all employees that included formal VUCA education — teaching the workforce what Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity mean, and why those conditions make team ownership essential rather than optional. Starting with context rather than the tool is the cultural adaptation that makes MDW meaningful where the “why” of improvement is not self-evident.
2
Vision and Mission WorkshopsVision and Mission workshops built shared purpose in the local cultural context — not imposed from a global framework but developed by LTL teams themselves with CDI facilitation. In Southeast Asia, shared purpose cannot be assumed from organisational charts. It has to be built through conversation.
3
Tiered MBU Structure and MLM RecognitionMBU meetings deployed at three tiers (MBU1, MBU2, MBU3) connecting frontline performance to management priorities. Monthly Multi-Level Meetings with recognition awards created the celebration rhythm that sustains momentum. In a culture where recognition has deep social significance, the MLM structure is more than a performance meeting — it is a cultural expression of shared value.
4
5S Visual Workplace in Engineering5S transformation in engineering alongside embedded coaching and cross-functional mentoring. In a manufacturing operation where equipment reliability is the OEE foundation, 5S in engineering is simultaneously a quality and safety discipline. The +17.3% OEE gain in making areas reflects the downstream consequence of upstream engineering discipline.
5
Listen to Learn — The Most Distinctive Leadership Practice in the LibraryThe L2L initiative is the most distinctive leadership development practice in the CDI library: leaders shadowing frontline roles, doing the work of the people they lead. In a Southeast Asian context where hierarchy is deeply embedded, a leader willing to learn from those below them signals a fundamental shift in the organisation's relationship with authority. Combined with 1,708 improvement ideas in one year and 2,149 near miss reports exceeding stretch targets, the invitation to improvement was accepted at every level.
Programme Architecture
VUCA Education & Townhall — all-employee kick-off with VUCA education, the full organisation oriented to the why before the what.
Vision & Mission Workshops — shared purpose built from the ground up in the local cultural context with CDI facilitation.
Tiered MBU Structure — MBU1, MBU2, MBU3 meetings with monthly MLM recognition awards.
Listen to Learn (L2L) — leaders shadow frontline roles, the most distinctive approach element in the CDI library.
5S & Embedded Coaching — visual workplace transformation in engineering plus cross-functional mentoring.
Results
Safety, Quality, Ideas and Engagement — Across Every Performance Dimension
1.5yr LTA-Free
Safety Leadership
1.5 years without a Lost Time Accident — a workforce paying attention to hazards rather than reporting incidents after the fact.
2,149
Near Miss Reports
Near miss reporting exceeded stretch targets at 2,149 YTD — the proactive safety culture that precedes and prevents the LTAs that were not recorded.
+17.3%
Making OEE
OEE improved +17.3% in making and +9.9% in packing — team ownership of the performance components that determine production output.
1,708
Ideas in One Year
1,708 improvement ideas submitted in a single year — the innovation output of a workforce that was invited into improvement and accepted the invitation.
−19.4%
NTM Waste
Non-tobacco materials waste reduced by 19.4% — cost reduction from teams that owned their material efficiency rather than managing it through procurement controls.
L2L
Leaders Listening
Leaders shadowing frontline roles — the cultural shift that signals to a Southeast Asian workforce that authority and learning flow in both directions.
“
CDI’s support was adaptable to local culture and consistently reinforced leadership routines, goal alignment, and standard coaching practices.
Stefan Dunger · Lao Tobacco Limited · MBU Programme, Laos
Key Insight
LTL is the CDI library’s Southeast Asia proof and its most culturally adapted case. Listen to Learn — leaders doing the work of those they lead — is a leadership practice that belongs in every CDI programme everywhere. MDW worked in Laos not despite the cultural difference, but because the programme honoured it.
