International Service System started as a modest business in Denmark in 1934. Since then, ISS has become the world's leading supplier of cleaning services and other related facilities. Experiencing a nearly thousand-fold growth in a mere 33 years, ISS has firmly established itself in the global market. This is largely due to the management strategies and leadership of Poul Andreassen, whose goal was to create an "empire of cleaning services built on innovative principles." Overall, this appears to be a very solid company that will maintain its growth and stature in the industry.
Strategic Factors.
ISS began with the vision of becoming a dominating force in the service industry. They realized that most companies viewed cleaning as a secondary priority, and placed it of little importance. ISS decided to market to this niche, with the intentions of showing that it would be more cost effective to outsource their cleaning needs. .
Their strategy for achieving the set goals included standardization of the work process, development of new methods, equipment, machinery, and cleaning products. ISS also realized that those in the cleaning industry were viewed as uneducated and unprofessional, which could reflect back on the company. At ISS, they wanted to dispel of this image through employee training and higher-level wages. All employees, ranging from service staff to management received training specialized for their area of work. .
With the recent change in management, ISS has made clear some of its new objectives. Schmidt has indicated that his leadership style and management goals will be somewhat different from Andreassen's. Schmidt is more interested in meeting set targets and orienting to specific goals. Whereas the company previously followed a general strategy, Schmidt would like to redirect towards more specific goals. He is interested in creating new services, as well as becoming more focused on key accounts.