Services
GJK Consulting has worked extensively for companies ranging from start-ups and small businesses to multinational corporations. Services are customized for the corporate and small – mid-sized business sectors.
Corporate
Strategy development & implementation
Business strategy combines environmental, competitor and resource analysis with creative problem solving to develop strategic options for the company. Strategic options map out potential courses of action in the face of internal and external threats and opportunities such as:
An unexpected shock to the economy
Changing ways of doing business
New competitor entering the industry
Internal product development
Acquisition
New source of capital
A privately-owned multinational consumer goods company was a medium-sized player in a rapidly consolidating industry. The company’s profitability had been steadily declining and had reached a $25 million loss for the year. I worked together with executive management to turn around the company. We conducted a company-wide strategic review, resulting in a major international expansion of prestige brands and discontinuation of loss-making product lines. With a $15 million investment in the international duty-free channel as well as flagship stores in key markets, international sales of the prestige brands increased by 125%. I also worked on-site at a subsidiary to streamline the product portfolio and prune back retail distribution to high- and medium-potential customers. Within 18 months the company reached profitability.
Business planning
A business plan provides a roadmap of what the company will do in the future and how it will succeed. It is a recognised management tool that allows management to steer complex organisations. The business plan is closely linked to a company’s strategy and contains analyses and detailed financial projections mapping out how the company will achieve its strategic objectives.
At a private company operating in 10 countries, results were available for individual legal entities only. To determine where the company was making and losing money and to plan for the next 3-5 years, I pioneered a company-wide strategic planning system to bring transparency and consistency to geography/product/channel results. Included in the design of the system were the business rules and cost allocation methodology.
By slicing and dicing the business, decisions could be made about a specific product in an individual distribution channel in a particular country. The system had a module to forecast manufacturing capacity as well as a module for integrated balance sheet and cash flow forecasting.
With a high-level planning module, senior management was able to agilely simulate various strategic options and and varying levels of growth, profitability and capital. Once management reached consensus on the strategic course for the company, a detailed bottom-up plan was carried out by business operations.
Performance measurement and management
Performance measurement refers to the set of quantitative indicators a company uses to track actual progress relative to plan. The measures enable management to assess real-time performance and make decisions about individual profit centers such as products, channels, geographies and areas of management responsibility. Performance measurement metrics include financial measures as well as non-financial measures related to customers and people. Identifying which measures to track is critically important to ensure that management monitors those measures that actually drive the business.
Performance management is the complement to performance measurement and refers to how the company uses the measures to achieve its strategic goals.
At a services company, I designed and implemented an on-line management reporting package containing key performance indicators and a balanced scorecard. I introduced shareholder value as a measure of profit center performance because it accounted for the capital employed by business operations. Definitions of financial data were standardised to enable comparison across customer accounts and industry sectors. With automated querying and data interfaces, the reporting cycle time was reduced from 3 weeks to 4 days with a significant improvement in the quality of information. Just as important was the positive effect on employee morale – with the elimination of low value-add tasks, the motivation of the team improved substantially.
Organizational redesign
Closely tied to company strategy, organizational redesign realigns the structure, processes and people needed to drive the company toward its strategic goals. During periods of rapid growth, companies need to adapt their structure to the changing business. Likewise, after an acquisition, a reorganisation is needed to integrate two companies into one combined organisation.
A consumer goods company was looking to improve the effectiveness of their sales organisation. I separated the market into major customer segments. The company’s ability to serve each customer segment was assessed based on key buying criteria and critical success factors. The customer requirements of the two segments were differentiated enough to each require a dedicated sales team. I led client task forces to implement the two sales and marketing organisations, one for each of the two major customer segments, leading to a 35% increase in revenue.
Process redesign
To improve an operation’s performance in terms of customer service or cost, it is necessary to analyse the set of related tasks that lead to the outcome. In redesigning a key process, it is important to: (1) prioritize individual tasks in terms of value add; (2) look for ways to improve the way a task is done; and, (3) use technology to automate a task.
After a series of acquisitions, a services company needed to integrate four finance and accounting departments into one. I assigned a project team to each major finance and accounting process. Through analysis of individual tasks and internal benchmarking, we derived an internal best practice for each process. To benefit from process improvements made by competitors and other industries, the internal best practice process was compared to external benchmarks.
The result was integrated, consistent financial processes that reduced cycle time from 40-70% and achieved cost savings of 60%.
Small – mid-sized business
Company vision & mission
To successfully lead a group of people, it is necessary to identify the purpose and values of the organisation. It is this set of shared values that motivate and commit the employees, customers and suppliers to the organisation. They give the organisation an identity that differentiates it from its competitors. This mission and sense of shared values impart a higher purpose to employees and other stakeholders beyond profitability and earning an income. In times of significant change, these common values and goals guide management and give employees focus.
A high-performing team within a larger organisation strived to break away into their own center of excellence with their own identity. They wanted to achieve international recognition. Breakthroughs in the field were pulling certain members of the team in different directions. Through discussion and workshops with other teams, a shared vision and set of core values crystallised. To ensure that each stream within the team maintained at the forefront of their field, I designed a highly fluid organisation with one stream working closely with one specialist team and another stream working with other teams.
Business plans to apply for grants, loans & venture capital
When companies look to external sources of financing, prospective lenders and shareholders require a business plan to evaluate whether to invest in the company. The business plan represents the company’s business proposition and is the roadmap to a profitable venture. The business plan needs to be solid, grounded in realistic assumptions, and at the same time show interesting market opportunity and profit potential to attract investors.
To fund its research and development, a tech start-up looked to government funding and private investors. To attract the needed capital, I developed a three-year technical and business plan together with the technical team. The plan identified the major technical milestones and the personnel and equipment required to reach the milestones. As the product had applications in multiple industries, we analyzed the market potential of various industries and development efforts required to adapt to each market. Company management agreed to the two markets we chose to focus on. By putting together a business plan, the company was able to sharpen its strategic focus and increase its credibility to potential investors. As a result, the company obtained $8 million in funding to finance the next phase of development.
Product portfolio rationalization
Part of a company’s growth often involves adding new products to the product portfolio due to a customer request, a gap in the product range or a competitive offering. After several years the company may have several hundred products in its portfolio, many with negligible sales or negative operating margin. Adding to this unfavorable profit impact is the cost of complexity - the additional overhead costs incurred by a large product range.
A company was earmarked for sale and management was looking to optimise operations and improve profitability. One action item was to streamline the vast product range. I conducted a product profitability analysis and led a cross-functional product team comprising sales, marketing and manufacturing to phase out products. This resulted in a 60% reduction in the number of products in the portfolio and an increase in operating margin of $45 million.
Cost structure optimization
In addition to reviewing the cost structure on a regular basis, typically as part of the budgeting process, it needs to be reworked when there is a significant business downturn or reduction in profitability.
As part of the turnaround of a consumer goods company, I helped implement the closure of two subsidiaries and transfer of $20 million business to distributors.
A consumer goods company was looking to improve the effectiveness of their sales organisation. We achieved cost savings of $2 million by optimising sales regions, establishing visit frequency standards and organising sales force time more effectively.