Strategic Consulting Services usually involve an initial assessment, followed by assistance with planning. Frequently these services are provided as the first step to Capacity and Institution Building Services.

Strategic assessment and planning may be specific (limited to a particular organizational area) or entity-wide. In all strategic planning engagements there must be deep involvement and commitment of senior management to ensure a successful result.

In most cases, the work begins with an objective assessment of the entity's positioning in its environment (measured against competition in the private sector or if not-for-profit, comparison to "best practices" or to "model" entities in the same service sector.) I believe that it is my responsibility to use the right tools (such as SWOT analysis and bench-marking) to draw upon the experience and judgment of senior management to elicit the data and to help them structure and analyze the information so that they can develop their own conclusions about "where they are" and "where they want to be." I am able to bring a mature, experienced, objective and "fresh" viewpoint to the process.

In the tactical planning phase, I assist the management team in quantifying the steps and resources needed to implement the changes required to achieve their strategic plan. In this phase of the process I add value by bringing a "cross functional" and "outside the box" overview to the process. If external resources (monetary or otherwise) are required by the plan, I may assist them in obtaining those resources.

Representative Engagements

In post-privatization Russia - For Price Waterhouse

A large integrated steel producer sought help in adapting to the post-privatization environment. The company had significant cash flow problems, as did most of the heavy industry companies in the “near zero cash flow” and “barter” economy that followed the collapse of communism. The company had very high employment levels, due in part to its continuing role as overseer of a “company town” (similar to the “steel towns” in the early 1900s in the US).

Our assessment indicated that they produced high quality products (well-accepted for export). We helped management to focus their marketing efforts to obtain a higher proportion of exports to customers who would pay them in “hard currencies.” In addition, we assisted them with the development of medium and long-term strategies to reduce their involvement and commitments to the municipality and to reduce high employment levels while adhering to their value system of “looking out for their employees.”

In Uganda – for Price Waterhouse

In a World Bank funded project for the Ministry of Industry & Technology, Public Industrial Enterprise Secretariat (PIES), developed and applied a methodology for providing strategic assessments (similar to management audits) of five government-owned companies. The methodology was cross-disciplinary and was applied to all of the critical management functions. It also included product quality and profitability analyses.

The output of the project was to recommend to PIES a devolution strategy for each entity. The range of recommended strategies included re-financing schemes, changes in product mix, improvements to marketing management, cost reduction strategies and, at the extreme, closure of one company.

In Uganda – for Price Waterhouse

In a World Bank funded project for East African Development Bank, developed short, medium and long-term strategies for the 1990s. Areas addressed included: loan portfolio restructuring, organization, management support systems and funding sources.