UK construction company -
Developing and
implementing a new strategic direction
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The challenge
The newly appointed Managing Director had identified a number of
weaknesses in the business during the first weeks of his new role. Overall, a
lack of strategic focus and vision was holding the business back and
frustrating employees.
Having used Corven’s services at his
previous business, the Managing Director engaged Corven to work with the senior
management team to develop a clear strategy for the future and an accompanying
business plan that would excite the employees and enable rapid performance
improvement.
To align with the parent’s budgeting process, the
project had a tight deadline of just 8 weeks.
Corven’s role was
to:
- Assess the existing business and its external environment, thus developing a reliable baseline
- Generate a number of detailed strategic options and select one for the business to progress
- Formulate a comprehensive business plan setting out clear goals, objectives and work-streams for implementation
- Gain ongoing alignment, engagement and ownership for the future direction of the business
Approach
Our approach consisted
of three phases:
Phase One:
This
involved a series of focused interviews and workshops to perform a full
internal and external analysis of the existing business and its
environment.
Phase Two:
Three
strategic options were assessed in detail, and a further workshop drew the team
to an agreed conclusion on the best to take forward, based on the optimum fit
with the business’s capabilities and the customer’s needs.
Phase
Three: The selected strategy was developed in further detail, including a full
internal and external review, and clear business objectives linked to KPIs and
a detailed financial model.
Overall, the approach was designed to:
- Establish a clear case for action and provide a solid base line of the existing status of the business
- Highlight the company’s strengths and weaknesses and provide a strong customer and market-oriented focus
- Offer a range of strategic options for the business and outline the implications thereof
- Reach agreement among the senior management team on how the business should be taken forward, thereby creating ‘ownership’ of the new direction
- Draw a ‘line in the sand’ on the existing confusion and help senior management overcome a high degree of ‘change weariness’
- Outline clearly the next steps and associated accountabilities in order for the business to succeed
Results
Projected benefits for the business:
- Following an initial review of the business there was a significant case for action, most notably with large potential impact on sales, costs and people related issues
- Increased revenues by 14% in a flat market over three years through improved sales and marketing efforts as well as new distribution channels
- Improved profitability by £15m over three years through restructuring, improved productivity and utilisation rates, and efficient procurement and logistics processes
- Improved RONA through better stock management and branch closures from 8% in 2003 to 41% in 2006, providing a positive EVA beyond shareholder requirements
- Accelerated training, development, and HR processes as well as clearer communications
- Accelerated training, development, and HR processes as well as clearer communications
- Improved management systems based on a small number of strategic KPIs and full utilisation of the existing IT system
- Clearly defined goals, visible across the organisation with a market oriented focus
