Last year I left a large-scale systems integrator to take up the role of UK Managing Director for Proudfoot, an Operational Consulting firm, with a proud 75 year history. Before moving, I thought long and hard about the relevance of operational consulting in the digital world, after all isn’t so much of what we now do influenced by technology?
Yes, we agree that Lean, Six-Sigma and TQM have served the industry well.
For decades, these approaches have helped companies save millions. But in order to succeed in the decades to come, a new approach is needed to meet the new challenge – sustainable growth. For many, growth has been a top priority, yet this core driver is typically not part of the mix in traditional lean thinking.
Around the world, Proudfoot executives engage weekly with leading Chief Executives to share views on challenges impacting their business.
We collect and analyze this data for firsthand insight into business conditions companies are currently experiencing, and the approaches and initiatives they are pursuing as they respond to these conditions.
Around the world, Proudfoot executives engage weekly with leading Chief Executives to share views on challenges impacting their business.
We collect and analyze this data for firsthand insight into business conditions companies are currently experiencing, and the approaches and initiatives they are pursuing as they respond to these conditions.
Around the world, Proudfoot executives engage weekly with leading Chief Executives to share views on challenges impacting their business.
We collect and analyze this data for firsthand insight into business conditions companies are currently experiencing, and the approaches and initiatives they are pursuing as they respond to these conditions.
Initiative overload is common in nearly every organization. Today, companies always seem to be juggling a multitude of projects simultaneously. And while each of these projects surely had the best of intentions, as more projects are added the more likely they are to be dropped. For every new initiative launched, another one slows down or ceases altogether.
With stagnant demand across many developed economies and increasing uncertainty in emerging markets, CEOs are under pressure to execute an effective growth strategy.
With so many moving parts, it can be challenging to get G&A functions in synch. Indirect costs — those not directly linked to operations — are not normally addressed with the same discipline and rigor as direct costs.
Today signifies a major milestone in Alexander Proudfoot's storied history -- it marks the 70-year anniversary of the company's existence.
Let's face it, 2016 doesn't look any easier. With the stock market in turmoil and oil prices plummeting, it is safe to assume global CEOs in almost every industry will face a daunting combination of external fiscal pressures, competitive forces, misguided strategies, ineffective business plans and lackluster improvement efforts. In the aftermath of this perfect storm, companies will struggle to reach their goals.
Results from our organization assessment survey show a downward trend in the effectiveness of self-driven corporate change programs, internal training and general management capabilities. Upon further investigation of the 5,171 global responses we received from both managers and employees, it became apparent that the root cause was the inability to institutionalize behaviors that would bring about lasting change.
As the old saying goes, the only constant in business is change. Inevitably, all organizations will at some point need to evolve by implementing a more structured and radical change program. There are several reasons for this including increased competition, lack of stakeholder confidence, reputation of the business at stake and technological advances.
In the aftermath of a high-profile corporate crisis, it is a foregone conclusion that chief executives must respond quickly to avoid further backlash. However, according to the HBR article Strategy: How to Live with Risks, a recent survey shows 60% of corporate strategy officers said that their company's decision-making process is too slow and that 91% of these companies plan to reprioritize risk management in the next three years. So what can senior executives do to prepare, or better yet avoid a highly combustible situation?
According to The Economist, if there is a harsh lesson to be learned from China’s recent panic it’s that the rest of the world needs to raise its level of productivity. Long gone are the days where relentless Chinese expansion could be relied upon to keep the global economy moving, and despite external factors that promote robust productivity growth, companies continue to lose ground. If tackling productivity at the microeconomic level is the key to unlocking a nation’s true potential, then business leaders must be part of the solution.
It is estimated that meetings consume more than two days a week of an executive’s time and 15% of an organization’s collective time. It's no wonder many executives are exclaiming, "We must stop meeting like this!" to their supervisory and management teams.
An interview with former Chevron President, Ray Wilcox
As the petrochemical industry adapts to the current business environment, many in the upper echelons of the business are relying on operational excellence (OE) strategies to become more efficient.
Faced with the constant threat of rising costs and low margins, executives are doing everything they can to survive. Initiatives that reduce costs, maintain cash flow and eliminate debt are now focal points for companies trying to cope with the current market. In many cases, CEOs are under serious pressure to deliver targeted benefits in a relatively short amount of time.
