Our Services

Large Scale Change

Competitive forces are driving today’s organizations to introduce large-scale change with increasing frequency.

Examples include:

  • developing and implementing new strategy
  • designing organizations to support strategy
  • introduction of new information technology (e.g., SAP)
  • merger/acquisition integration
  • developing new strategies and operational practices to compete in a deregulated environment
  • downsizing
  • starting up new plants and companies.

Our consultants work with leaders and members of organizations to design a customized change architecture to implement these changes rapidly and fully.

The architecture includes interventions that:

  • Create a commitment critical mass for change (mobilize)
  • Effectively communicate the need for change and the benefits
  • Create culture change
  • Develop new leadership skills to lead the change
  • Re-engineer processes
  • Redesign organizational structures
  • Redefine roles and responsibilities
  • Fully implement the targeted changes

Organization Transformation

We specialize in transforming the organization’s structural DNA from that of a bureaucratic, command and control organization to a fluid, flexible organization based on the principles of self-management and direct accountability. We help organizations change by involving the whole system in activities that guide them through cycles of change and learning.

We utilize a variety of interventions based on high-involvement and self-management:

  • participative design of strategy, processes and structures
  • socio-technical systems design
  • high performance work systems design
  • continuous improvement
  • organizational learning
  • development of internal consulting teams

Accelerated Change Process

Today’s environment requires rapid change, increased flexibility, and the ability to redirect strategic resources. To complement traditional change processes that are top-down driven or utilize design teams/task forces to drive change efforts, our consultants utilize innovative change processes that accelerate the change process and strengthen the implementation of required changes.

These processes involved large groups of people from the organization and produce rapid results. Our consultants design and facilitate large group change events that bring large numbers of people (100 – 3000) together to develop strategies and discrete actions for dealing with these dramatic changes. Through the active involvement of a large number of people, this approach not only identifies necessary changes, but also immediately mobilizes the organizations to implement these changes.

Applications of this approach include:

  • Launch of the new Mustang (Ford Motor Company)
  • Reengineering a commercial loan process for a bank acquisition (Bank of America)
  • Designing a new organization/business process for a low cost airline (United Shuttle)

Change Management

Our consultants each have over 20 years experience in helping organizations manage change. They provide consulting, using a variety of tools to assess the readiness for change and develop a series of interventions to help the organization transition through the change.

Tools and interventions include:

  • Change readiness assessment
  • Leadership assessment and coaching
  • 360 degree assessment
  • Competency modeling
  • Need for change workshops
  • Team-based organization design
  • Launch meetings
  • Communications planning and design
  • Conversation kits
  • “Skip Level” meeting design
  • Benchmarking/site visits
  • Appreciative inquiry

Leadership Development

The rapidly changing markets, economic conditions and employee values are driving a whole new set of leadership skills. Skills include mobilizing employees, leading through vision and values, coaching, recognizing new strategic directions, etc. Our consultants possess considerable experience in assessing leadership capabilities and designing development activities to increase the leadership capabilities.

Services include:

  • Leadership assessment
  • 360 degree assessment
  • Individualized coaching
  • Competency modeling
  • Leadership team development
  • Leading change

High Performance Team Design and Implementation

Companies are achieving dramatic results by implementing high performing work teams. Documented improvements are consistently in the 25% – 40% range. These teams require minimal supervision, have a high degree of commitment and ownership, and are directly accountable for their performance. They have high degrees of empowerment and self-management.

Our consultants have considerable experience in the design, implementation and renewal of team-based organizations.

We use a variety of methodologies including:

  • Socio-technical systems design
  • Traditional design team approaches
  • Participative design
  • Large group methods

Examples include:

  • Implementing a project team structure in an Engineering Service Group (BHP)
  • Implementing self-managing work teams in a new process unit of a chemical plant (Exxon)
  • Creating product aligned teams for a software development company (Sybase)

Participative Design

Participative Design is a high commitment process in which workgroups restructure themselves to best deliver business and personal results. Our consultants work with your organization to prepare the leadership for a high performing work system, design participative design workshops, and facilitate those workshops to develop new organizational structures and work processes. Follow-up support is provided, but the focus is on developing internal capability.

Examples include:

  • Designing new development and manufacturing teams (Storage Technology)
  • Delayering 4 business units (Syncrude)
  • Designing an enterprise-wide organization structure (Sequa Chemicals)
  • Designing a new call center structure (Sybase)
  • Creating customer-focused work teams (American Express)