Agricultural Seed Development and Distribution Company I.T. Department The client was the I.T. Department of a medium size agricultural seed development and distribution company.   I had previously developed a strategic plan for the same I.T. Director when he was with a different organization.  This engagement developed a three year plan that served for five...Read More

In the previous three articles we have shared our strategic planning “secret sauce”, why we are confident that engaging with us for your strategic planning requirements will give you a materially better result than traditional methods.  This process will add substantial value to any organization, no matter what size or what industry, including government and...Read More

In the previous posts we have developed the seven critical factors, weighted them and scored them and identified the strategic gaps.  How do we close those gaps and arrive at the Strategic Action Plan? What else can be done? Starting with the largest weighted gap we go through a similar synthesis process to the Critical...Read More

Following on – why some people think my strategic planning method is “magic”. In Part 1 we have collaboratively developed the seven critical factors.Delegates, prompted by a series of slides, privately weight the seven factors in terms ofrelative importance in delivering the strategic outcome.Results are then captured and are typically all over the place, each...Read More

I make claims for my Strategic Planning service in terms of speed, quality of outcome, level of buy-in, etcetera that some people find unreal. So, I thought it would be useful to share a bit about my process to answer these questions. Fundamentally collectively the top team have the knowledge and experience to ideate the...Read More

One of the major reasons that IT projects fail to deliver is that the requirements definition is inexact, fluffy and not strategically aligned – it is vital that it is aligned with the strategic essence, how the organization thrives and achieves maximum profitability. In a recent article I discussed “The importance of strategic alignment in...Read More

Many ERP, AI, CRM and other business information system investments do not deliver lasting value to the client’s business.  They get the job done operationally but they do not facilitate differentiation and competitive advantage.  They are not “a strategic weapon” enabling improved profitability, as it was put by one of my clients. The primary reason...Read More

Precision configuration can give rise to an order of magnitude improvement in ease of use and effectiveness of a system with resultant productivity and profitability gains without investing in new software. Precision configuration is a powerful tool to add considerable value to your existing system without the disruption of a full system upgrade. Various major...Read More

Reports indicate that the SAP S/4 HANA upgrade is disruptive, costly and drives business risk.  Profitability is likely to be significantly reduced for several years while the upgrade beds down. Expected benefits are debatable insofar as the current version is sufficient for most businesses. If this upgrade concerns you I have a solution. Case Study...Read More

On what basis do YOU allow third parties to add major costs, major business disruption and major business risk to your business unilaterally? On what basis do you reduce profitability at the demand of a third party? Would you allow the contractor who built and equipped your factory to unilaterally withhold support and require you...Read More