Eaton & Company's
Global Accomplishments -- Examples:
GLOBAL PACKAGED GOODS COMPANY
The Business problem we were trying to solve:
Identification of market expansion opportunity
Creation of a new market strategy
Our solution:
Researched and created the first data base on new markets in Eastern Europe and Russia
Analyzed and prioritized these markets
Created an entry strategy including product assortment, marketing campaign, customized distribution, logistics and pricing
Served as a virtual office for the first year and selected staff for permanent local presence
The results:
In the first 2 years of operation sales reached $10 million. Today, this is the most profitable geographical branch for the client
GLOBAL AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING COMPANY
The Business problem we were trying to solve:
Competition virtual lock on supplies of a key component for the NASA program
Our solution:
Researched new, yet unknown sources on a global basis using primary intelligence
Identified an appropriate source
Created relationship and helped secure an exclusive contract
The results:
The client gained an unassailable competitive advantage both from the cost and supply volume standpoints
BABY CARE PRODUCT MANUFACTURER
The business problem we were trying to solve:
1. The original entry strategy into China got scrapped because China outlawed door-to-door distribution
2. A new approach to the China market had to be created
Our solution:
1. Created a lucrative proposition to the government that would improve babies’ development and, eventually, help create local subcontracting base
2. Enrolled China government in a partnership thus ensuring their support
The results:
1. The client became highly successful achieving the 15+ % annual volume growth
A MAJOR GROUP OF PRIVATE INVESTORS
The business problem we were trying to solve:
Evaluate an acquisition candidate on its relations with customers and growth potential in the marketplace
Our solution:
Used the highly-focused primary research techniques including one-on-one interviews with major customers
Identified discrepancy between the acquisition candidate’ opinion of themselves vs. that of major customers
Evaluated growth opportunities and recommended against proposed acquisition
The results:
Our predictions about this acquisition candidate turned out to be true and our client was spared a major cash drain
A MAJOR VC GROUP
The business problem we were trying to solve:
Evaluate the viability of the foreign company just acquired by a client
Identify areas of growth for the company product on a global basis
Our solution:
Analyzed the worldwide market for the specific product category
Developed the opportunity criteria and prioritized markets against this criteria
Created a highly-detailed profile of the top 3 markets including entry requirements, government regulations, key factors for success, competition, distribution and possible entry alternatives
Recommended a strategy
The results:
Project is currently underway
Other examples of accomplishments:
Transferred international experience intoa 3 point share gain for ethnic markets in the US for a major packaged goods company
Identified opportunities to expand product portfolio through a thorough search, analysis and screening criteria for potential acquisitions in the aerospace industry
Created a global category management platform for the major tobacco company enabling them improve relations with retailers and gain better competitive position
Created the first of its kind category management platform for a major food service company and its distributors with resulting cost efficiency improvements
Identified major contract opportunities and helped bring parties together in the aerospace industry
Identified market positioning and an entry opportunity for a luxury goods manufacturer. Developed a highly accurate sales forecast and enabled the client to establish a sustainable presence in the high-end market
Created a subcontracting opportunity in the developing market for a major apparel manufacturer. Helped overcome difficulties associated with the market culture and political structure thus saving $3 million in costs annually for a client
Evaluated competitive field and benchmarked clients in various industries against their competitors providing a very objective, 3rd eye, 360-degree assessment of the competition. This resulted to substantial improvements in strategy for clients.
Developed a new angle for the due diligence process that ensured high accuracy in acquisition strategy and forecast for multiple clients
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Linking Strategic Planning to Project Planning & Governance
Our partner, Judith Wren, has over 20 years experience in major corporations developing and implementing corporate-wide processes that link strategic planning to operational process improvement initiatives and IT project planning.
Tools used: Balanced Scorecard, Six Sigma, Enterprise Architecture, Solutions Delivery Lifecycle and Project Portfolio Management
Key objective: focusing resources on corporate priorities and ensure healthy/improved ROI.
Illustrative case studies
Case I – A Health Insurance Company
SITUATION – The company was the leader in the self-insured niche market, but the company’s share and profits began to erode due to the competitive moves by insurance conglomerates.
STRATEGY – Increase speed-to-market with new innovative products leveraging technology to enable cost transparency and more customer control over selection of healthcare services. While introducing these new products, operations support would be improved by decreasing the cycle times for new business applications and claims processing.
PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES – New technology was required to launch the new products and provide the needed automation for improved operations. The core systems and processes had to be re-engineered -- These goals needed to be met without increasing the IT budget.
SOLUTION by Judith Wren:
Re-focusing and prioritizing business and IT resources
Establishment of the corporate-wide project planning and investment rationalization process
Alignment with strategic priorities
Performance management
RESULT – IT strategic investment shifted from 4 to 30% within the same budget and enabled successful re-engineering of new systems and processes while launching innovative new products.
Case II – A Global IT Solutions Company
SITUATION – The company was created by acquiring 35 IT solutions, consulting and staffing firms and rolling them up into one company equaling 10,000 employees worldwide. As the company went public, industry analysts rated the company’s value low because it was viewed primarily as a large, loosely integrated staffing firm. Stock prices quickly began to reflect this perception.
STRATEGY – Harness its vast resources and transform into a company that would be perceived as a project-based solutions firm.
PROBLEMS/CHALLENGES – Each of the acquired firms had a different focus (staff augmentation in various geographic areas, project-based solutions in various industry verticals, and consulting in various functional capabilities).
SOLUTION by Judith Wren:
Integration of the new company’s product offerings as well as the sales and delivery processes
Creation of new standard processes through the application of Six Sigma methodologies and tools
New sales force automation, staffing, and project management systems were implemented to support the new centralized processes
Piloted new processes and systems through the management of strategic accounts
RESULT – The company’s staffing model was transformed to a solutions-delivery business model enabling customer needs were met and market reputation to improve. The transformation enabled the highly profitable sale of the company in just two years from the time of the initial rollup.
