SAMPLE projects...
EVP of a 2500-person refining and marketing business:
"I want to become the #1 integrated company. We need
to improve our bottom-line by USD 300 million in 3 years.
We have the right strategies and the right people. Functional execution is the key to our success."
After helping the EVP and his senior team confirm the division strategy and restructure to a functional organisation, Cam worked with the EVP to select a group of high-potential future leaders to provide input into his planning.
During a specially designed offsite retreat, the future leader group declared, “We have no problem coming up with really great improvement ideas. We are leaving too much value on the table in how we execute.” The EVP and the future leaders decided that improvements in accountability, culture and leader effectiveness were the keys to delivering the USD 300 million challenge.
Cam worked directly with the future leader group to implement their ideas and the organisation increased annual earnings by USD 300 million in 2 years.
CEO of a newly merged 1700-person refining and petrochemicals business:
"We must continue to supply the nation's fuels while eliminating our financial dependence on government support. We must improve annual earnings by USD 350 million within 2 years and build our capability to deliver USD 1 billion within 7 years."
As part of an international consulting team orchestrating the merger, Cam first led a small internal team accountable for delivering earnings improvements of USD 25 million within 6 months. He then worked with the CEO to lead the overall 18-month integration and improvement initiative that followed.
Using a highly people-centered approach, within 24 months the organisation fully restructured, re-staffed, re-branded and delivered USD 500 million in annual earnings improvements without investing new capital.
CFO of a 750-person shared services unit:
"I want to transform our culture and unify all the functional disciplines within my unit, and we need to find ways to absorb the cost of inflation."
Cam worked with the CFO to develop and implement a
2-year plan focused on process redesign, leader effectiveness and organisational mindset—reinforced with strategy maps, balanced scorecards and compensation.
Cam helped the client source and partner with the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative to ensure that an appropriate level of third party support was available during year 2.
The CFO believes one of the most powerful signs of success came during a conference keynote address when a senior and influential line executive said, “I now see this group as a Strategic Business Unit rather than overhead expense.”
VP of a 250-person marketing group:
"I want to increase focus and discipline in how resources are allocated and strategy is executed. We need to transform from break-even operations to returning the cost of capital."
Cam worked with the VP to develop and implement a
3-part plan including triaging over 100 planned initiatives, more clearly articulating the 5-year strategy and implementing a disciplined governance and accountability process.
The VP delivered USD 40 million in annual earnings improvement in 3 years.
VP of a 600-person international lubricants business:
"I have 3 years to turn this unit around and we need to achieve break-even within a year. We have the right strategy but we need to make major changes in how we operate. I see 4 core business processes that need to be fully re-engineered and I can’t afford to have the entire unit in turmoil at once."
CEO of a 60,000-member international certification association:
"International growth is critical to changing the vector of our steadily eroding membership levels. We have assessed 3 major markets and we have identified prospective partners in each. I need to know if we are ready to enter this market and if this partner is a good fit."
During the design phase of the 4 reengineering projects, Cam helped the client source and manage consulting firms with topic-specific and targeted intellectual property.
A 4-year phased approach to reengineering manufacturing, integrated logistics, pricing and sales processes achieved break-even in 2 years and an overall USD 80 million annual earnings improvement in 4 years.
Cam participated in a joint 4-month market and prospective partner assessment focused on economic viability, cultural fit and implementation requirements.
The assessment surfaced 2 pivotal insights for the CEO—
a previously thought inconsequential third party would be critical to the success of the prospective partnership, and his organisation was spread too thin to pursue 3 growth markets simultaneously.
Cross-functional General Manager team:
"We need to ensure the USD 10 million we are investing in this SAP integrated supply chain technology is delivered on-time, on-budget and delivers the USD 30 million annual EBIT improvement we promised."
Cam partnered with the assigned Project Manager and his 30-person team of information technology and business team specialists to clarify exactly what they were accountable for delivering, and to understand what it would take to deliver the promised benefits. The team quickly decided that simply installing the software would not deliver the financial benefits promised and repositioned the software project as a business process improvement project.
Cam coached project team members in working with end-users to finalise the project charter and identify what is needed to deliver the promised benefits. A unique method of stakeholder engagement resulted in the end-user community identifying and delivering a USD 25 million annual EBIT increase through process improvement long before the SAP technology was installed.
Once completed, the project exceeded all financial and end-user expectations and delivered benefits a full year earlier than anticipated.