Case studies

Some case study experiences (Corey Billington, Rhoda Davidson & Bob Horenstein)

Case 1: Moving to Solution-selling

Problem statement
The Country Managing Director of a large wholesale bank was worried about the competitive situation of her bank. The organization was facing increased competition from international banks offering more innovative products. In addition, the bank was selling predominantly low-margin products to its corporate clients, achieving low returns on capital. The Country Managing Director knew that her bank needed to partner with its corporate clients and use in-depth knowledge of those clients to sell higher margin products

Objective
The management team was charged with designing a strategy to move the wholesale bank from selling products to selling solutions. To accomplish this they needed to find new ways of working with clients and design completely new sales and service processes.

Results
The team successfully completed its transition to solution selling within their home market. The bank gained 15% market share in the first year growing to 30% market share later during the financial crisis, as they were able to take market share from their competitors. Their solution-selling model was subsequently rolled-out across other markets. The Managing Director was promoted and is now among the top 200 executives of the bank.

Case 2 – Developing a global finance function

Problem Statement
The Finance Director of a large global company was concerned that his function was behaving reactively rather than proactively. Managers were spending too much time working on reporting basic financial information rather than spending time advising their internal clients on how to build their business and how to run their business more profitably

Objective
The global team, which was drawn from throughout the company, was charged with i) installing a process of continuous improvement within financial reporting, starting with the mid-term reporting process, ii) teaching finance managers to be more customer oriented and better communicators, iii) creating a more robust HR function to address the specific needs of the finance function.

Results
The team worked with stakeholders from across operations to refine and streamline the reporting process saving €50m in the first two years. They initiated a 6 Sigma continuous improvement process. The team also ran an international conference for the top 100 people in Finance and gained measurable improvement commitments from over 80% of the attendees. Communication programs run widely across the company have led to better communications with internal clients. The company now has HR processes which address the needs of finance professionals across the organization.

Case 3 – Strategy for a 3-horse race

Problem Statement
The General Manager of a European market in the beverage industry was facing tough competition. The market was split three ways with the three players holding equal market shares. The company had not made a profit in several years and regional management was dissatisfied with the organization’s performance.

Objective
The management team needed to devise a strategy to return the organization to profitability or, if this was not possible, design an asset swap with one of the other competitors or an exit strategy.

Results
The management team devised an innovative strategy to increase market share. Within two years the organization became the market leader and was capturing 70% of the country profit pool. In recognition of the great business results the team won a regional business excellence award.

Case 4 – IP strategy

Problem Statement
A fast moving consumer goods company had worked for 2 years to develop and implement a strategy to exploit valuable intellectual property protected by supply chain patents. However, the alliance formed as a result of the strategy was unsuccessful.

Objectives
The team was asked to develop a new intellectual property strategy to maximize the value of the supply chain patents and at the same time protect the industry value chain from new entrants.

Results
The team succeeded in developing an innovative approach with embedded options. As a result the major industry players collaborated to create an industry standard.