Innovations is KCG's publication focused on organizational and technological change. Each issue of Innovations presents one or two case studies on a key topic as well as an approach or methodology relating to the situation.

The following Innovations have been published:

Measures of Success for Internal Consulting Organizations

Effective Uses of I.T. Staff as Internal Consultants

Most large companies (and many smaller ones) are deciding to establish internal consulting groups. There are at least seven scenarios in which companies have effectively developed and used I.T. or information systeems staff as internal consultants. All internal consulting groups are established with the expectation that they will improve not only business operations, but also the quality of I.T. systems, the success of the I.T. projects and the overall service provided by I.T. group.

Principle-Driven Operations
Clarifying and Challenging the Basis of Work and Change:

In this issue of Innovations, Kendall Consulting Group introduces the concept of organizational principles and discusses the conditions in a company where applied principles are most effective. We also present several case studies from our work with principles. In each case, the creation and adoption of a set of principles helped move a company through an organizational impasse.

Many managers find the same business issues surface again and again for resolution, "fire fighting," Long-range planning and strategic thinking suffer, not to mention the diversion of time again and again on the same old issues. What is missing is a set of agreed upon organizational principles that align and guide the business decision-making.

Case studies included in this issue of Innovations address information systems, human resources, project management, and financial processes.

The process for identifying and aligning a management team on a set of principles is discussed in the article.

Value Disciplines
What Are They? Do You Need Them? How Do You Use Them?:

What enables some companies to command the respect and loyalty of their customers, while others can't find their niche and must continuously cut costs and retrench in their business? What are the dynamics of the market that let a company be a star for years and then suddenly slip from its leadership position?

The answers can be found in an aggressive new approach to marketing and competitive strategy, reengineering and business change developed by Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema called Value Disciplines and written about in their best seller "The Discipline of Market Leaders."[1]

In this issue of Innovations, we introduce the concept of Value Disciplines and provide a brief checklist for companies to use in testing their candidacy. Key steps to getting started are also included.

Kendall Consulting Group has used the Value Discipline concept with its clients for the past four years. We have developed and applied a successful methodology as well as executive education courses on the subject. Our experience, approach and coaching has helped many client teams successfully reshape their businesses with a strong customer focus.

The case study in this issue of Innovations focused on part of a chemical company.

[1] Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema, The Discipline of Market Leaders, Addison-Wesley Publ. Co., 1995.

Role of Information Systems Strategy in Making Market Leaders (also published in Journal of Information Strategy)

To survive, companies must provide more of what customers value most - before the competition does. Whether its customers prize personalized service, leading-edge products, or speed and efficiency, a company should choose an operating model (and technology) that supports its chosen value discipline with unwavering focus. This article explores the unique information (systems and technology) requirements of each value discipline and shows how IT and business executives can work together to develop an IT blueprint to create value for customers where it matters most.

Original Article by Robert H. Reck and Virginia P. Reck, Summer 1996

Organizational Due Diligence
The Key to Profitable Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances

Few mergers, acquisitions or alliances succeed! In this issue of Innovations, the root causes of these failures are studied and a concept called organizational due diligence is introduced. Together with appropriate implementation steps this concept can lead to successful alliances of any kind. The approach and concept of organizational due diligence have been derived based on a study of successful mergers, acquisitions or alliances.

Most mergers, acquisitions or alliances do not fail because the premise, projections, or terms of the union are faulty. They fail because the organizations - their business processes, systems and cultures - are not synergistic. Analysts who perform due diligence, seldom recognize the warning signs of a doomed organizational union.

One in-depth case study is included.

What enables some companies to develop and implement winning strategies time and again? Why do other companies get little or no return on their significant investment in strategic planning? Is it that some companies have smarter people, more agreeable customers, and better market opportunities?

Today the challenge for all companies is to find a winning strategy that will deliver profitable growth. Restructuring, cost cutting and operational efficiencies, the focus of the 80's and 90's, have proven not to give lasting competitive differentiation. Companies today are turning back to strategic planning to find their direction. Once again, it is imperative that they succeed at strategic planning.

Kendall Consulting Group has learned that a company succeeds when it makes mobilization of their organization an explicit and important part for its strategic planning process. From our work with our clients, we have developed an effective way to help companies mobilize their chosen strategy. In this Innovations, we trace the rise, fall and resurgence of strategic planning, and share what companies do today to successfully implement their winning strategies.

One major case study is presented. Stories about a number of other companies are presented as part of the article.

Managing Change
A Proven Path to Business Success

For years, companies have been using a variety of management techniques to generate breakthrough ideas about how they can increase revenues, lower costs or serve customers better. For most, the greater challenge has always been in implementing the related internal changes and new organizational designs.

Today, greater proficiency in managing change is contributing to the way many organizations plan and implement their strategy. "Organizational agility" is a contemporary term that refers to a companyÕs ability to implement change. To many market-driven organizations, the concept represents a genuine competitive advantage.

In most of our consulting engagements, we are helping businesses make a strategic transition of some kind. For example, our clients may want to update information systems, redefine their organizational structure or management control principles, reengineer business processes, or change their corporate culture.

This Innovations, is about managing change and includes many of the lessons that we have learned as change consultants, change agents and change managers during the past twenty-plus years. We cover the basics of successful change management. These include identifying a clear case for action, creating a vision and direction, and providing a process for change.

Three mini-cases are presented as part of the article.

Communications
Vital to Successful Organizational Change and Performance

What went wrong with your last systems implementation? change program? reorganization? new product launch? marketing campaign?

For many companies, faulty or ineffective internal communications are the main culprit contributing to unrealized results in many corporate initiatives. Too often, managers and change leaders do not heed proven lessons regarding organizational communications. And by failing to plan and manage communications, their change initiatives don't gain the awareness, support, involvement, and commitment needed to succeed.

In this Innovations, we explore the communications challenges that many organizations face when implementing major changes. We also provide planning and implementation steps for developing an effective communications strategy that will contribute to your organization's success.

Kendall Consulting Group has successful worked with many companies to create, plan and implement change and communications programs. This is article is based on those experiences and our research.

Role of Education in Business Change
Building the Skills for Successful Change

The pace of business continues to quicken. Companies must repeatedly change just to keep up, let alone become a market leaders. Managers and employees are key to the success of these changes. They require new skills and behaviors in order to manage the change and contribute to the new organization. However, many of the necessary, new skills cannot be learned on the job. How can a company prepare its people for change? And how can a company reskill its people in the time frames required?

Education programs play a vital role in organizational change initiatives. Companies that value learning and align their education programs with change initiatives significantly increase their chances for success in their markets. Employees who participate in effective education programs are prepared to participate in, support, and even lead a changing organization.

Kendall Consulting Group has successfully helped many companies plan and conduct education programs, usually in conjunction with major business change initiatives. Our experience and approach has been essential to the success of changing organizations.

In this Innovations, we explore the business situations that drive the need for education programs, describe how education programs are linked to business change, and provide some planning steps that have contributed to successful education programs. .

Internal Consultants
Maximizing Value and Building Capability

An increasing number of companies have started their own internal consulting groups. Often spawned in the technology, quality or human resource areas, these groups are dedicated in-house resources chartered to assist or perform the work on a wide variety of projects. They provide a viable alternative to pulling people off their day-to-day jobs or to using external consultants. However, their roles and skill requirements are increasingly demanding as their companies face the challenge of doing business in the 1990's.

Managers who are potential clients of internal consulting groups want to maximize the value they receive from internal consultants. They want to be sure that they are getting the best support. How can they do this? What criteria should they use to assess their internal consultants?

Managers of these internal teams want to build their consulting group's capabilities and contribution to their company. Internal consultants worry about their self development. What skills and competencies should we have? What tools do we need? What roles should we play?

Kendall Consulting Group has often supplemented internal consulting teams with the missing pieces of their "capabilities' portfolio" as well as participated in developing the skills and competencies of internal consultants.

In this issue of Innovations, we draw on our experience to discuss an approach for answering these questions. This four step process consists of establishing requirements for a consulting assignment, evaluating an internal group, determining the capability and cost gap, and deciding whether and how to fill any gap.

Project Management
"School for Learning," Catalyst for Change

For organizations to compete effectively in today's rapidly changing business climate, "management by project" has become a critical business requirement. Today's companies must respond to changing business needs with speed, precision and far fewer resources. The margin for error has become uncomfortably slim.

No wonder, then, that the number of projects springing up among companies across all industries has grown so dramatically. With the speed of product innovation increasing exponentially, the rapid achievement of project objectives is more critical than ever.

In addition to being used in traditional ways, projects have also become the key mechanism by which change is both designed and implemented throughout rganizations.

Yet despite the increasingly important role that projects play, few organizations have re-examined their overall approach to project management. Traditional tools, techniques and measurements are widely regarded as ineffective for managing even "traditional projects." To manage today's more complex projects, whether to develop a new system, product or organization structure, a whole new range of skills and organizational learning style will be required.

In this Innovations, we look at a new approach to project management, where team members are viewed as alchemists of change, and where organization learning is both the cause and effect of a successful project. We'll examine the qualities, characteristics and overall environment that organizations must cultivate for projects to consistently achieve - or exceed - their desired business goals.

Rapid Software Selection
A Fast, Effective Way for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Selection

Companies are turning to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems packages in record numbers to meet customers' demands for increased service, to improve operational efficiency, to meet or exceed competitor's capabilities, and to solve year 2000 problems.

With 125 ERP vendors worldwide and many good, full-featured packages to choose from, how can companies be assured of making the right selection? How can they tell which ERP system will best meet their company's needs? How can they move quickly enough to be ready for year 2000? How can they mobilize and involve their people in the selection process so that there is sufficient preparation and commitment for implementation?

Kendall Consulting Group has developed a highly effective approach to the selection and implementation of ERP systems packages, called Rapid Software Selection (RSS). We understand that because of the characteristics of today's ERP packages, including configurable architectures and integration with business process models, their selection process should be different from traditional software package selection processes.

In this issue of Innovations, we introduce the RSS process and compare it to traditional selection processes. We explain the steps and benefits of the RSS process, a quick, eight-week process that delivers a list of critical decisions-making requirements, change implications, and cost benefits as well as an informed, enthusiastic, and committed project team that is prepared to move into implementation.