For the last two years the Management Consultancies Association has been encouraging its members to come forward with case studies of successful or instructive client assignments. It is an initiative that this magazine wholly supports. In a recent reader survey, 42 per cent of you felt that this magazine should place greater emphasis on case studies. Unfortunately, our researchers weren't primed with a follow-up question: how many of you will work with your clients to allow these case studies to emerge into the light of day?
For too long the cloak of secrecy which covers most consultancy projects has obscured the daily contribution which consultancy makes to the UK economy. Consultancy is virtually a hidden force, which gives a free hand to the snipers in the business press.
Client confidentiality is an honourable and well-kept tradition in consultancy, but it can be overdone. Much of what is good about successful assignments is not about secret strategies or competitive weapons but about achieving excellence in products or services. Even the most sensitive competitive issues fade with time.
Of course, a good case study has to have a 'warts and all' aspect if it is to convey a sense of reality, capture the imagination of the reader and offer genuinely useful information. This doesn't mean we should all emulate Gerald Ratner: memoirs are not confessions.
But a good case study should offer an insight into both the risks and rewards of a consultancy assignment, the setbacks and the triumphs, otherwise it runs the risk of being terminally dull. Admitting that one is not perfect is less damaging than spending a lot of effort producing a case study so anodyne it is universally ignored.
So it is gratifying to watch the growing popularity of MCA's Business Improvement Awards, which this year attracted more entrants than before. An eminent panel of judges comprised Sir Brian Jenkins, chairman of the Woolwich, Michael Scholar, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Trade & Industry, Anthony Coke of Andrew Weir & Co, Tim Dickinson of Financial Times Publications and MCA president Alan Reid.
The shortlisted entries demonstrated the wide variety of projects and clients enjoyed by MCA members. The overall winners, and winners of the Best Overall Transformation Project, were Motor Coach Industries and CSC Computer Sciences Corporation (see panel). Their case study was praised as 'an outstanding case of collaboration on a project that transformed ICI. The meticulous attention that the study paid to all aspects of the business made exciting reading, and demonstrated what true management consulting was all about'.
CSC's Mark Sealy worked on the project, to develop a radically new vehicle, for four years, including a period of secondment to MCI. The client was very enthusiastic about 'going public' with the project, which also won an award for concurrent engineering excellence.
'It was largely about timing,' said Sealy. 'MCI didn't want anything to happen until the bus went into production, but now it's done it's super to make some mileage out of it. It's good to look back at the huge things that happened and the lessons that we learned.' Sealy also welcomes the opportunity to show a different side of CSC: 'we've developed a reputation as people who solve complex computer problems, but this is good, old-fashioned change: product introduction.' CSC also won the Best Strategy Assignment category with a project for Lucas Aftermarket Operations (LAO), which supplies aftermarket sales, marketing and distribution services to all Lucas Automotive customers. The LAO product catalogue contains more than 75,000 items, distributed over 120 countries. In Europe the key markets are the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. In June 1996, LAO made the implementation of a 'world class' supply and distribution chain a key strategic initiative. In the first phase the project team used CSC's process benchmarking methodology to compare LAO's current processes and aspirations to 'world class' and identify how projects currently running would bridge the gap. This stage found that there was no coherent supply chain strategy. The second phase involved developing the future vision for the supply chain operation, identifying key process improvements. Phases three and four covered the development and implementation of the 'operational blueprint', addressing the 'domains of change': business processes; IT systems and data standards; organisation roles and responsibilities; and physical infrastructure. Phase four is still underway, but cost savings already identified are: decreased stock levels; internal operating efficiency; and reduced infrastructure operating costs. Benefits identified so far have already exceeded consultancy costs by a factor of 20.
The winners in the Best Other Business category were Sun Microsystems and Kepner Tregoe, in a case study written by Mike Bird of Kepner Tregoe and Andy Taylor of Sun's Customer Care Centre. This project was described in the case study as 'that rarest of beasts': a project where consultants have enabled the client to change themselves, and the client has taken full advantage of that opportunity'.
In August 1996 Sun contacted Kepner Tregoe as a result of a number of issues in its customer care centre, which employs 80 staff who deal with 3,000 service requests each month. Kepner Tregoe proposed the application of a problem-solving approach known as Analytic Troubleshooting (ATS), a structured questioning process designed for people whose jobs require them to solve technical or machine problems. The implementation process in which expectations and benchmarks were set, and a critical mass of engineers trained, took until April 1997. The launch programme which followed, set out to 'make ATS a part of how Sun works' supported by T-shirts, a website, competitions, and 'Dr ATS' surgeries. Results include a fall in 'open' customer calls from 1,600 to 1,000, smoother movement of calls between engineers with more effective questioning and less duplication; and a troubleshooting training plan for all new hires. The introduction of a single approach to customer calls has created 'problem portability', in place of the previous variety of templates for different types of enquiry.
The winners of Best Use of IT were British Petroleum and PA Consulting Group. BP is committed to the 'Billion Dollar Challenge' a project to reduce its spend on external suppliers by £1bn per year. In this context speedy access to procurement data is vital. 'Project Oyster' was a BP-wide project to implement a data warehouse across its three operating companies of Oil, Exploration and Chemicals. PA agreed to create the IT infrastructure to a nine-month deadline, and on the basis of shared risk/reward. PA's Rapid Systems Development approach, with its emphasis on 'soft' issues, quickly established that the major challenges to the project were non-technical. Deploying the system via an intranet brought in the maximum number of users as quickly as possible. Standard commodity coding structures achieved transparency of data across parts of the business which codified their spending information in often widely varying ways. The third challenge was to gain commitment from these sectors to the project. The project was finished on time and 20 per cent under budget. Within six weeks the contribution of Oyster to procurement deals had realised savings of double the cost of the system.
Runner-up projects showed an equal variety of scope. Microsoft and Deloitte & Touche submitted a global SAP R/3 installation. Microsoft's rapid growth meant that its systems were becoming increasingly unwieldy, expensive and inflexible. SAP R/3 was selected by Microsoft for its global capabilities and Deloitte & Touche/ICS was selected for the implementation and change management. The project, which used Deloitte's FastTrack 4SAP methodology, involved five stages: scooping and planning, vision and targeting, redesign, configuration and prototype, and testing and delivery. The project began in August 1995 and from September 1995 to April 1996 headquarters modules were implemented. July 1996 saw the general ledgers up and running. Rollout across 25 subsidiaries began in the UK and finished in South Africa in June 1997. It is too early to quantify results but users at Microsoft's HQ are already reporting productivity gains. In 1996, Ireland's mobile phone operator faced the twin challenges of being spun out of Telefis Eirann and also losing its monopoly. Robson Rhodes conducted a benchmarking exercise against other European operators, and set targets for the company's future operations, which it was asked to implement. Overall goals were to achieve customer focused service, and an empowered customer service workforce. 'Quick wins' at the start of the project included the purchase of IR£100m of interactive voice response equipment, and introduction of easier-to-read bills. Customer service teams were reorganised into self-managing teams backed by support teams with specialist staff handling credit control and fraud. Every single measure of performance has bettered pre-project benchmarks. British Gas, already facing competition in the domestic gas market, has opted for diversification into other areas. The first of a series of products is the Goldfish credit card, which offers customers discounts on their gas bill. Ernst & Young provided support for all stages of the project from development of a product and brand profile, to selecting a banking partner through to establishing the joint venture to launch the card. A financial model was developed which took into account not just the returns on the card but the overall effect on British Gas. Scenario modelling was used to develop the optimal methods for cost and profit sharing. The project team jointly selected agencies for brand development, advertising and public relations. The loyalty programme was refined to ensure a powerful customer proposition and broadened to include Boots and Asda as loyalty partners. E& Y's VAT group advised on tax implications. The card was launched in September 1996 and take up has exceeded expectations.
MMM Consultancy worked with the National Grid Company to improve the stores and logistics operations supporting its Strategic Services Branch. MMM's initial review recommended: store centralisation and rationalisation; review of stock levels for slow moving items; development of IT system support; and revised purchasing relationships. As a result of the review NGC decided to centralise its stores operations to a single site at Didcot. NGC asked MMM for project management assistance with the warehouse design and planning. MMM prepared a detailed stock accommodation plan, taking into account the awkward shapes of the components which range from small electronic components to items weighing over 20 tonnes. Another major task was the movement of stock from existing locations while maintaining normal customer service. The project was completed on time and within budget, and savings have exceeded expectations. The value of sites released by centralisation was greater then expected, and staff costs were reduced by 30 per cent.
These case studies show the breadth and depth of consultancy work, revealing the 'hidden hand' of consultants behind some extremely high profile initiatives. We can only hope that the MCA's Business Improvement Award attracts an equally good crop next year, while both consultants and clients are encouraged to go public and stop hiding their light under a bushel.
Reproduced by permission of Management Consultancy
