None of our competencies stand entirely by themselves. No matter what area we assist our clients in, we draw on our experience in others en route to sustainable solutions. To be able to offer custom made solutions, we describe the situation and requirements together with our client.
STRATEGY - LEADERSHIP - COACHING - DIVERSITY MANAGEMENT - PROJECT MANAGEMENT - PROCESS MANAGEMENT - CUSTOMER PANELS - PRICE MANAGEMENT - INTERCULTURAL TRANSLATION
The entire organisation is built on strategy – the plan of action, designed to achieve a particular goal. Concentrating on strategy first ensures that all forces within the organisation can work towards long-term success. The development of strategy is an art as well as a science. We accompany and assist our clients with methods and tools as they go through the creative process of establishing where they want to go and how they want to get there.
The origin of the word “leadership” refers to movement along a path. A leader is someone who takes first himself/herself and then others on a journey.
There is not just one way to lead, motivate and decide. We assist our clients in recognising their own leadership potential and putting it to use in accordance with their personality and their environment.
Our coaching approach is directed at people who would like to address challenges evolving out of a professional role. Topics that we address in coaching include leadership, performance, career, personality and behavioural development.
To be coached means to be accompanied in developing individual scopes of action. The coach supports the client in clarifying situations, working out sustainable solutions and making decisions for him-/herself. Our focus in coaching lies on strengthening the autonomy, self-confidence, clarity and professional effectiveness of the client.
Diverse teams have the potential to become the most effective and productive teams, due to the varied backgrounds of team members. Unfortunately, they frequently become the least productive, as team members find it more difficult to see, understand and act on situations in similar ways. In close cooperation with the team members, we help our clients devise the optimal strategy to manage diversity and to use it to the best advantage of the whole organisation.
A project is a temporary or one-time endeavour undertaken by a project team to create a new product or service. Project management is the discipline of organising and managing resources in such a way that the project is completed within specific constraints of cost, time and performance (the project management triangle), which are defined beforehand.
At the start of a project, we assist our clients in planning the project (see Strategy). This includes defining clear goals to be achieved, a time horizon with milestones, defining the budget and material as well as human resources available for the project. We also conduct a risk-analysis at the start, to enable faster reaction during the project and we moderate kick-off sessions, in which the project team is established (see Diversity Management).
During the course of a project, we assist our clients in monitoring the team’s progress and its adherence to predefined targets as well as in installing an appropriate reporting system.
Process management is engaged with designing, modelling, executing, monitoring, and optimising processes within an organisation.
The field is closely related with Total Quality Management, Balanced Scorecards, Business Process Reengineering, Process Cost Calculation, and Change Management. For instance, we use appropriate indicators for monitoring and optimising processes, which are depicted in a Balanced Scorecard. This way, our client gains a quick and encompassing overview of the organisation. Our indicators enable continuous time-efficient control of the business. They help managers to concentrate on driving success factors and point out areas that require correction early on.
Taking into account the market development, customer behaviour and the competitive situation, we assist our clients in developing sound strategies for positioning their products and services in existing and new markets.
One way of doing this is developing and carrying out Customer Panels. These are surveys conducted regularly with a specific group of (potential) customers, in order to determine the requirements of a market. The aim of these studies is to align product characteristics more strongly with the customer’s requirements. The performance of existing products is examined and improvement potential uncovered.
We assist our clients in setting and maintaining prices, which are consistent with their strategic orientation. In doing this, we focus on identifying where the product’s value lies in the eyes of the customer. Companies consciously connect with their customers, instead of concentrating solely on the internal view of what is important in a product and on what it costs to produce it. The potential of price as a profit driver is unleashed.
Customers in different markets evaluate a product differently. They have different priorities regarding product characteristics (see Customer Panels). The competitive situation, governmental regulations and other environmental factors vary from market to market. Therefore prices need to meet the requirements of each specific market.
The establishment of a clear pricing process within an organisation enables rapid adaptation to an ever-changing business environment. This pricing process is built upon the company’s Strategy and requires clear responsibilities.
In all that we do, we see it as our responsibility to be aware of different "languages" being spoken, to grasp what is being said, and to translate for those, who are not as familiar with language differences as we are. These languages can be actual verbal languages (e.g. German, English) as well as cultural languages of different national, ethnic or professional groups.
© 2009 CIELARKO