Engineering Management/Strategic Planning
Client Problem
The client, a small, rapidly growing, process-control consulting engineering firm initially sought assistance in strategic planning to help direct and control the firm’s growth In a rapidly expanding market. The firm had never developed a strategic plan and was only beginning to think about formally adopting a mission statement. The management team knew that it wanted the firm to grow, but was unsure of what growth possibilities to pursue. Upon interviewing the firm’s president and owner, it was learned that the firm was also experiencing difficulties in retaining selected, highly valued, clients. The owner, widely regarded in the industry as one of the best technical minds available, was at a loss to explain why the firm was an unsuccessful bidder on a number of projects for clients for whom the firm had worked previously and with whom it had, he thought, a good relationship.
What We Did
Before delving too deeply into the strategic planning study, we first needed to address the issue of client retention. Recognizing that difficulties in this area were likely a complex function of customer perceptions, personnel attributes, and communication, we began with two studies aimed at assessing the firm’s core competencies and positioning in the marketplace. The first study, comprised of structured interviews with selected clients and unsuccessful bids, sought information on buyer decision making and the firm’s project management performance, innovation, training, and professional development. The second, comprised of a survey and interviews with the firm’s engineering and management team, addressed the leadership and effectiveness of the management team and engineering human resources considerations including project staffing, training, professional development, reward systems, internal communications, and time utilization. We then conducted an historical analysis of the firms’s past contracts, segmenting the data according to project industry classification, end user classification, and purchaser classification (these were not all the same). We concluded with an industry analysis of several selected industry segments that were considered by the management team as possible candidates for the firm’s services. These industries were analyzed for their growth potential as well as the fit between the technologies required and our client’s core competencies.
Results
As a result of the employee and client studies, the difficulties in client retention were traced to inadequate training, the assigning of personnel to tasks for which they lacked experience, inadequate supervision, and poor interpersonal skills on the part of certain technical personnel. These factors severely impacted the quality of the firm’s project performance in the eye’s of its customers. The studies further revealed that some members of the management team failed to adequately delegate authority for certain responsibilities to subordinates and transition from a technical role into a leadership role. In response, the firm took a number of personnel actions including the establishment of formal training and professional development programs, reassignment of personnel, enhanced efforts at internal communication, and the establishment of a new position to direct business development and client retention. The employee and client information, combined with the study of past projects, revealed much about our client’s core competencies and technological abilities. This information, combined with the industry analyses, identified promising targets for our client’s services – several of which have been successfully penetrated by our client.
The client, a small, rapidly growing, process-control consulting engineering firm initially sought assistance in strategic planning to help direct and control the firm’s growth In a rapidly expanding market. The firm had never developed a strategic plan and was only beginning to think about formally adopting a mission statement. The management team knew that it wanted the firm to grow, but was unsure of what growth possibilities to pursue. Upon interviewing the firm’s president and owner, it was learned that the firm was also experiencing difficulties in retaining selected, highly valued, clients. The owner, widely regarded in the industry as one of the best technical minds available, was at a loss to explain why the firm was an unsuccessful bidder on a number of projects for clients for whom the firm had worked previously and with whom it had, he thought, a good relationship.
What We Did
Before delving too deeply into the strategic planning study, we first needed to address the issue of client retention. Recognizing that difficulties in this area were likely a complex function of customer perceptions, personnel attributes, and communication, we began with two studies aimed at assessing the firm’s core competencies and positioning in the marketplace. The first study, comprised of structured interviews with selected clients and unsuccessful bids, sought information on buyer decision making and the firm’s project management performance, innovation, training, and professional development. The second, comprised of a survey and interviews with the firm’s engineering and management team, addressed the leadership and effectiveness of the management team and engineering human resources considerations including project staffing, training, professional development, reward systems, internal communications, and time utilization. We then conducted an historical analysis of the firms’s past contracts, segmenting the data according to project industry classification, end user classification, and purchaser classification (these were not all the same). We concluded with an industry analysis of several selected industry segments that were considered by the management team as possible candidates for the firm’s services. These industries were analyzed for their growth potential as well as the fit between the technologies required and our client’s core competencies.
Results
As a result of the employee and client studies, the difficulties in client retention were traced to inadequate training, the assigning of personnel to tasks for which they lacked experience, inadequate supervision, and poor interpersonal skills on the part of certain technical personnel. These factors severely impacted the quality of the firm’s project performance in the eye’s of its customers. The studies further revealed that some members of the management team failed to adequately delegate authority for certain responsibilities to subordinates and transition from a technical role into a leadership role. In response, the firm took a number of personnel actions including the establishment of formal training and professional development programs, reassignment of personnel, enhanced efforts at internal communication, and the establishment of a new position to direct business development and client retention. The employee and client information, combined with the study of past projects, revealed much about our client’s core competencies and technological abilities. This information, combined with the industry analyses, identified promising targets for our client’s services – several of which have been successfully penetrated by our client.