Archives

Headline: A regulated utility embraces a customer-oriented vision as a path to growth

Challenge: Creating a customer-driven strategy, brand and enabling tools to meet evolving market conditions and heightened stakeholder expectations


Approach:
Corporate & business unit strategy:

Conducted comprehensive market, policy, and competitive analysis; developed business strategies for energy efficiency, alternative fuel vehicles, grid modernization, distributed generation and storage, and natural gas growth

New business models:

Created and implemented a strategy for community-based partnerships to gain deeper customer insights and incubate new, integrated energy solutions

Stakeholder engagement:

Facilitated customer & community workshops and 40+ interviews to develop a shared energy partnership vision

Branding and communications:

Advised corporate brand refresh supporting new customer-oriented vision and built internal alignment

Integrated business processes:

Created and implemented a solutions development process and tool, guiding customer-centric solutions



Results:
  • Strategic customer partnerships, including a medical campus that won a national award
  • Articulated strategic rationale and business case for pursuing new customer solutions
  • Customer advocate in rate case filings
  • Local, state and federal support for customer-utility partnerships
  • Team-wide adoption of new solution development process


Headline: A global chemicals company responds to safety concerns with stakeholder-driven product management

Challenge: Responding proactively to growing customer and stakeholder reactions to chemicals of concern while ensuring long-term business adaptability

Approach:
Industry and market assessment:

Conducted industry case studies and stakeholder interviews to help client better understand chemical safety concerns, their potential business impacts, and appropriate responses

Corporate & business unit strategy:

Identified and evaluated strategic options balancing product development and external engagement; facilitated alignment on approach consistent with growth objectives while addressing stakeholder priorities

Value chain engagement:

Directly engaged with customers and OEMs to gain feedback on the company’s product standard and gauge willingness to collaborate on broadening its applicability along the value chain



Results:
  • Developed product sustainability standard to position portfolio to meet customer and stakeholder sustainability requirements
  • Enabled participation in a third-party chemical standard
  • Product reviews of environmental and human health attributes within existing portfolio


Headline: A global chemicals leader launches a sustainability strategy and takes it from 0 to 60

Challenge: Embedding sustainability into the strategy, operations, and culture of a commodities business trying to capture market leadership in sustainability

Approach:
Corporate & business unit strategy:

Helped define sustainability goals and metrics; conducted proprietary analysis of effects of global trends on markets, which served as major input to 10-year strategy refresh process

Organizational governance:

Co-designed organizational structure to engage leadership and establish accountability; facilitated internal workshops to fine-tune processes and deepen engagement

Integrated business processes:

Built a tool forecasting environmental impacts of operations, which is now used as basis for quarterly CEO-level reviews measuring business unit progress against sustainability goals

Enhanced or expanded offerings:

Helped assess, select, and gain business unit buy-in for a product sustainability standard



Results:
  • Chairman, CEO, and executives aligned on sustainability as pillar of overall business strategy
  • Created product sustainability standard, a qualification process, and product portfolio
  • Enabled publication of first sustainability report
  • Incorporated sustainability into corporate rebranding effort


Headline: A US utility looks to hedge on future business models by investing in energy efficiency innovation

Challenge: Helping a major utility identify strategic investments to serve as a foundation for new energy efficiency offerings

Approach:
Market landscape:

Assessed the historic development of the energy efficiency services industry and evolution toward digitally-enabled services as a disruptor of traditional ESCOs

Value chain analysis:

Analyzed energy efficiency services business model evolution by value chain profitability perspective, identifying most profitable opportunities for new services

Target identification and prioritization:

Per value chain analysis, provided preliminary diligence on prioritized set of US-based digital energy efficiency providers for potential equity stake or acquisition



Results:
  • Delivered objective analysis of relevant energy efficiency service market trends, cutting through industry hype
  • Identified, categorized, and prioritized 50 technology and service providers for review
  • Provided SVP of strategy with introductions to 7 entrepreneurial digital energy efficiency providers for early stage diligence