Sabtu, 22 Agustus 2015

The Role Of International Strategic Consultants In Building Successful Multinationals

By Ruthie Livingston


To survive in the volatile economic times and take advantage of the available opportunities, businesses need to develop a strategic vision. A good business strategy helps the business maintain sustainable competitive advantage without sacrificing its profitability. The business may not have the expertise to develop the relevant strategies in the worldwide marketplace Thus, hiring an international strategic consultants would be the best idea.

A multinational business may seek assistance in developing corporate and business unit strategies in order to line up its personnel and resources into achieving its goals. Such areas that may need expertise in their formulation include design of the strategic planning process, scenario planning, alliance management, and market assessment. The corporate strategy is the base, from which other strategies are crafted.

The dynamism in the global market place dictates that a company must be always looking for ways to diversify its sources of revenue. Relying on one or two streams of income may put the company into a risk of failure should there be a change of policies, customer preferences or emergence of new technologies. A consultant helps the company develop credible innovation processes, product development and assist in building robust brands in global marketplace. Furthermore, the consultant helps uncover customer needs and develop innovative solutions to meet such needs.

The success of any organization is largely dependent on its workforce. An effective workforce enables the firm innovate, hit targets and offer quality services and products to its clients. International strategic consultant assist in coming up with effective organizational design, leadership development, performance management, workforce development and hiring of quality business services to meet the market challenges head on.

Horizontal and vertical growth are a sign of success. Some of the common horizontal growth strategies are mergers and acquisitions. The complex nature of both requires someone with in-depth knowledge in the area. A business may turn to consultancies to assist in identifying the right target, screening those firms, due diligence and integrating the firms after a merger. This opens new markets and systems to the business boosting its growth.

A functional strategy is the grease that keeps the wheels of other strategies running. It incorporates actual daily activities that are geared towards the achievement of set goals and corporate strategies. Examples of functional strategies that a business may require assistance in developing include back office operations such as procurement, information strategy, finance, and human resources. Examples of areas where a business may need function strategy formulation assistance include working capital management, finance outsourcing and running of performance control and management solutions like SAP solutions.

Strategies are of no use if they are not put into practice. While it may be easy to develop a plan, executing the plan is much harder. Strategy execution requires training, best practices and ability to measure results. A consultant may come in handy in devising an implementation roadmap, managing the change process, measuring success, and training the staff on the new systems.

Most international consultancies pick on a few areas and offer assistance and support. They may pick such areas as human resource, information technology, process management, sales, or operations. Firms should pick consultants with experience in the area of need.




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