The Challenge

Our client, a leading U.S. retailer, had grown dramatically via an aggressive new-store opening strategy. As the retailer approached the end of its store expansion goals, the CEO began to contemplate where the next wave of growth would come from and what capabilities the retailer needed to drive that growth.

Solution

We deployed our growth methodology to support the CEO over more than a year to generate significant savings and enable investment in growth. The initiative started with an assessment phase, in which we benchmarked the retailer’s performance, assessed its organizational effectiveness, set improvement targets, and developed an agenda for strong growth.

Results

The retailer reaped significant benefits from the initiative across each of the three objectives. It was able to exceed $590,000 in net cost savings in the targeted areas and saved more than planned within the first year. With its new management forums, decision-making processes, performance management, and talent development processes, the company has increased its organizational effectiveness and fuelled a high-performance culture ready to drive growth. In parallel, the retailer has improved its capabilities in customer insights, merchandising, marketing, and Internet retailing via targeted reinvestment.
The CEO and the CFO have publicly acknowledged the initiative’s contribution to the company’s overall performance, which was further evidenced by a 32 percent increase in the company’s stock price within 14 months.

Services

– Financial planning;– Economic capital management;– Growth strategy.