Monday 24 August 2015

Utilizing International Strategic Consultants In Design Effective Plans

By Ruthie Livingston


Over the years, there have been many challenges that the multinationals have had to cope with in the international marketplace. This calls for businesses to develop a strategic vision and follow that up with strategies on every front. That way, they are able to maintain their competitive edge over their competitors and remain profitable in the end. Enlisting the assistance of international strategic consultants is a step towards the right direction.

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.

For a company to survive in a global market, it should look at ways of diversifying its revenue sources. There is always a risk that technology would change in making the current good obsolete, a change of regulations may also impact on the business negatively and customers may shift their preferences to new products. With the assistance of a consultant, business can develop a pipeline for innovation and produce better products. The business is also able to unearth hidden customer wants and provide solutions to the same.

The workforce is a company greatest asset. With an effective workforce, a firm can develop innovative solutions, offer value to its customers, and head its set goals and targets. A business may seek assistance in designing an effective organization, developing leadership, managing performance, developing its workforce, and selecting the best business service providers for quality service.

As the business grows, it is important to cater for both vertical and horizontal growth. Mergers and acquisitions are part of horizontal integration that enables rapid growth given that the market is already there and all the systems are in place. To achieve this on a global scene, a company requires an experienced consultant to offer expert support in all areas of mergers and acquisitions, target identification, due diligence, screening, and post-merger integration of both firms.

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 need to be executed in order for them to make any sense to the business. Most businesses have a problem putting the plans into action due to the resources needed, training and logistics that are put in place in the implementation stage. A consultant can be at hand to assist in developing roadmaps for implementation of the strategies, managing change, training the workforce on the new systems and measuring the progress.

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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