CHAPTER 4A Typical Transformation
Most companies that we've engaged with on a transformation have already tried to transform—at least once—before they realized they've spent a lot of time and money going nowhere.
The story that follows is all too common. We've removed the names, but the circumstances are very real. See how much of their story you recognize.
This company had dominated the financial operations market since its inception in 2000. It had always had a strong customer focus, priding itself on being able to deliver exactly what the customer requested, which ended up driving a long series of “specials” to meet the perceived needs of different individual customers.
Initially, this focus on doing whatever was necessary to close the deal achieved some real business success. Internally and externally, delivering quickly on client needs became a key brand strength.
That is, until it wasn't.
Despite increasing headcount and a culture of long working hours, the time to deliver new capabilities had noticeably slowed. At the same time, there were several new entrants to the market. Each had moved fast to gain traction. The result was that sales had started to lag, and market share was dropping.
In response, the company pursued a strategy of aggressive acquisition, moving quickly to purchase and integrate additional solutions. But far from igniting a new era of profitability, the acquisitions proved problematic and were not generating the hoped-for revenue.
A New Start
The ...
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