Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007 - (Page 47)

Management Report and required management for success in the future. Succession plans increasingly include marketing, finance and operational expertise from outside the conventional engineering firm boundaries—leaders who know the client’s business, be it industrial facilities, real estate, consumer products or pharmaceuticals. Keys to success A number of successful consulting engineers have transformed their businesses’ identities, services and operations so that they are well-aligned to remain a valued partner with clients as they progress. The successful firms that make this transition address these critical success factors through the following: • Brand transformation: An evolved or new identity is required for achieving the desired position in the marketplace. A successful new brand assertion can support new pricing strategies and the ability to compete effectively with those further elevated on the supply chain. • New operating model: A different organizational design and processes for delivering service are strategically developed, addressing value from the client’s perspective. A clean-slate approach to cost may include offshore or other outsourced design or other support; a proactive partnering with the client co-investing in its next generation of business needs; or multidisciplinary teams that band and disband. • Need for cultural change: Successful cultural change is driven by an unconstrained look on the part of firm leadership at client values. Engineering firms must commitment to assuring that their beliefs, values and actions are consistently aligned with those of the clients served. Cultural change is reaffirmed by changes in recognition, rewards and development opportunities, and a consistent set of messages from firm leadership. Cultural change is cited by firm leaders as the most challenging and fundamentally important aspect of business transition and transformation. • More robust capital structure: Many consulting engineering firms have been traditionally managed with a view that, as a service business, they have minimal needs for growth capital. This assumption has proven outdated as firms wanting to assure sustainability and a strong market position face geographic expansion; investment in technology; and accelerated time-to-market with new products and services achieved by acquisitions. Requirements to service internal ownership transitions can also compete for capital with the needs of the enterprise, and surface the limitations of the existing structure. Willingness to assume risk and an acknowledged need for timeliness has driven an increasing number of firms to consider sale or business combination, as well as new capital partners such as private equity firms. Andy Grove, Intel’s founder and leader, proclaimed over a decade ago: Grow or Die, when the company faced a paradigm shift due to market changes and obsolescence of its then core technology. The company successfully navigated through this transition, and Intel continues as a global leader. The message is clear, whether your firm is a large diversified or smaller niche player: embrace change, whether offensive or defensive, as an opportunity. Engineering firms need to keep in mind the mandates that drive changed—adapt, innovate and grow. Input #226 at csemag.com/quickResponse Consulting-Specifying Engineer • AUGUST, 2007 47 http://solaronicsusa.com http://solaronicsusa.com http://solaronicsusa.com http://csemag.com/quickResponse

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007

Contents M/E Roundtable Giants 100 Pullout Poster Giants Stand Tall: CSE Giants 100 Report Electrical Design for Tall Buildings HVAC and Fire Safety for Elevator Systems How to Beat the Codes GAS Technology Supplement Recovering Waste Heat from Boilers New Applications for Tankless Water Heating Systmes Techniques Improve for Powder Coating MDF New Tools Available for Heat Treating Steel Direct Drive Engines

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - August 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.