CASe Studies
Case study | call center & customer service transformation
The challenge
A global provider of business outsourcing solutions embarked on a program to transform and optimize its call center customer service.
What we did
We conducted an ARC5 Catalyst workshop in which four future target operating model candidates were developed. Innovative and actionable models emerged and the time required to generate the modelsshrank to 1.5 days.
Proven value
The client remarked how the combination of the unique Catalyst environment and dynamic process served to tightly knit the team together and allowed everyone to be highly creative and productive. "Everyone was so inspired and focused and this will be a great boost to the momentum of our program. We're an action-oriented culture and we were really happy that we walked away with lots of accomplishments and specific actions."
Case study | post-merger IT integration
The challenge
Following a major acquisition, this global security firm needed to integrate technology and business processes to achieve synergy goals.
With an ambitious timeline, the company required an efficient way to align teams around its vision.
What we did
The engagement design called for two ARC5 Catalyst events to book-end 7 work streams and smaller workshops. In the first two design sessions, the firm assessed strategic direction and objectives, created an overall vision of its technology architecture and established high-level designs of interim and target states. In the second session, the company decided on their software option, developed a migration plan and developed executable roadmaps and a change management plan.
Proven value
The firm is using this process to create a foundation that will position itself for long-term growth. The parent company has now utilized Catalyst for several additional transformation projects.
Case study | medical institution strategic plan
The challenge
A major medical institution was facing both internal and external situations that called for a radical shift in direction in order to retain their competitive leadership.
What we did
We used two Catalyst events to help align 120 key stakeholders representing the many different departments of the institution. A thorough current state analysis preceded the first event. During that event we ran a series of activities that oriented everyone to this current state and to the economic, political, competitive and technological environment that surrounds the institution. From there the participants were able to craft and agree upon a far-reaching, inclusive and synergistic vision. Then in the course of a few months a preliminary strategic plan was created. A second event was used to orient everyone to the new plan and to solicit input and feedback from those who had not the opportunity to be intimately involved in its creation.
Proven value
The two events allowed a large group of stakeholders to generate a tremendous amount of alignment around an innovative vision and plan in a short amount of time. This alignment is a key in de-risking the upcoming implementation.
Case study | scoping a system transformation
The challenge
A transportation company had been running the same collection of legacy systems to manage crew scheduling for over 30 years. The legacy systems were densely interconnected, and changes to those systems cannot impact business operations. Every CIO who has entered the company in the last 15 years has pledged to make this transformation, but the change never happens.
What we did
The client asked a third party software vendor to scope a transformation of these systems. After a series of focus groups and interviews, we applied a Catalyst session to bring together the third party vendor, the IT organization and both the leadership and front lines of each business unit. Thegroup challenged and updated the requirements gathered in the focus groups, explored innovations from other organizations and industries to challenge “the way we’ve always done it”, and architected a transformation roadmap that aligned business priorities with IT’s resources and system limitations.
Proven value
This session achieved a cultural breakthrough for the client organization. IT had always gathered requirements from businesses in isolation, and produced roadmaps and timelines in a black box. The businesses never trusted, therefore, the roadmaps produced. In this session, for the first time, the businesses worked alongside both IT and each other to wrestle through the priorities and tradeoffs, producing a superior roadmap with which all stakeholders were aligned.
Case study | new operating model
The challenge
A major financial services company wanted to double in size and take the top 1 or 2 market positions in all countries it operates in the next two years. This was highly accelerated growth and will require a major transformation in the way this firm operates. In order to provide the foundation for economies of scale and drive growth opportunitiesthe organization needed to build the business case for change.
What we did
The ARC5 Catalyst session focused on the developing a Standard Operating Model, a Global Product Palette, and a Glossary of Standard Business Terms while also creating a strong foundation for Change Management. 25 representatives from Global Operations, Global Marketing and IT from 7 different countries worked together to produce a model that shifts global operations from to nearly 100% Standardized Processes (from, in some cases nearly 100% unique processes).
Proven value
The Catalyst session provided the necessary inputs into the development of a business case for transformation. In the session participants validated a set of processes that can be standardized globally, aligned around a set of products and capabilities, began the glossary of standard business terms and laid the foundation for change management efforts – all of which can increase innovation and speed to market when implemented. The client told his executive team that the Catalyst process enabled this global set of leaders to break old silos and models of operating and work together to position the company to achieve its ambitious growth goals.
Case study | ERP finance transformation
The challenge
A global furniture manufacturer was preparing to shift from a holding company with 12 business units to an operating company with multiple brands. Part of that transformation was to implement a single SAP system throughout the company.
What we did
The Catalyst session involved 145 representatives from the 12 BUs to walk through 84 Level 3 process flows and document any business requirements that would necessitate a non-standard configuration of SAP. The session enabled each perspective to be documented and each of the different BUs to understand the variety of requirements and processes employed across the company.
Proven value
The ARC5 Catalyst session, positioned in the middle of the engagement, allowed the engagement team to develop a Blueprint with the buy-in and support of all of the stakeholders. This accelerated the validation and adoption of the systems later in the process. The client told his executive team that the Catalyst process was both faster and less expensive than any other approach he had considered.
Many more case studies available upon request.