3. A pan-European industrial success story
This company regularly made the press due to the fact that it was something rare; a genuine pan-European company beating the Americans in a truly global market.
The annual spend on consultants was very high and to reduce expenses the COO decided to set up an internal consultancy organisation.
Experienced people were selected and given access to training in best practice improvement and change management techniques. They were seen as credible change leaders who could make it happen.
The internal consultancy leadership developed good programme management approaches and were able to work with business units to focus their organisations on the change required.
The internal consultancy organisation had isolated successes but never grew beyond a few consultants. There was no mobilisation for this change by senior management in the form of generating demand for internal consultancy services in the business units.
The key learning point is that a change programme designed and implemented well, that does not meet a strategic need that is articulated and owned by senior management, will not fulfil its potential within the organisation.