• $6M in annual savings
• $15M in future cost avoidance
• $2+M working capital reduction
• 900% ROI
• Reduced new product cycle times from weeks to days

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I was recently having a conversation with Jim Gitney, the CEO of Group50 Consulting and he was talking about the Inflection Point of one of his clients. The company is a 2^nd generation manufacturer, who is in a significant growth mode. Mom and Dad still own a majority of the company, with 2 of their 3 children running the day-to-day activities. This company has hit an inflection point with its growth plans though. Their systems, people and processes are strained …Read More

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Studies indicate that 90% of all companies do not execute their strategic plans effectively. So, only 10% of companies execute their strategies!? Why is there a problem with Strategic Execution™; the ability to implement strategy effectively and sustainably? Is it because they don’t care? Feel like strategy is a check the box activity?

There are multiple issues here that companies need to deal with: …Read More

The concept of “system selling” is applicable to all products and services. System selling extends the lifecycle revenue of products and services. The wisdom of offering products and services that don’t stand alone, but which intimately fit into a greater system for the end user or client, continues to be sound and exploitable by marketers. It is a necessary element in OMNI channel strategies, product management and the Product Lifecycle Revenue Model. Why? …Read More

Every company comes to at least one business or economic Inflection Point during its lifecycle.  Inflection points are when a company’s size is straining its people, processes and technologies. This typically happens at revenue ranges of $10, $25, 50, $125m $250 and $500 million in annual revenues, i.e., when they double in size, but it can also happen at an economic inflection point where a downturn in the economy has caused the company to downsize and it struggles to handle the growth from an economic upturn.

The challenge of an inflection point is that it takes time for leadership teams to …Read More

Strategy and its execution are a challenge for every organization, especially now with the economic inflection point every company and consumer is facing. Strategic Maturity is where a company develops a cohesive strategy and executes it through the participation of all stakeholders (Board of Directors, employees, suppliers, customers, end users and contractors). Being a class B company further complicates the matter. Strategic maturity is now more important than ever and has become an imperative. Without it, companies will not be able to …Read More

Growing a business is not as simple as applying a sales formula or launching an innovative product. The approach for growth changes as your business evolves through its business life cycle. Each time a company doubles in size, it hits an inflection point: a time in a company’s life cycle where its people, processes, and technologies are struggling to support the business.  When that happens, …Read More

We recently published a blog on Virtual Strategic Planning and have received many inquiries from readers for more information.  We believe that getting your strategic plan right for 2021 and beyond is the most important thing a company can do.  Because of that we have decided to offer our strategic planning playbook free to anyone who requests it.  If you want a copy, send us a request to info@group50.com or request it here. …Read More

The majority of our consulting work has been virtual and like everyone else we have adapted by developing a virtual strategic planning and strategic execution process. To us and our clients, this remote workforce thing has not been as bad as people feared. Many leaders believe that employees are more productive when working from home and several companies are reducing office space and headcount because of it – one part of their strategic plan. They all agree that executing strategy has presented more challenges because …Read More

We recently worked on a project that required the integration of two $30M companies. Both had grown to this size in a short period of time and had systems that supported their individual sizes relatively well. When the two were combined, they pushed across an inflection point. An inflections point is when a company’s systems, business processes and organization structure are struggling to support the size of the company and are incapable of supporting future growth to the next inflection point. …Read More

It has been a wild ride the last 6 months and most companies have completed the first of three phases:  Stabilize, Reconfigure, Recover. Strategic and tactical planning for the next 12-18 months will be critical for companies.  Senior leadership teams need to focus on the Reconfigure stage and define how they will redefine their business models in preparation for the Recover phase. In the video below, Jim Gitney, the CEO of Group50 Consulting, discusses the key …Read More

It’s not how much money you make; it’s how much you get to keep. Unfortunately, as the cost of labor, materials and shipping goes up your profit margins go down and you get to keep less and less of your revenue. The natural response to this dilemma for many organizations is to raise prices, reduce services, cut overhead or just accept lower margins and hope to make up for it in volume. Any one of these options has risks that must be weighed very carefully. If only there was a way …Read More

It is reported that 70-90% of mergers & integrations don’t deliver the value that justified the acquisition. There are many reasons, but the primary ones that tank ROI are a lack of focus related to Strategy, Culture, Project Management, Customers and Sales. Post merger integration failures typically fall into what we call the 5th stage of M&A: Alignment and Optimization which completes the integration.   In order to help companies understand the depth of this challenge, Group50 has developed a post merger integration ( PMI ) playbook …Read More

The development of a global world class supply chain is a challenge in good times, but is really tested when a supply chain is significantly disrupted. During periods of supply and demand disruptions, like we are currently experiencing, the concept of world class is severely tested. As companies are attempting to understand the resiliency of their supply chain, …Read More

Over the last few months, none of us have been operating as usual. Swift action has taken place in all parts of every business.  Actions that typically would take months of reviews and decision making have been done in weeks, days and hours.  In trying times, we bypass the strict regimen of decision making and discard many of the minor concerns that get in the way of quick decision making. That is possible because business teams have …Read More

Supply Chain Risk and Supply Chain Resiliency are very real threats to companies as they try to recover from the pandemic, or any other disruption. It’s a topic that most companies don’t spend a lot of time on. They expect their Tier 1 suppliers to manage this reliably deliver just in time with high quality and low cost.  Over the last 50 years, supply chains have evolved into complex global networks that few companies understand beyond …Read More

This article is the first in a series of articles on Re-opening your business. They will be written by Jim Gitney, CEO of Group50 Consulting, manufacturing, distribution and supply chain experts, and Cindy Flynn, Partner at Hackler Flynn,  a labor law firm . In this series, we will talk about best practices and tips and techniques that we are learning from our clients who have opened their businesses.  A lot of great work is being done and you, as a business owner, should not be faced with re-opening your business in …Read More

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Every business owner wonders what more their company can do in marketing and sales. This is the reason why they have sales meetings, create action plans and track what the competition is doing. There is always an opportunity to improve, to move forward, to get more customers and to grow sales. In today’s environment, companies are faced with a perfect opportunity to take market share and improve market effectiveness. When …Read More

The global economy is re-opening and the decisions you make in the next 90 days will define the future of your business. Studies have shown that companies who are innovative and transformative during a recession outperform their peers.  In a previous blog – Managing Your Way Through 2020, we offered a playbook for re-opening your business and a three phase strategy to support it.  Most businesses are …Read More

By many accounts, the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic has peaked and is slowing down. And while there is still some time before stay-at-home orders are lifted and non-essential businesses are allowed to reopen nationwide, there is an end in sight. It has been a very difficult time for businesses and individuals; the repercussions of the event will …Read More

In managing your way through 2020 it is imperative that you and your leadership team carefully plan the balance of the year. In this video presentation by Jim Gitney, the CEO of Group50 Consulting, who has been through 7 economic cycles during his career talks about a 3-phase approach to the balance of 2020.  …Read More

Every business owner is challenged with Re-Opening their business as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions are slowly lifted. There are myriad things to consider and inputs on how to do it from the federal government, states and localities.  Each have a different approach and set of recommendations. Trying to find relevant guidance can be a daunting …Read More

We have been fortunate in that none of our family or close associates and friends that we know have gotten sick from COVID-19. As we sit at home attempting to construct some level of normalcy, I struggle with the magnificent failure of a system that is incapable of meeting the needs of its citizens. A system that has prioritized economics over public health. While the government, in record time, is pumping trillions of dollars into the economy to stop financial Armageddon, it has failed to put …Read More