Strategic Planning Playbook

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

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

Group50’s CEO, Jim Gitney, was recently asked by an executive about how he should manage the division he just took over as its president.  Jim told him “Manage it like you are going to sell it – maximize value creation”.   The executive gave a strange look and asked why that mattered. …Read More

Successful enterprises across the globe have leveraged on the vast experience, in-depth knowledge and understanding of a strategic planning consultant that is capable of working with senior leadership on strategic execution: been there, done that.  This effort is a cornerstone of gaining competitive advantage and thriving in highly competitive marketplaces. An effective strategic execution program facilitated by an experience strategic planning consultant helps …Read More

Every company is faced with some type of restructuring activity during its history.   The restructuring process is painful and often unsuccessful.  There are two basic types of restructuring:  financial and operational.  Financial restructurings are often a result of poor operational performance and the reality that the management team has not responded quickly enough to changing business dynamics. In this case, a wall to wall cost takeout is called for. Often, the need to restructure is a gut reaction by senior management in response to perceived weaknesses in the business.  This article focuses on operational restructuring and the process for planning and successfully implementing it.

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Earlier this week, SanDisk announced its latest M&A deal: the acquisition of Fusion-IO. In the company’s press release, the CEO made the following statement:

With its fifth enterprise-focused acquisition since 2011, the Milpitas company known for selling memory cards to consumers and gadget manufacturers is officially “a one-stop shop” for enterprise customers as well, CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said Monday, which he believes …Read More

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The Business Hierarchy of Needs ^® is a compilation of three levels of activities. As our work on effective strategic execution continues, we have found that most companies haven’t developed strategic execution and change management processes that provide consistent and effective implementation of their strategic objectives. Every organization …Read More

During a recent meeting of 40 M&A professionals, I facilitated a discussion around the results of a 1999 KPMG study on the success of Mergers and Acquisitions in large companies. This study indicated that 83% of mergers and acquisitions fail to increase share holder value. The M&A professionals who participated in this discussion represented middle market mergers and acquisitions. Members of the group were asked three questions: …Read More

Large cash positions coupled with historically low interest rates make mergers and acquisitions an obvious strategic choice for companies to significantly improve their performance. As companies increase their Mergers and Acquisitions activity, there is a need for a well thought through program assure the successful integration of new companies with different cultures and business processes. It is reported by KPMG that …Read More