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Why Businesses Need Management Consulting

StrategyDriven Management and Leadership Article | Why Businesses Need Management ConsultingManagement consulting is something you may want to consider, even if you run a small business. Such professionals can assist a business of any size, however. These are a few of the complex issues that a consultant of this kind can help you with:

Team Leadership

For a business to be successful, all members of the team have to work together harmoniously. The leaders must be well versed and organized in their leadership strategies as well. A management consulting firm can assist you in this area by consulting with your top board members and management staff to develop new strategies for training and leadership. You may need these services if you find that employee retention numbers have plateaued or lessened. You may also find these services helpful if your customer service ratings have declined.

Research and Analysis

A management consulting firm can also conduct research and analysis for you. You may need to know if you should get involved with a possible merger with another business. Perhaps you need to decide which area to expand your business to. Maybe you need someone to gather information about the current market trends so that you can choose how you want to perform a product launch. Management consulting firms can do the legwork in this area so that your leaders can make decisions that profit your establishment.

Growth Strategies

Growth strategies are often complex processes that need more than one person to collaborate on them. Businesses of all sizes need to develop effective growth strategies. A management consulting team can assist you with growth strategies as well. They can help you develop blueprints for the business decisions you’ll make over a stretch of time. You may want to create a strategy for growth over the next five years, for example. Strategic planners will be able to look over the numbers with you and find areas where you can improve your company’s performance. They can also analyze the information and give you tips on how you can cut down on some of your operational costs.

New Process Rollouts

It can be difficult to enforce and implement new processes within your establishment. A management consulting firm could help you with those processes as well. Changing one of your primary processes can be an exciting and helpful move for your business. However, your employees and management staff may not be too keen on the changes. The good news is that a management consulting firm can assist you in that area and many others. You can think of such a firm as an end-all for solidifying your business’s success. Michael Canzian operates a reputable management consulting firm. All you need to succeed is a renowned firm that genuinely wants to see your business blossom.

management consulting firm can be highly beneficial to you if you’re a new entity or a company trying to find your way around the market. You can schedule a consultation with such a firm to see if its services can assist you. You might find that a management consulting firm is exactly what you need.

Mike Purcell Joins StrategyDriven Power & Utilities Advisory Services Practice

StrategyDriven is proud to welcome Mike Purcell as a StrategyDriven Advisory Services Senior Advisor. A highly experienced nuclear power consultant, Mike joins StrategyDriven’s Power & Utilities Advisory Services practice.
 

“We are thrilled to have Mike join our StrategyDriven Advisor Services Team,” said Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven Advisory Services Practice Leader. “Increasing demand for clean, affordable electricity combined with an aging infrastructure, retiring workers, growing regulations, rising capital costs, and intensifying budget pressures challenge utility executives and managers now more than ever. We are fortunate to have an industry professional of Mike’s caliber to help our Power & Utility clients meet these challenges. His hands-on knowledge and experience in performance improvement, regulatory inspection readiness, license renewals, and power uprates will be a great asset to our team”

Mike Purcell Joins StrategyDriven Power & Utilities Advisory Services PracticeFor decades, Mike has served in senior leadership roles within the Power & Utilities Industry. His experience includes within the nuclear oversight, quality assurance, engineering, licensing, performance benchmarking and improvement, training, leadership development, and change management functions. Mike also possesses extensive regulatory and licensing experience including inspection readiness activities for U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) IP95001, 95002, and 95003 inspections, baseline inspections, license amendments, fire protection program inspections and implementation, license renewals, and extended power uprate activities.

Prior to becoming a management consultant, Mike held numerous influential positions at the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), leading nuclear oversight, engineering, and training functions as well as performance improvement initiatives including:

  • Senior Manager, Nuclear Oversight – responsible for performance of the quality control and quality assurance functions and providing oversight of day-to-day plant activities important to nuclear station safety and security
  • Senior Fleet Licensing Manager – led a diverse and geographically distributed team of licensing professionals responsible for all licensing activities associated with TVA’s fleet of six nuclear reactors
  • Senior Manager, Training and Development – successfully integrated the training and development functions across TVA into a single high-performing organization providing pipeline and continuing technical training programs; supervisory, employee, and leadership development; regulatory / compliance training; and organizational effectiveness / culture change programs and initiatives
  • Nuclear Plant Organizational Effectiveness Assessments – participated on teams of highly experienced utility professionals in the performance evaluation of four nuclear plants in the area of organizational effectiveness and safety culture
  • Regulatory Assistance / Recovery Initiatives – Supported multiple Mock NRC Inspection Assessments using NRC Supplemental Inspection Manual Chapters 95001, 95002, and 95003
  • Performance Improvement through Employee Engagement Initiatives – Led employee engagement/process & performance improvement initiatives at the Sequoyah and Watts Bar Nuclear plants in order to identify solutions to close the $30 million gap in operations and maintenance (O&M) costs and increase generation

Mike further shaped the Nuclear Industry’s performance through his involvement with industry groups including:

  • INPO Organizational Effectiveness Industry Peer and New Nuclear Oversight Manager course mentor
  • Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and EUCG Peer Advisor

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technical University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a licensed as a Professional Engineer by the State of Tennessee.

Click here to read Mike’s complete biography. Mike can be contacted at [email protected].

How Top-Tier Consulting Became Available to Small and Midsize Business Leaders

Need expert advice but don’t think you can afford high quality consultants to support your initiative?
 

StrategyDriven is launching a Personal Business Advisor Program; uniquely providing affordable cutting edge tools and expert advice that until now was typically available to only large company executives and senior managers.

StrategyDriven was founded on the principle of making top-tier consulting services affordably available to the leaders of small and midsized businesses and the mid-level managers and professionals of larger companies. Over time, we learned it wasn’t enough to simply deliver a traditional consulting program economically. Our clients wanted focused advice at very specific times during their projects and possibly a few analytical tools to use along the way – nothing more, nothing less. A radical departure from the traditional consulting model that would further lower costs.

And why not? Today, business coaches commonly advise their clients via phone or video conference and legal advice and forms are available from LegalZoom. All delivered affordably. So why can’t top-tier consulting advice be available virtually and turnkey processes, best practices, and analytical tools online? They can. And now they are.

StrategyDriven’s Personal Business Advisor program provides the experts and tools needed when and where they are needed with no long-term consulting contract. Our employment of true experts, use of modern technologies and streamlined business operations ensures clients receive exceptional advisory services at an affordable price regardless of their budget. Here’s how we do it:

  • Select the Advisor – Chemistry is everything. Client success depends not only on finding the advisor possessing the experience, education, and training needed, but in connecting with someone they can relate to and trust. That’s why we offer a free initial consultation. It’s an opportunity for the client to get to know their advisor and assess how he/she can help them succeed.
  • Identify the Support Needed… No More, No Less – Why pay for a small army of consultants when all that is needed is periodic, focused advice? Our plans ensure clients have access to the experts needed in the amount wanted with no requirement to include costly staff personnel. Want a just few hours per month or full time? No problem. The client decides.
  • Select the Tools Wanted – Don’t want a lot of bells and whistles? Really don’t want to pay for the development of your consultant’s thoughtware? Purchase only the tools wanted, fully developed and maintained on our dime.
  • Determine How We Should Engage – We’re flexible and technology savvy. We employ modern communications technologies; interacting via video and teleconference whenever possible thereby eliminating the need for expensive travel and client office space. (But we will always be there when we are needed!)
  • Choose the Engagement Duration Without Being Locked-in – Business circumstances change. Clients don’t want to be locked into long-term consulting contracts. StrategyDriven’s plans renew on a monthly basis. Clients can cancel at any time.

StrategyDriven Advisors possess decades of experience helping leaders of small to Fortune 500 companies define and implement the complex, mission-critical projects needed to improve operational effectiveness and reduce costs. Isn’t it about time these people were working for you?

Click here for more information and to schedule your free consultation.

StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Program Makes Top Tier Consulting Accessible to Small and Midsized Companies

StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Program provides easy, affordable, and timely access to seasoned business executives, leading edge analytical tools, and time tested methods. No longer does the competitive advantage lie with those having the deepest pockets.
 
 
StrategyDriven’s Personal Business Advisor Program makes top tier consulting services available to business leaders at all companies regardless of budget. By empowering clients to tailor each engagement to meet their specific project needs – no more, no less – and employing modern communications technologies, StrategyDriven eliminates the barriers preventing small and midsized company leaders from accessing high-end consulting services.

Few small and midsized business leaders realize the benefits of engaging top-tier consultants to assist with complex data analyses or provide specialty knowledge to their projects. Many avoid using these resources because of the time and expense involved. Others spend hours reading how-to books or taking continuing education courses to develop solutions.

“It’s understandable why the business leaders who would benefit most from top tier advisory services can’t or don’t access them,” explains Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “The current consulting model is expensive and time consuming; often involving fixed duration contracts that include unwanted resources. StrategyDriven’s Personal Business Advisor Program reduces the expense, time, and hassle of engaging knowledgeable experts to support development and execution of important business initiatives.”

The StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Program simplifies the engagement process to deliver top tier consulting services without the expense or time of traditional firms. Prior to each engagement, a client:

  1. Selects an Advisor possessing the experience, education, and training needed and who is someone the client can relate to and trust.
  2. Identifies the Support Needed, No More, No Less… providing periodic, focused advice from true experts to meet your specific needs.
  3. Selects the Tools Wanted from an expansive library of proven analytical tools, all fully developed and ready to use, accessible online 24 / 7 / 365.
  4. Determines How the Advisor Is to Engage using modern communications technologies whenever possible thereby eliminating expensive travel and the need for office space.
  5. Chooses the Engagement Duration without being locked into a long-term consulting contract. Easily cancel at any time.

In addition to one-on-one consultations, Personal Business Advisor clients gain access to StrategyDriven’s online business strategy and tactical execution advice library.

StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor clients include executives and senior managers of small and midsized companies as well as managers of some of the world’s largest businesses. Complete information regarding the StrategyDriven Personal Business Advisor Program is available at: www.strategydriven.com/sdpba.

Nathan Ives Named StrategyDriven Enterprises Chief Executive Officer

Senior industry leader adds hands-on management and operational experience to StrategyDriven’s Power & Utilities focused advisory services.
 
 
Nathan Ives, StrategyDriven PrincipalIncreasing demand for clean, affordable electricity combined with an aging infrastructure, retiring workers, growing regulations, rising capital costs, and intensifying budget pressures challenge utility executives and managers now more than ever before. To help utility leaders meet these challenges while improving operational safety and reliability, StrategyDriven Enterprises, LLC announces the election of Nathan Ives as the firm’s new Chief Executive Officer.

StrategyDriven advisors work with executives and managers to define their organization’s needs and develop and manage the complex, mission critical projects needed to improve operational effectiveness and lower costs in response to today’s most pressing challenges.

“I’m excited to be joining StrategyDriven during this time of unprecedented change and uncertainty within the energy sector,” says Nathan. “The modernization and expansion of our industry’s infrastructure, induction of a new workforce, and assimilation of an expanding regulatory regime will define how our industry operates for decades to come. At StrategyDriven, we’re proud to be working with industry leaders to address these challenges and adapt their organizations so they continue to operate safely, reliably, and efficiently.”

Prior to joining StrategyDriven, Nathan was a senior manager in Ernst & Young and Deloitte Consulting’s Power & Utility practices; advising industry leaders on the design and implementation of integrated fleet asset management programs.

Before becoming a professional consultant, he held several influential nuclear industry positions at the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO); leading teams of operations professionals in the performance evaluation of dozens of domestic and international power plants and guiding the industry’s effort to redefine performance standards in the areas of organizational alignment, managerial decision-making, plant operations, and risk management.

Nathan joined INPO from PSEG’s Hope Creek Nuclear Generating Station where he stood watch as a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed Senior Reactor Operator.

In 1992, Nathan graduated from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland; earning a bachelor of science degree in physics followed by distinguished service as the Assistant Chief Nuclear Engineer and Quality Assurance Officer onboard USS GROTON SSN 694. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from Kennesaw State University in 2004.

Nathan can be contacted by phone at (678) 313-0150 or email at [email protected]. To read Nathan’s complete biography, click here.
 
 
Learn more about how StrategyDriven can help you improve your organization’s operational effectiveness and lower costs.