Consulting Services

Our consulting services are focussed on helping identify, analyse, understand and communicate information. Typically these services are deployed by clients to help them:

• Understand and develop business strategy (including due diligence);

• Develop and deliver their marketing and communications strategy; and

• Understand and exploit the latest information technology to deliver sustainable competitive advantage

Central to our consulting approach are Models and Meta-Models. We believe that the use of models can help make the process of marshalling and communicating information for strategy, marketing and technology analysis and planning a lot simpler, quicker, and easier.

Models provide a common language, a way in which all participants can get a clear understanding of what is happening, what could happen, and what needs to be done. With decisions made, models make the communication of plans and progress a far simpler process.

Meta-Models are our way of putting models in context. All too often businesses will use a model in isolation, without seeing how it fits in the big picture. Meta-models provide that big picture. They also act as a valuable guide and aide-memoire to the key considerations of major business issues.

Each meta-model provides a flow-chart covering a complete topic, such as business strategy, marketing, IT strategy etc. The flow chart consists of challenging questions aimed at finding out how well a business understands, and can demonstrate that it understands, its own activities.

Wherever a business needs help with answering a question on the meta-model we can provide the individual models that help explore and communicate that topic in more detail.

A completed meta-model, and its associated models, can provide a very visual document with which to plan, document and communicate the key activities of any business to staff, stakeholders or investors.

Download our Meta-Models flyer (PDF) for more information.

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A good introduction to meta-models is through a one-day workshop. Here we focus on a particular business issue (eg business, marketing or IT strategy, or maybe a marketing campaign), and use the meta-model to guide an analysis of the situation. Having identified a number of areas that need more work we then use specific models to drill down and investigate issues in more depth. The output of the workshop provides a very visual way of explaining and communicating the day's analysis and decisions. Contact us for a quote or discussion about how a meta-model workshop could work for you.

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Our engagements can take on a variety of forms including:

• Research and review papers (e.g. of market or technology trends)
• Healthchecks and audits (e.g. of business, marketing or IT strategy or delivery)
• Workshops (e.g. for meta-model, strategy or campaign development)
• Due Diligence exercises (in support of M&A activity)
• Implementation projects (e.g. for campaigns, business performance mangement solutions, or IT systems)

During our initial meetings we will work with you to understand the best way of meeting your needs, and ensure that the engagements deliverables are clearly set out and understood by both parties before commencing work.