SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainability is one of the key “Buzz Words” of our time, and of course can be used in many contexts in life.
However, from our perspective, we are referring to the aspiration of creating an enterprise that has long-term sustainability features built into the business model, with minimal negative impact (but ideally a positive contribution) to the local and global environment, community and wider society at large.

At gutowski & milner we believe that as well as being morally the right thing to do, such a strategy, correctly devised and appropriately implemented will contribute to the business achieving its profit goals / long term success – as opposed to being seen as a “luxury” and having a negative impact on the balance sheet!

The three pillars of sustainability are Environment, Social and Governance (ESG), and these must be taken into equal account when creating the sustainability strategy for an organisation.

Sustainability goals must be defined individually from each of these three ESG areas, as well as creating suitable sustainability indicators.
ESG goals can relate to energy management and resource use in the environmental area. You can focus on internal and external effects on people in the social area, and on ethically / morally impeccable behaviour in the area of responsible corporate management.

A transformation plan should then describe how, with which measures and by when, these goals will be implemented as well as how individual transformation risks will be identified and evaluated.

ESG is not a new topic, and many large corporations already have a Sustainability plan in place.
However, at gutowski & milner we see the growing trend of companies in the SME sector increasingly need to also create and implement such a strategy in their business.

We should point out that ESG should be considered within the wider context of both the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) of which there are 17 in total, as well as the 6 EU Taxonomy Goals.

Longer term, it is our belief that any company without a clearly defined / executed on time – Sustainability plan, will miss opportunities, become less stable and ultimately perform worse than their peers with a plan in place.

At gutowski & milner we have detailed knowledge and experience on this subject, and would be delighted to help you navigate your organisation to a sustainable and taxonomy compliant future.

BUSINESS/DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Our definition of Business/Digital transformation is the process of moving the organisation from an “analogue” or paper-based entity to that of a “Digital technology” one.

We will explore together:

• The cultural shift that will be needed.
• Understanding the consequences.
• The benefits – including improved process efficiencies (automation), speed & accuracy of decision making – leading to improved profitability.
• Designing & implementation of the program.
• Software developments.
• Measuring ROI of the program.

INTERNATIONALISATION

This is the process of expanding your business beyond the traditional “home” market.

Together, we will explore:

Pro’s and Con’s of growing internationally.

• Identify priority markets for expansion.
• Understand the competitor landscape.
• Company entity options.
• Adjust Sales strategy – according to local conditions.
• Make necessary changes to your organisation – to effectively become an international business.
• Legal resources.
• Remote team management.

BUSINESS DIVERSIFICATION

Business Diversification is the process of entering into a market or business category – which is new for the organisation.

Leaders are normally tasked to look for strategies to grow Sales Revenues / profitability, & business diversification can be a very effective, relatively low risk approach to achieve the business goals.

It should be noted that growing the business by this approach, can take considerably longer than an Acquisition, however, is likely to involve a lower initial investment.

We can:

• Develop the initial concept, rationale, proposal & budget planning processes
• Research the market and understand the competitor landscape
• Develop & work up your USP’s
• Mitigate risks
• Help build & then implement a launch strategy

INTERIM MANAGEMENT

For us at g&m,  Interim Management is the temporary provision of management resources and skills.

Interim management can be seen as the short-term assignment of a proven heavyweight executive to manage a period of transition, crisis or change within an organisation.

In these situations, a permanent role may be unnecessary or impossible to find on short notice and, additionally, there may be nobody internally who is suitable for, or available to take up the position in question.

Internally or via our partner networks g&m can, at short notice, make available individuals who have extensive past experience of running successful organisations at C-Suite as well as general management levels and who have the expertise / know-how to help your organisation during a challenging period of time.

 

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Mergers & Acquisitions is usually the process, in which the acquiring or dominant party gains a “step change” commercial advantage over competitors in the market, by acquiring or merging with another organisation.

This process, when successfully completed, should add additional value (over & above the initial cost of the acquisition / merger) to the combined, larger organisation.

There can be many reasons for entering into this process, from gaining market share, accessing new markets/ channels, leveraging vendor economies of scale & rationalising the organisation.

This strategy is not without its risks, however, when effectively implemented, can be a method to create a positive “sea change” in the organisation.

We can provide:

• The initial concept, rationale, proposal & budget planning processes
• Initiating & implementing the search process
• Introducing the parties
• Facilitate the merger & acquisition process
• Build & implement a post merger integration strategy

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The creation of a systematic approach to enable the organisation to best perform in light of current / anticipated changes to the organisation’s goals, technologies or indeed processes.

We will cover:

• The purpose of Change Management.
• Creation of strategies for implementing the needed changes.
• Analysis of the potential risks associated with the change.
• Resources needed.
• Planning for the “Who does what, when” phase.
• Communication of the planned changes.
• ROI of the planned changes.
• The process of controlling the change.
• Strategies for helping stakeholders adapt successfully to the change.