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PLANNING, LAUNCHING, AND DRIVING CHANGE TRANSFORMATION
Change can be brutal for organizations. At a basic level, sapping away time, money, and resources on poorly structured and executed transformation programs that fall well short of expectations. And in more extreme cases, resulting in hidden and often overlooked costs in the form of cultural damage that erodes management’s credibility, destroys employee morale, and ultimately leads to a brain drain. Dynamics which create a pressure cooker that can leave organizations a shell of what they were before putting a well-intentioned but poorly executed change agenda in place.
Fueled off of our fu.sion ACCELERATOR platform, which leverages our proprietary cloud-based, AI-enabled application, Tower Strategy’s Change Management + Transformation PMO services enable implementation of change programs. Specifically, our holistic change management services create overall clarity of purpose, establish staggered milestones and objectives, and provide the detailed implementation workplans needed to enable our clients’ transformation teams. We couple those detailed planning activities with active transformation program management and governance, in the form of a PMO, that distributes transformation work across internal client teams in bite-sized and achievable pieces, performs on-going monitoring and evaluation of that workflow to enable diagnostics and reporting, and plays a hands-on role in troubleshooting and course-correcting the inevitable obstacles that create risk within the change process. And where client teams lack the objectivity, capacity, or expertise required to implement specific components of their change agenda, we provide hands-on implementation support, tackling specific strategic change projects to not only help maintain the pace of change but to help reduce burden (and resulting frustration and stall-out) across our client’s internal teams.
Coupled with our other service offerings, including Strategic Planning, Performance Improvement, and Organizational Development + Capacity Building, our services provide clients with turnkey support across the full spectrum of transformation planning, launch and incubation.
- How do we break our transformation agenda down into manageable pieces?
- Which resources should we deploy against those efforts and what's the supporting RACI?
- Over what timelines should those resources drive their implementation activities?
- Is our transformation on track and, if not, what factors are slowing it down?
- How do we solve for those stumbling blocks?
- Change Management Plan Development
- Transformation Team Leadership and Enterprise PMO
- Special Projects Delivery
- Performance Monitoring and Evaluation
- Transformation Governance
- Progress Reporting and Communications
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FU.SION ACCELERATOR
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Powering the Conditions and Environment for Transformative Change
Transformation programs continue to underwhelm, resulting in failure ~67% of the time. Because they 1) fail to address change holistically, 2) lack the catalytic environment in which to operate and 3) suffer from a lack of control measures to keep them on track.
Tower Strategy’s AI-enabled, cloud-based fu.sion ACCELERATOR is purpose built to solve for those shortcomings by providing a stable environment that combines all the necessary elements of a transformation program into one single platform. This novel, patent pending application and its supporting services are designed to deliver on employee-led transformation, drive buy-in, build internal capacity, reduce fragility and result in self-sustaining change.
Specifically, our linear process guides clients through:- Designing the transformative, ideal-state capabilities needed to operate at max efficiency and effectiveness
- Identifying the holistic roadmap and supporting set of supporting elements (i.e., structure, people, process, systems, etc.) needed to build those capabilities
- Prioritizing, acting on and change managing the specific actions needed to drive improvement across core, required capability sets
- Reengineering processes to eliminate wasted motion and improve focus on productive activities
- Migrating human capital into new roles, filling in resource gaps, load balancing FTE levels and forecasting future FTE types and levels to carry your organization forward
- Linking technology investments to actual workflow and business impact (vs. simply seeing technology as the panacea)
- Tracking, trouble-shooting, and reporting on transformation program performance through a real-time condition monitor and centralized management dashboard
Powered off of an Amazon Web Services platform, our tools, combined with our strategic planning, change management and organizational design capabilities succeed where others fail due to three major reasons: generating momentum by delivering on short-term wins while laying the groundwork for longer-term and more complex change, removing obstacles to change through a deep internal and market insights capability, and pacing the speed and depth of change programs to prevent them from collapsing under their own weight.
Challenges fu.sion ACCELERATOR Helps Solve For:
- Standing up new capabilities that are in their infancy today
- Overhauling organizational units or structures that are no longer working
- Improving and enabling program execution
- Deploying new systems and enterprise-level architecture
Our fu.sion ACCELERATOR Platform Combines Several Key Tower Strategy Capabilities:
- Strategic Planning
- Organizational Design
- Program Management and Development
- Change Management
- Performance Management
- Cost Management
“Tower taught us new ways of thinking and working that are objective, fact-based and necessary.”
– EVP Transformation, Carlyle Group Portfolio Company
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fu.sion accelerator
Powering Transformation
Environmental, Social and Governance
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DELIVERING SUSTAINABILITY GAINS AT OUR CLIENTS, FIRM, AND COMMUNITIES
The path forward for developing and delivering on a meaningful sustainability initiative is far from clear. Data shows that the overwhelming majority of corporate sustainability initiatives are vapor – focused on simply checking boxes and reporting rather than delivering meaningful change. Not because they weren’t well intentioned, but because companies rush headlong into measurement and policy design without taking a step back to evaluate fit for purpose, establish a supporting business case, orient around clear and sequential priorities and build the organizational muscles and sinew (not just in the Sustainability team but across Supply Chain, Facilities, HR, etc.) to truly embed sustainability into their DNA. Governance matters. Sustainability isn’t a set of tasks for one group or committee, it’s a capability. One that must cut across, rally and meet the needs of the broader organization and its external stakeholders. Pulling on them not only for their thoughts and perspectives but also to support and drive day-to-day execution.
Our approach corrects for the known and solvable factors that cause most sustainability initiatives to fail. Addressing not only what to measure and how to measure it. But, more importantly, why those measures are important, how they deliver value to our clients' broad internal and external stakeholders and what changes are needed to not only report on sustainability but to deliver measurable, meaningful impact across those sustainability goals (e.g., more resilient business operations, costs deferred via circular economy, incremental revenue and margin capture through sustainable brand innovation, etc.). As a result, we're able to provide full cycle support across conducting materiality assessments, designing a sustainability strategy, defining the change management requirements for operationalizing that strategy and working shoulder-to-shoulder to embed sustainability into our clients' operations.
The sustainability capabilities we build for clients aren't just a boilerplate version of sustainability initiatives deployed at competitors and the best-in-class but, rather, ones that learn from what those third parties have done well (and poorly), translating that insight into a strategy and approach that is authentic to our clients, the footprint they uniquely possess and the impact they are capable of. With an eye not only towards reporting and box-checking but towards building true leadership through measureable impact.
In addition, we’ve incorporated ESG concerns tightly into our firm’s culture and business practices. Internally, we’ve focused on decarbonizing our own footprint (e.g., LEED Gold certified office space, public transportation accessibility, etc.), ensuring pay equity across genders, achieving diversity and inclusion through our hiring practices, and remaining selective about the clients and industries we choose to work with. Externally, we continue to actively engage on ESG issues within our communities, through pro bono work and volunteerism (incl. at the Board level) with organizations like Leadership Greater Washington to bring attention to, convene, and help facilitate impact on key issues (e.g., housing inequality, food scarcity, environmental sustainability, community health, etc.) affecting the communities in which we live, work, and play.
- What globally recognized sustainability frameworks should we leverage and which specific metrics should we use to guide our efforts?
- Which issues are most material to our business and those of our stakeholders?
- Do we have the governance model and structure needed to drive our sustainability program forward?
- How do we frame our business case and ensure that sustainability efforts can attract required investment going forward?
- How do we stagger and phase those investments to drive immediate gains for ourselves, the environment, our people and our communities even while laying the groundwork for longer-term more transformative change?
- Strategic Planning
- Organizational Development / Capacity Building
- Best Practices Identification and Application
- Performance Measurement and Management
- Performance Dashboarding
- Balanced Scorecards
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Performance Improvement
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BUILDING THE MUSCLES AND SINEW NEEDED TO DELIVER ON YOUR OBJECTIVES
Yes, form follows function. Implicit in that statement: form also enables function. And yet many organizations continue to fail to explicitly tie the two together. Either because their form (i.e., structure, process, systems) was never truly designed to support their function (e.g., enterprise- or function-specific objectives) or because, once designed, their form failed to adapt to changing goals and objectives driven by a shifting environment and stakeholder expectations. The end result: An inability to efficiently and effectively deliver against their goals.
Tower Strategy Group helps senior executives build high performing organizations by correcting for those disconnects. Providing an integrated set of services, fueled by our proprietary fu.sion ACCELERATOR platform, we cover the full range of objectives setting, strategic planning, organizational design, BPR, and change management services needed to ensure outcomes delivered from day-to-day workflow directly support an organization’s strategic direction.
Specifically, we have hands-on experience creating strong alignment around a central and clear set of performance objectives by defining what performance means in client organizations, establishing the KPIs needed to manage that performance, baselining existing performance levels and building a set of targets for improved performance going forward.
From there, we focus on enabling those objectives by defining the specific steps needed to close the distance between existing and desired performance, developing the change management plans required to enable that transformation, and providing hands-on support to implement needed change.
For Federal clients, we do this at the Agency, Department and Program levels. For Private Sector clients, we focus on Corporate- and Operating Division-level performance.
- What qualitative and quantitative metrics, including customer and stakeholder satisfaction, define success for our organization?
- Why are we falling short of those metrics today?
- What specific, tangible steps can we take to improve our performance going forward?
- How do we deploy our people and structure our work to take advantage of those opportunities?
- What can we learn from others who have tackled similar challenges in the past?
- Strategic Planning
- Organizational Development + Capacity Building
- Change Management + Transformation PMO
- Business Process Reengineering
- Workforce + Operations Planning
- Best Practices Benchmarking
- Performance Dashboarding
- Balanced Scorecards
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M&A Due Diligence
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Lowering Risk and Driving Value Creation
Tower Strategy Group supports corporations and leading private equity firms across the M&A lifecycle. Starting upfront by scoping which markets and sectors to focus and by conducting commercial due diligence on specific deals. Built on the backbone of our 360-degree commercial due diligence capability, we allow our clients to peer deeply into the macroeconomic trends, competitive dynamics and customer needs shaping their target markets. A capability which vets and de-risks our clients’ investment thesis, so they are not only better equipped during the bid and valuation process but also better informed about where and how to drive value creation once an asset is in their portfolio.
Post-deal, we help build and execute value creation plans to drive commercial growth. Defining how newly acquired assets can better position their capabilities to tackle unmet and underserved market opportunities. And, to support that, how to reconfigure operations to not only capture efficiencies (from reduced overlap / redundancy) but to make certain those operations have the strength and sinew needed to execute on commercial strategy. We don’t just advise, we roll up our sleeves and facilitate commercial and operational execution against the value creation plan. Getting beyond the board room to driving tactical, meaningful change on the front lines.
Questions We Help Answer:
- Which adjacent markets warrant entry?
- Is the target’s management team realistic about its upside?
- What steps are necessary to accelerate revenue growth?
- What sources of redundancy exist and how are they best streamlined?
- How do we integrate the operations and culture of our organizations?
Our Core M&A Services Include:
- Opportunity ID and Scoping
- Candidate ID
- Commercial Due Diligence
- Value Creation Plans
- Growth and Innovation Strategy
- Organizational Development
- Performance Management
- Cost Management
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International Expansion
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Delivering Opportunities to Grow Your Global Footprint
Tower Strategy helps clients develop a deep understanding of the globalization opportunities available across both their commercial and operational footprints, how those markets are structured, the challenges and risks inherent in them and the specific business model, product / service, sales and marketing and operational innovation needed to tackle them. We understand that, to succeed at the local-market level, one must build strong connections back to the corporate center. And that, because of those interconnections, globalization strategies must take both corporate and local-market initiatives into account (e.g., brand innovation).
Over the past decade, we have worked extensively with clients to tap into the market opportunity in over 60 countries. Mature, developing and truly frontier. With a lens not only towards which markets they should enter but also how to prioritize investments across their international portfolio, how to fund and service those markets and the implications on their global strategy (e.g., pricing and its impact on the gray market).
Questions We Help Answer:
- Which international markets warrant entry?
- Who are our prospective customers and how do we reach them?
- How do customer needs differ and how do we need to adapt our existing portfolio?
- Is the RTM mature enough to facilitate consumer access?
- What risks should we be aware of and how do we best manage them?
- What capabilities do we need and how best do we fund them?
Our Core International Expansion Services Include:
- Opportunity ID and Scoping
- Customer Needs Assessment and Segmentation
- Market Assessment and Sizing
- Sales and Marketing Strategy
- Product and Service Innovation
- Value Chain Development
- Organizational Development
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Organizational Development + Capacity Building
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DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE CAPABILITIES NECESSARY TO EXECUTE ON MISSION, VISION AND STRATEGY
To enable organizational development, restructuring and capacity building, we've built fu.sion ACCELERATOR™. A digitally-enabled, proprietary methodology that allows Tower Strategy, in partnership with its clients, to deploy customized, employee-led, and well-paced change within client organizations. Change that sticks. Covering the full range of elements needed in a restructuring program (analytics, organizational design, change management, etc.), we guide, build capacity within, facilitate and manage transformation. Your people author it. And they author it with a set of tools designed for use not by organizational design or process improvement professionals but by the layman. Resulting in far greater buy-in, stickiness and outcomes as compared to the cookie-cutter and overwhelming approach used by larger consultancies.
Running in parallel to program managing the work your teams must execute to embed change, we further accelerate implementation by leaning in on areas your team can’t or shouldn’t tackle. Either because of capacity, skill set, lack of objectivity or internal politics. Typically, these tend to be multi-stakeholder or new initiatives (e.g., standing up a new functional area or shared service) where there is no clear owner, substantial scoping work is required, and / or the political environment isn't conducive to tackling an initiative through purely internal resources.
Questions We Help Answer:
- Do we possess the capabilities and capacity needed to achieve our mission?
- What new capabilities do we need to build?
- What people, process and technology-related issues limit our performance today and which will stymy our capability-building plan going forward?
- Based on that, which performance improvement opportunities are available to us and how do we prioritize between them?
- How do we manage and drive change through the organization?
Our Core Organizational Development Services Include:
- Capabilities Mapping & Design
- Change Management Planning
- ePMO and Implementation Support
- Policy Development & Integration
- Organizational Restructuring
- Human Capital Roadmap Development and Integration
- Technology Roadmap Development and Integration
“Having worked with other consulting firms I found that the mix of service, guidance, expertise and output I received as a client was excellent for the investment we made with Tower. I would highly recommend Tower Strategy Group for M&A, commercial strategy, competitive benchmarking and business transformation.”
- EVP, Organizational Effectivess, Carlyle Group Portfolio Company
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Strategic Planning
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Helping Unify Vision and Drive Execution
Tower Strategy has worked extensively across the FORTUNE 500 and Private Equity portfolio companies to establish a clear vision for their organizations and to then cascade that vision down into multi-year goals, the strategies needed to achieve them and a progressive set of tactics to execute against those strategies. Typically delivering a 3-5 year Crawl-Walk-Run plan as the resulting operational roadmap, we provide clients with not only broad direction but also the specific actions needed to win in the next quarter and to create long-term resilience and advantage in their fast-changing markets.
Why? We understand no organization has the luxury to wait until next year for results. And short-term successes yield not only more immediate returns but often also serve as the foundation for the long-term. And that, with the pace of change our clients face, long-rage plans lacking an eye towards resilience based on anticipated structural changes in markets are destined to become outdated.
Questions We Help Answer:
- What underserved market opportunities are available to my business?
- How is my value chain evolving over the next 5 years and how do I stay relevant?
- What level of budget and resourcing do we need to meet our goals?
- How do we need to restructure our organization to support our vision and strategy?
- Can we create clear, simple guidelines to keep mid-level management’s efforts and investments aligned with corporate goals?
Our Strategic Planning Services Include:
- Visioning and corporate strategy development
- Division and brand-level business planning
- Business case development
- Alternatives analysis and scenario planning
- Strategy governance models
- Organizational assessment
"Tower Strategy provided my team with unprecedented, deeply relevant strategic guidance as we moved into new markets. Their approach to meet our needs was collaborative, on point and realistic in meeting goals upon execution."
-Head of US Channel Strategy, Pfizer
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Your Strategy May Be Dead On Arrival
Learn about the top eight issues we see around strategic planning and what you can do to avoid the pitfalls.
Core Market Growth
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DELIVERING MEASURABLE SHARE AND PROFIT GAINS IN THE NEXT QUARTER AND BEYOND
Tower Strategy helps market incumbents unlock stalled out growth. Or, in the case of declining revenue or profitability, to reinvigorate their corporations, operating divisions and brands. Using our proprietary Market-Advantage ™ framework, we are best-in-class at diagnosing the specific individual factors that drive share and profit performance in markets, our clients’ gaps relative to those drivers and the specific investments and tactics needed to overcome those performance gaps. Not just from a strategic perspective but also in terms of the structural and financial constraints hampering success. We do much more than provide a vision or strategy, we provide a clear operational roadmap for how to execute against that vision and strategy.
We’ve provided such services across the full range of our target industries. And while we focus on achieving long-term differentiation and advantage for our clients, we also recognize the need for immediate gains. Senior leadership teams and the Board are seldom patient when it comes to investment. As a result, we’re just as focused on “stroke of the pen,” quick-hit gain opportunities (e.g., realigned channel incentives) as we are on longer-term builds (e.g., NPD).
Questions We Help Answer:
- How can we better manage the share-margin trade-off?
- Why are we losing share in our core markets?
- Where should our product enhancement efforts focus?
- How do we better evangelize the channel and become a supplier of choice?
- How much runway is left in our market and what can we do to reinvigorate it?
Our Core Market Growth Services Include:
- Market and Customer Insights
- Product and Service Optimization
- Program Evaluation and Improvement
- Channel Strategy and Expansion
- New Segment Targeting
- Pricing Analysis / Revenue Management
- Sales and Marketing Optimization
“You guys are uniquely differentiated at defining the specific factors that drive success in our markets and how to act on those drivers.”
- Division President at a $6B Industrial and Technology Solutions Player
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