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Marchment Hill relieves tension at the interface between key business units

Ben Woodman — March 2011

Recent Engagement: Our client is a regionally based multi-utility with a diverse portfolio of businesses. Execution of the business’ strategy was being adversely impacted by ineffective interfaces between two key operational divisions. MHC was engaged to complete a short diagnostic of these interfaces, and to develop an improvement plan.

Our consultants worked closely with the two business units, and engaged with representatives from other divisions who could provide an informed view on the effectiveness of the relationship. At the heart of the performance issues was a lack of definition of the roles in the operating units, with much of the ‘trading arrangement’ ad hoc and variable. MHC facilitated a number of workshops to clarify and develop accountabilities, performance management arrangements and desired behaviours, and injected leading practices and solutions from previous engagements.

Workshop outcomes included designing a calendar of events highlighting the commitments between the two units, and the definition (as templates) of the data the two needed to exchange. In support of the proposed changes to the interfaces, MHC recommended the implementation of new incentives to encourage autonomy within a prescribed envelope of activities – the desired behavioural model.

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