What We Think.
Philosophy
To provide value-adding advise for our clients, we relentlessly research, experiment, create and model new approaches to cracking tough business challenges. We invest time developing our own capabilities as we do in developing those of our clients. Our quest for perfection is to service clients with fresh, innovative and state-of-the-art diagnostic tools that keep them ahead in their industry, sectors and markets. We want to understand the world today so that we can better anticipate where it may go tomorrow, with associated implications for our clients. Such insights give our clients confidence to make choices that commit their businesses to future pathways.
Our Tools
Corporate Strategy Tools
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The Value Creation Philosophy Diagnostic (VCPD) Matrix: A strategy-workout framework to brainstorm the interplay between four strategic parameters; which assets, in which markets, with what investments and supported by what capabilities in driving long-term value creation. Individually, the business has to adopt a stance on each parameter based on current performance against a future target. The combined balance of all the parameters makes up the corporate strategy ‘coherence index’, a measure of alignment in all adopted corporate actions and their efficacy in delivering shareholder value.
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The Governing Principles Framework (GPF) is a tool to operationalize the parameters of the VCPD. The linkage of corporate-level value creation to operational levers of the organisation is a key aspect of aligning strategy and execution. The GPF framework simplifies the four parameters of the value creation matrix into their underlying operational drivers linking them to divisional and team operational scorecards.
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The Asset Portfolio Decision Diagnostic (APDD) Matrix: All asset-intensive businesses (like mining companies, retailers, private hospital groups etc.) will most likely have multiple assets of different scale, scope and sometimes located in different geographies. Management need to keep turning the portfolio as circumstances and the business demand it, resulting in buy, sell, invest, and other decisions, sometimes conflicting with other priorities e.g. budgetary considerations. Four parameters support the decision process; ‘value trap assets’ profile all newly acquired or built assets, ‘heartland assets’ profile all high-growth, performing and profitable assets with potential to generate even more future value, ‘harvest assets’ profile all mature, possibly plateaued performance assets no longer requiring ongoing capital investment but providing good cash generation; ‘alien assets’ are disposal and/or closure/decommissioning candidates that were either a greenfield or acquisition mistake from the off.
Other Tools
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The 5-Status Performance Tool; Our advisory work in the SA mining industry spans over a decade, with people performance and productivity at the heart of almost every strategy and business performance improvement initiative we have delivered.
Originally developed by Strategon Advisory to solve people productivity challenges for individual mines, 5-Status Performance evolved into a generic people performance improvement tool applicable to almost any people-driven service industry like hotel chains in the hospitality sector. Applying the tool starts with a diagnostic/dipstick of each business and its teams on a criterion based on 5-levels of people performance. The 5-levels originate from years of observation and research into the central drivers of mine production and thus people productivity improvements. The tool makes it possible to measure, compare and benchmark people performance from one asset to another for a multi-asset business. Performance improvements are customised for each individual asset performance gap, not a one-size-fits-all intervention. The 5-Status Performance Tool assesses and structures a people performance improvement program along 5 principles;
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Team Members;​
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Have a clear results target and a workplace safety plan
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Know, understand and embrace the plan
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Have role clarity and accept responsibility for fulfilling roles
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Hold each other accountable
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Collaborate to make the plan work