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We have a proven track record of developing bespoke surveys and managing large-scale, global survey projects.  We use qualitative and quantitative analysis to evaluate relationships between groups of people, both within an organisation and beyond, including employees, customers, patients, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

This 2 page synopsis details our provision in providing world class insight surveys: 

CMG Insight Survey Brochure

Wal-Mart is striving to become even more efficient and is seeing results.

Speaking last week at a Morgan Stanley event in Arizona, Bill Simon, executive vice president and COO, Wal-Mart Stores U.S., detailed early results from Project Impact, an initiative that includes updating store lay outs and displays in new and remodeled stores to focus on merchandise that enjoys the best consumer reaction and, as a result, moves from distribution system to consumer most efficiently. That not only allows Wal-Mart to turn over its inventory effectively, it also allows the company to trim assortments so it always is offering what customers want without the clutter of what they don’t. The goal is a quick to shop, friendly and clean store environment, Simon said.

Project Impact also permits Wal-Mart to provide “bold” prices in popular product categories, he said, with efficiencies driving savings to consumers. In fact, its surveys indicate that the company enjoys a 13.5 percent price advantage over its leading competitor, Simon asserted. He didn’t name the competitor, but Target would certainly be indicated.

Driving efficiencies in Project Impact is a merchandise evaluation and designation concept Wal-Mart dubs “win, play, show.” Categories where Wal-Mart dominates are designated win, and Simon said the company is focusing efforts in them on establishing even clearer price leadership as well as on enhancing displays in the aisle and in feature presentations, such as those at aisle ends.

Conversely, in show categories where it isn’t evidently dominant, Wal-Mart is scaling back assortments at store level to essential items but enhancing them on the company’s web site. So Project Impact also is having an influence on Wal-Mart’s development as a multi-channel retailer that balances store and online selling. Simon noted that the company’s site-to-store program, which allows customers to order online then pick up merchandise at stores to avoid delivery fees, had been a significant boost to Wal-Mart’s Internet-based sales, aiding in efforts to “offer a broader assortment without distorting the store in a way that we are not happy with.”

Simon said that Project Impact had been a factor behind the strength of Wal-Mart’s recent performance allowing it to reduce inventory by 1.2 percent even as it increased sales by 6.8 percent.

Focus on high-demand merchandise and efficiency in moving it through the store always have been key to Wal-Mart’s success, and Project Impact demonstrates the company hasn’t lost site of where its advantage lies.

Source: INDUSTRY BNET

Over the last six months Change Management Group took part in a research project sponsored by the Management Consultancies Association to examine ways in which the NHS can make best use of consultants to bring about improvements and cost savings.  A report on the project was published on 16^th September.  It concluded that the NHS spends about £300m per annum on consulting services, of which £200m is connected with large IT programmes.  Of the remaining £100m a significant proportion is spent on work that would be more correctly identified as interim management.  These figures may sound high, but at 0.3% of the total NHS budget it is a lower level of consulting expenditure than typical private sector organisations. 

CMG Client Partner Alan Russell was a member of the editorial panel for the report.  He comments: “The view of many NHS executives is that they need the value that external consultants can bring.  It is difficult for even the largest NHS trusts to recruit high calibre staff with broad skills.  The senior teams are overloaded with day to day operational work and this inhibits improvement programmes that are desperately needed to deliver improved patient care at a lower cost.  The report demonstrates the value delivered to the NHS by management consultants.”

The report can be downloaded here.

Mergers and acquisitions are a fact of corporate life for companies seeking to grow rapidly. The selection, validation and negotiation exercises are time consuming and expensive and many candidate merger or acquisition projects do not come to fruition. For those that make it, once the deal is done and the accountants, lawyers and other advisors have departed, it is easy to assume that things will settle down quickly. The reality is that many mergers and acquisitions still haven’t delivered the anticipated value some years later. So what can be done to improve the likelihood of a speedy and successful outcome?

Change Management Group has observed many merger and acquisition exercises, and has identified ten keys to success that typify a successful integration.

The report can be downloaded here

Change Management Group (CMG), the leading independent management consultancy, has conducted a new piece of research into the effectiveness with which NHS trusts use technology to drive improved operational performance. We invited over 1,000 senior NHS professionals to complete a questionnaire to indicate practices and views within their own trust on how IT investments are evaluated, managed and used.

Key findings:

• IMT is a major anxiety for many trusts
• Senior trust management often lacks the experience to give sufficient priority to IMT programmes
• Many trusts have weak management information, potentially undermining performance improvement and cost control initiatives
• The value and risk of investment in technology is not consistently and thoroughly understood

Click here for the detailed survey report

Julia Cook, Managing Partner of Change Management Group, gave a thought provoking presentation on Change Management: The Essential Ingredient in Any Successful IT Project at the 5th annual ReTechCon in Mumbai on May 16th

Press:

Effective IT is a business enabler for retail

Julia Cook, managing partner at Change Management Group, said hardware, software and people determine the success of a retailer that uses IT. CIOL Bangalaore, Karnataka, India (05/19)

India’s retail segment increasingly benefiting from IT

According to Julia Cook, managing partner of Change Management Group (UK), there are three essential ingredients – hardware, software and people, which will determine success of the business using IT. Smart Brief – Washington, DC, USA

Alan Russell, Client Partner at Change Management Group Ltd, participated in a webinar hosted by Accountancy Age on the topic Using business intelligence to hit revenue and profitability targets.

To listen to the podcast of the webinar please click on the link below.

Regardless of the industry in which you operate, no company is immune to the pressure to grow revenues while at the same time keep costs to a minimum. Having access to the right business information and gaining a company wide view of your activities is key to managing business operations in a cost effective way. This seminar looks at how technologies have evolved to step up to the challenge and of… [read more]

Change Management Group creates IT Strategy for
Royal Surrey County Hospital

IT strategy strengthens Trust’s application for Foundation status.

10^th March 2009: The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust (RSCH) has completed a project with management consultancy The Change Management Group (CMG) to create a comprehensive IT strategy for the Trust. The strategy has formed a key component of the integrated business plan which the Trust was required to submit as part of its recent application for Foundation status.

The IT strategy was completed on time and budget and following approval by the board, the RSCH management team immediately started the first phase of strategy implementations.

Sue Lewis, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Nursing and Operations at Royal Surrey County Hospital, comments: “We’ve entered 2009 with our consultation process for Foundation status well underway and a set of IT development targets that will undoubtedly enable us to achieve our business goals.”

Working to an eight-week timescale, CMG worked closely with RSCH staff to document a comprehensive IT strategy that set out specific solutions for the Trust’s core application systems addressing areas from patient administration to radiology and pathology. CMG provided a short-list of options for all application systems areas. The strategy set out clear recommendations for the IT organisation and provided a practical roadmap for implementing the strategy, including three development phases based on an analysis of priorities, timescales, key dependencies, high-level resource estimates and the key delivery risks. It also addressed infrastructure requirements.

Sue Lewis says: “CMG recommended a programme of IT projects that will improve the day to day operations of the Trust and support the delivery of our business strategy, bringing benefits that will positively impact the patient experience for years to come. I was impressed with the professionalism of the CMG team, their ‘can do’ attitude and their willingness to accommodate our way of working in order to complete the job to time and budget.” She continues: “The Trust was impressed with the professionalism of CMG, the team’s immediate grasp of what the project entailed and the methodical way in which they proposed to carry out and complete the work to a very short timescale.”

Commenting on the project, Julia Cook, Managing Director, CMG says: “CMG approached this assignment thinking primarily about how it could improve the patient experience as well as improving operational efficiency. We focussed on all layers of the IT architecture but started with the requirements of patients and staff. We identified where technology could be leveraged to improve efficiency and the patient experience and also reviewed the IT architecture with rigour. Our team had rich systems knowledge from their work in the NHS and other sectors.”

Ends

About Change Management Group

The Change Management Group (CMG) is a leading independent management consultancy specialising in complex business and IT transformation programmes for organisations of all size. The team has a strong track record in healthcare, retail, transportation and distribution. Common to all of these is the importance to client success of delivering lasting value, the aim that lies at the heart of every consultancy project undertaken by CMG.

About Royal Surrey County Hospital

Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust is a leading District General Hospital and the lead specialist centre for cancer patients in Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire. With an annual income of £180 million, the hospital has 528 beds and 14 operating theatres and employs 2,800 staff. The hospital sees around 250,000 outpatients a year, 55,500 patients are admitted for treatment and over 59,000 patients attend A+E.

In October 2008, the Trust was awarded ‘excellent’ in the Healthcare Commission’s Annual Health Check, for the quality of its services.

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The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust (RSCH), UK, has completed a project with management consultancy The Change Management Group (CMG) to create a comprehensive IT strategy for the Trust. The strategy has formed a key component of the integrated business plan which the Trust was required to submit as part of its recent application for Foundation status.

The IT strategy was completed on time and budget and following approval by the board, the RSCH management team immediately started the first phase of strategy implementations.

To read more click here