Case Study: Healthcare

Case Study

The plan recommended by BI improved the division’s understanding of customer needs and created tactics with explicit links to divisional strategies.

Results

  • The organization realized a productivity gain by shortening the development time of the annual operating planning process by 30%.

This $1 billion division of a major healthcare product manufacturer was losing market share and experiencing a high level of tactical uncertainty. Functional silos of marketing, sales and marketing research were not working well together. In the prior year, development of the annual operating plan had been a prolonged, low energy affair, marked by resource conflicts and arguments about priorities.

Issues

  • Improve productivity across the organization by shortening the development time of the annual operating planning process.
  • Build teamwork and synergy between marketing, sales and marketing research associates

Solution

  • Working closely with an internal champion, BI streamlined the operational planning process. By bringing key representatives from each function into a series of joint meetings, BI facilitated joint accountability and a higher degree of trust between functions.
  • BI began with a facilitated conference of key stakeholders with the company’s internal research arm to get clear requirements for their market research. We then coached management project teams on enhancing competitive analysis and developing strategies for market segments in cross-functional teams.
  • Part of the project involved conducting a two-day retreat for 8 senior division managers. BI led this team to develop criteria for evaluating segment-marketing strategies to create consistent communications on strategic direction to the division’s employees.