Pragmatic Approach
Progressive managers, intent on transforming their process-based institutions into responsive, flexible and formidable competitors, will find Speer & Associates, Inc. to be an invaluable resource. From individual business area assessments to overall strategic planning, S&A supplies the skill sets, experience and tools that are ideally suited for any range of engagements.
In most assignments, S&A uses a proven two-step approach. First, S&A and a client Project Team jointly assess the current situation and client competencies in realistic terms. Then, drawing on its extensive experience base, S&A develops a plan for the client complete with implementation tasks, organizational requirements, and milestones.
Both steps typically address such vital areas as:
- Strategic Goals and Objectives
- Marketing Strategy / Competitive Positioning / Competitive S&W
- Target Customer Segments
- Product and Services
- Distribution Strategies and Issues (branch, call center, ATMs, Internet)
- Productivity and Staffing levels
- Staffing, Products, and Organizational Structure
- Operations / Credit and Risk Mitigation
- Internal Operations / 3rd Party Operations / Information Systems Technology
- Management / Organizational Structure
- Financial Performance (Business Line, Product and Customer Profitability, ALCO)
- Strategic and Tactical Implementation Plans
The Strategic Plan solution, developed hand-in-hand with the client Project Team, provides a thorough roadmap of the actions and initiatives which are essential to address the material management issues. The ultimate goal is to help client organizations improve their stakeholder/shareholder value.
The means for achieving this goal are often based upon a combination of longer-term strategic suggestions and short-term recommendations to address immediate shortcomings. For example, as part of a typical engagement, S&A and the Project Team may recommend repositioning of an entire product line to focus on particular market segments. This same engagement would also be likely to include short-term feature / pricing recommendations for specific products to bolster the client’s near term competitiveness and market share.
Strategy Pyramid
Risk Mitigation
"S&A brings an objective viewpoint and analytical discipline to the process of evaluating business processes. In today’s volatile business environment, it is essential for banks to periodically validate major operational and business processes to ensure they are justified against available alternatives given market and competitive conditions."
- Peter Hetzler