AWARDS...

Square Peg swept the board at the recent UK IBC Awards!!
We took home both the awards for which we’d been shortlisted. So we are now proud winners of:

1. Practice of the Year 2009 (under 30 employees) – the IBC’s best boutique consulting firm in the UK!
2. Best International Project – for our work managing change in Birds Eye Iglo Group (BEIG)’s separation from Unilever

The UK Institute of Business Consulting Awards were established to recognise exceptional service, value and quality in the field of business consulting. These watchwords have always been fundamental to what we do, so it’s great to be recognised for the integrity of the Square Peg approach.

Commenting on our double win, Director of the IBC Lynda Purser, said: “IBC is proud to promote case studies of good practice, especially when it demonstrates the great value that consultancy can bring to organisations, which is imperative to our economy at a time of uncertainty. Square Peg International’s achievement of two IB Consulting Awards is truly outstanding considering the stiff competition faced in both of these award categories.”

Photos (l to r) - Click on each image for a larger version in pop-up window

• Doug & Phoebe receive the Practice of the Year award from IBC Director Lynda Purser
• Doug & Phoebe receive the Best International Project Award from Ernst & Young
• Team – (l to r) Jason Bates, Phoebe Dunn, Tania Howarth (Birds Eye Iglo), Doug Ross, Diana Ferguson

  Download Press Release Here and See the Case Studies

Birds Eye Independence – 'Exceptional Change Management' Recognised In IBC Award Shortlist
The announcement last week of the UK Institute of Business Consulting Awards 2009 has seen global boutique consulting firm Square Peg International recognised for its work in keeping Birds Eye Iglo Group (BEIG) in business as it separated from Unilever last year. Square Peg, which took the lead-change consultant role in BEIG’s separation from erstwhile parent Unilever, is an IBC Awards 2009 finalist for both Practice of the Year (under 30 employees) and Best International Project - for its work with the European frozen food giant.

  Download Press Release Here

PUBLISHED ARTICLES AND REGULAR COLUMNS...

Scenario Planning
Growing Business magazine
Think of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Montgomery – all are real world strategists who have used anticipatory planning techniques – battle scenarios – to arm themselves for victory. Using the same principles as Alexander the Great, organisations can use scenario planning as a strategic management tool to make flexible long-term plans for the future. Square Peg examines the techniques of scenario planning and how businesses can use these to anticipate and evolve in a rapidly changing world in order to keep ahead of the competition.
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Growth Strategies Conference
On 25th April, Square Peg’s Doug Ross shared a platform with Declan Curry, the BBC’s Business Presenter, Adrian Fawcett, newly-appointed Chief Executive of the General Healthcare Group, and Frank Carter of KPMG at the Growth Strategies Conference. In their session, 250 CEOs and senior directors of fast-growing businesses were addressed on the topic of Successful Growth by Acquisition. In particular, Doug’s session dealt with maximising deal value through proper integration of both the physical and intellectual resources of organisations.
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A New View of Strategic Leadership
Strategy magazine
Strategy Magazine is the regular publication of the Strategic Planning Society, an organization which fosters research and best practice in strategic thought and action, aiming to provide a link between academic research and practical implementation of strategy. In a recent article for this publication, Doug Ross discusses how strategic leadership needs to adapt to a world of continuous and rapid change.
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Diversified Growth Strategies for Entrepreneurs
Growing Business magazine
The business environment is never static: the most consistent demand on management is the ability to read change trends and adapt the organisation to survive them. A really good management team will not only survive change, but use it to the organisation's benefit. Diversification is one way to take advantage of change to grow the business, taking on new products, markets, skills, techniques or facilities. While this strategy can be risky it has the potential to reward the brave with rapid and expansive business growth. In this article Doug Ross looks at various diversification strategies, their risks and potential rewards using an amusing parallel with poultry farming and in particular looking at the successes and failures of the diversification strategy of Mrs Tweedy, the famously evil chicken farmer in Aardman Production's hilarious 'Chicken Run' animation film.
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Intrapreneurialism: What it can do for your business
Growing Business magazine
Imagine having the entrepreneurial drive, enthusiasm and brilliance of someone like Henry Ford, Estée Lauder, or Richard Branson at your disposal. Enter intrapreneurialism, the development of entrepreneurs within a business. A company that needs to take advantage of synergies, economies of scale and shared risk-taking for its success can benefit immeasurably from encouraging this discipline. Doug Ross explains how you can go about harnessing your employees' entrepreneurialism for the benefit of your business.
  Download this article

The perils of outsourcing ... and how to avoid them
Growing Business magazine
Call centres and IT support leap to mind at the suggestion of outsourcing/offshoring, but in fact almost any business function, product or service can be offshored or outsourced. This brings many advantages to the organisation, not least freeing up resources to focus on the company's core business, but there are also many risks to consider. In this article, Doug Ross looks at how to get the best from outsourcing.
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Hiring a consultant: do your diligence
Growing Business magazine
Are you infallible? Can you cope with the demands of growth? Square Peg's Doug Ross considers the value of consultants and how to hire a good one.
  Download article here

M&A deals: getting the people factor right
Growing Business magazine
In May, our regular column in Growing Business: the UK’s most popular magazine for entrepreneurs was launched with ‘M&A deals: getting the people factor right’. Despite the risks, M&A is increasingly popular. In the first of a series of articles, we reveal how to minimise potential risks and maximise the value of deals through careful management of people and cultural factors.
  Download article here

Beyond Lip Service
Benefits & Compensation International
Article by Doug Ross on ‘Beyond Lip-Service’ which takes a look at the way organisations pay lip-service to their people issues without really understanding their real impact. The article was written for a Compensation and Benefits Manager audience.
  Download article here

MEDIA COVERAGE...

Kingston Business School celebrates Square Peg awards wins
Square Peg has close ties with the Kingston Business School and was delighted to be joined at the recent Institute of Business Consulting (IBC) awards by Dr Stuart Archbold, Associate Dean and Director of the Kingston Business School. Dr Archbold commented: ‘We are very pleased to be associated with this award-winning team of exceptional consultants and grateful for the generous support that Doug and Square Peg provide to Kingston Business School.’ Read Kingston Business School's report

Institute of Business Consulting (IBC) in the Spotlight – Awards recognise the value of consultancy - Professional Manager Magazine
Following Square Peg’s double win at the UK Institute of Business Consulting Awards, the team featured in this article in Professional Manager, January 2010.
  Download article here
Read more about the awards (above)
See the Case Studies

Tunnel Vision – ChinaEconomicReview.com
As the global economic down-turn took its toll in China, Square Peg Managing Director was asked to comment. In this article by ChinaEconomicReview.com, Doug provides his insights on the internal and long-term implications of cost cutting strategies.
Read the ChinaEconomicReview.com Article

Personnel Today
Karen Dempsey, Editor interviewed Doug Ross to reveal exclusive details of our research entitled 'The new world demands a new view of strategic leadership - moving beyond planning'. The three-page article was entitled 'A little less conversation, a little more action please' and gave insights into survey respondents attitudes towards their senior leaders.
Read the Personnel Today article
Presentation of the initial findings of the survey

CFO Europe
Janet Kersnar, Editor-in-Chief interviewed Senior Consultant Phoebe Dunn on the topic of our recent research report Stop Throwing Good Money after Bad; Breaking the Wasteful Leadership Development Spiral. The article was entitled ‘Filling the void – why honing tomorrow’s finance leaders is a lot harder than it looks.’
  Download research report here

PRESS RELEASES...

Stop press: 50% of leadership teams can neither plan nor execute
By their own admission, few leadership teams are doing a good job of leading their organisations through times of change. Research conducted with 937 senior leaders by the business consultancy Square Peg reveals that 50% of senior management teams can neither plan nor execute… Just 8% believe their leaders are ‘fantastic and extremely talented’ and a shocking 14% are ‘void of any real leadership talent.’ Fortunately our global survey also delivered a more positive message. 30% of the leadership teams were excellent at both planning a direction/strategy for their organisation and being able to successfully execute it. The challenge is to identify the 30% that can really make a difference. The study also revealed a number of practices that differentiate high performing organisations from low performing ones.
  Download press release here

Stop press: 63% of leadership development may be a waste of time and money
63% of leadership development may be a waste of time and money according to our latest leadership development research – ‘Stop throwing good money after bad. Breaking the wasteful leadership development spiral’.
  Download press release here