Many have claimed that increasing self-supply, e.g., distributed generation and microgrids, begins a death spiral for utility business models. Is this true? What should utilities do now?
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Many have claimed that increasing self-supply, e.g., distributed generation and microgrids, begins a death spiral for utility business models. Is this true? What should utilities do now?
Major Fortune 500 companies have been using shared services as an efficient, effective means of providing corporate support services to subordinate businesses since the 1980s. Major companies like British Petroleum, Ford, General Electric, and others have used the shared services model to reduce costs, improve service, improve compliance, and/or streamline processes with great success. A survey conducted by the Shared Services and Outsourcing Network (SSON) in conjunction with Hackett reports that at least 30 percent of companies enjoy greater than 20 percent cost savings by implementing this model. Some companies have reported much higher savings.
In celebration of our 30th anniversary, we have rebranded and launched a new logo, tagline, and redesigned website. These changes are part of our deliberate strategy to emphasize our commitment to “getting it done right.” Although we have undergone a transformation, our mission and commitment to our clients remain unchanged—to deliver actionable and sustainable results in Energy, Corporate & Shared Services, and Clean Tech & Sustainability.
CIOs are often charged with driving innovation within the enterprise. But what if business units are not interested in innovating? IT leaders cannot compel business leadership to innovate in an environment where the status quo appears acceptable. This report provides examples of successful innovation and discusses how IT organizations can engage business leaders in digital innovation efforts.
An independent transmission company sought to build, own, and operate transmission assets in Texas. The client’s facilities would bring electricity from wind generation facilities in west Texas to load centers in north Texas.
ScottMadden assisted a large Midwestern investor-owned utility to improve its supply chain organization’s strategy, governance, and operations including the supply chain organization’s relationship to the business units it supports.
| North Carolina State University (N.C. State) sought to conduct an FTE inventory of its 2,000 staff members in the functional areas of human resources, finance, purchasing, procurement, budgeting, and contracts and grants. As one of the top three research universities in the Triangle, it employs nearly 2,400 faculty and 5,600 staff members. The university enrolls approximately 35,000 students, and grants around 5,000 bachelor degrees, 1,800 masters’ degrees, and 500 doctoral degrees annually. Continue reading Achieving Strategic Focus to Improve Supply Chain PerformanceIntroductionA large, municipally owned utility sought assistance with an assessment of their supply chain function. ScottMadden was engaged by the client’s executive management team to complete the assessment to improve current operations. For the past several years, the supply chain function at the company had realized considerable success on a number of fronts. For the client to continue this success, ScottMadden identified two key enablers: 1) identifying improvement opportunities to increase business unit alignment and deliver additional savings on materials and services used across the company and 2) defining a path to advance the company’s supply chain maturity. Continue reading Improving Capital Project Planning and ExecutionCapital Project Management and Planning Case HistoryA small privately held transmission and distribution utility in the Northeast sought to improve its capital project planning and management capabilities. Continue reading Management Model/Playbook Implementation and DevelopmentIntroductionScottMadden worked with a top-10 nuclear fleet operator to develop a management model/playbook to operate its nuclear plants as a fleet. This included establishing strong-form corporate functional oversight and clarifying accountabilities (especially around the corporate-site interface). This also included launching standards for organization, staffing, hierarchy of procedures, tiered indicators, regular management meetings, business plans, functional area ownership, and improvement plans. Continue reading Fundamentals for Establishing an HR Analytics OrganizationOver the last few years, companies have been increasing their focus on HR analytics. Whether this is due to the need to have a better handle on where talent is within the company or to prove that the HR organization adds value to the corporation, HR organizations are forming analytics groups that focus entirely on identifying—through structured, deep analysis—opportunities for plan design, process, or practice changes that lead to service improvements and/or cost savings. Continue reading Welcome to ScottMadden!Sussex Economic Advisors is now part of ScottMadden. We invite you to learn more about our expanded firm. Please use the Contact Us form to request additional information. |