Critical Insight and Analyses
Problem:
A major supplier of heavy construction
equipment components risks alienating
its most valued customer by refusing to
accept a "should cost" model from the
customer’s international purchasing
division. What to do?
Solution:
Harrington Daniels Advisors is consulted and
Senior Advisor Tom Aranow assigned. An
experienced investigator, Aranow analyzed
the supplier’s processes and determined that
the customer’s “should cost” calculations
failed to account for exhaustive
pre-production engineering changes the
company had a history of requiring.
With the oversight noted, the customer
rescinded its “should cost” requirement. The
business relationship smoothly continued.
Market Research and Savvy
Problem:
A major Hispanic charity is committed
to the "Social Enterprise" of creating the
state's largest day care center for the
community's children. When revenue falls
dramatically short of expenses, Harrington
Daniels’ is called.
Solution:
A thorough comparison of the charity’s
business model to market realities
identified major issues. The facility’s size
- and potential market - was based on
outside estimates presuming all 17-21 year
old women with children would need daycare.
The day care center had also been marketed
as providing “…early childhood cognitive
development.”
An analysis by our advisors redefined a
smaller market of 17-23 year old Latino
women with children, learning English as a
second language and seeking clean, safe
facilities that would be open while they
worked. Based on our recommendations the
charity changed its business model and its
marketing message. Costs dropped. Enrollment
rose. The not-for-profit center is in the
black.
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Financial/Business Acumen
Problem:
When an international provider of disaster
management services received an offer of
purchase for one of its divisions, the
company questioned the accuracy of its own
calculations of net operating income. Was
the offer, which was based on the
organization’s calculations, adequate?
Solution:
Harrington Daniels Advisors recasts the
organization’s financials. Our findings: net
operating income (earnings before interest,
taxes and depreciation or EBITD) had been
seriously under calculated, primarily
because tax avoidance strategies adopted by
the organization’s holding company had
obscured real income. A new calculation–with
realistic expenses–produced a net operating
income nearly seven times the original
estimate, resulting in a far higher
evaluation of the division’s worth.
Executive Coaching and Training
Problem:
A corporate executive hired for his high
level technical skills is found to have an
equally low level of people skills. His
habits, attitude and behavior toward peers
and co-workers is sufficiently alienating to
put his job at risk.
Solution:
The company recognizes the inherent value of
the executive and opts for counseling and
coaching in lieu of firing. Harrington
Daniels Advisors is called. Tom Aranow is
asked to enhance the executive’s ability to
interact successfully with others. It works,
resolving a difficult situation. A year
later the executive describes his experience
with Aranow as “life changing.”
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