Case Study 1
Transforming a City
When a group of civic, business and community leaders in Christchurch, New Zealand began meeting regularly over breakfast in the Mayor's lounge, exciting things began to happen. There was a strong sense of urgency that in order to lift New Zealand's economic performance to the top half of the OECD rankings, Christchurch needed to to be a "Global City", a driver in the transformation of New Zealand into a genuinely innovative, globally connected economy. Strategic Solutions International was called in to catalyse the group and create a coherent vision and definable areas of strategic intent. The result was an action-oriented framework that was shared across the city through facilitated workshops and meetings. A number of priority ‘kickstart’ projects were identified which harnessed the economic strengths of the city and encouraged “silo-ed” organisations to work together. The framework was then handed over in 2004 to the Canterbury Development Corporation for implementation. Strategic Solutions moved on to project manage one of the most exciting projects under the framework: the establishment of the New Zealand ICT Innovation Institute in Christchurch. “As city leaders we were passionate about seeing Christchurch prosper. SSI did an excellent job helping us develop our vision, express it in specific goals and measures, and communicate this preferred future to back to the business community”. The Mayor of Christchurch, Garry Moore. Case Study 2
Future Proofing ICTWith a timeline of only 6 months to raise $9.7 million dollars of matching funding from industry, the University of Canterbury (UC) called on Strategic Solutions International to project manage the development of key industry partnerships in order to establish the New Zealand ICT Innovation Institute (UCi3). Strategic Solutions International worked with the UC team to flesh out the vision, goals and strategies of UCi3. SSI initiated and managed strategic research partnerships, developed UCi3’s marketing content and website, established and managed an industry advisory board, and created the value proposition for Christchurch City Council and for industry partners. Phase 1 was highly successful and SSI is now continuing in a project management capacity in Phase 2. "Thank you for your excellent work and professionalism in project managing Phase 1 of the New Zealand ICT Innovation Institute project. We are delighted with the successful outcomes: the Institute has attracted blue chip partners: IBM, Jade, Tait, and HP, and pledged support for the Institute rests at $13.17 million including the Christchurch City Council underwriting of $5 million. This has been a major achievement given the short timeframe of only 6 months for fundraising.
The University of Canterbury could not have completed this project without your help facilitating those strategic research partnerships, developing our marketing content and website, establishing and managing our industry advisory board, developing our value proposition for Christchurch City Council to secure our underwriting and bringing all the documentation together to secure the $9.7 million in matched funds from the Tertiary Education Commission. Your skills in relationship initiation and management; and your attention to detail were invaluable.
It was a pleasure working with you on Phase 1 and we look forward to your ongoing involvement in Phase 2.” Professor Ian Town, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Canterbury Case Study 3
Designing a Future
G&A Nelson, a successful advertising and design agency in Christchurch, realised that in order to take their business to the next level of performance, they needed a roadmap for the future. Strategic Solutions International worked closely with the Principals to draft a strategic plan. Now three years on, G&A Nelson, having successfully implemented their strategic plan, are ready for a new roadmap to plan the next stage of their journey. “We worked diligently to implement our vision as expressed in the key objectives in our plan. Our business has benefited hugely: our business has grown, we have relocated to larger premises and created efficiencies in our internal operations. We have benefited personally as well: we have now been released to focus on the creative side of the business, where we can add most value”. Grant and Mandy Nelson, Principals, G&A Nelson. Case Study 4
Outstanding in their Field
Pyne Gould Guinness, a publicly listed New Zealand based agribusiness with an annual turn over of NZ $287 million, wanted to improve their long term planning and become more strategic about their future. Strategic Solutions International using their Full Potential© toolkit, worked with the senior management team to develop a 10 year strategic plan. This process helped identify strategic options for PGG. Since the development of the plan, Pyne Gould Guinness merged with Wrightsons to form New Zealand’s largest agricultural services company, PGG Wrightsons Ltd. “Strategic Solutions International assisted us in developing our vision, aligning it with our current business environment and identifying the opportunities we could leverage as a company. The workshops were extremely helpful in planning strategies to achieve our objectives, and selecting indicators and targets to measure our success.” Hugh Martyn, COO, PGG Wrightsons Ltd. Case Study 5
A Stellar Performance The National Arts Centre, Canada, is the only multidisciplinary, bilingual performing arts centre in North America, and one of the largest in the world. With an annual revenue of C$51 million (NZ$67 million) and a national mandate for the development of the performing arts, the NAC had worked diligently for two years to shape a compelling vision of their future. Expressing that vision in achievable goals with appropriate measures of success was more of a challenge. Strategic Solutions International, under sub-contract to their Canadian partners, International Financial Consulting Ltd (Canada) worked with the NAC management to develop a five year corporate plan that spelled out in simple terms how the organisation was going to translate their vision into action.
“Strategic Solutions International was hired to work with us given their skill in translating the strategic context of organisations into clear and action-oriented language. They worked diligently to under stand the client’s unique operating environment, and produced an excellent outcome: the client was very pleased with the final product”. Diana Smallridge, President, International Financial Consulting Ltd.
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