• Customer Centred Growth
  Dr. Joyce Willard, Forum Ltd, United Kingdom
• The Millennium Challenge
  open discussion with the presenters of the day

• What are the main business implications for a Multinational company that is operating in the industrial sector managed on a European/world-wide basis with integrated Information Systems across Europe, in particular as regards the interrelation with the "economic agents" i.e. customers/suppliers/banks/employees?
• What are the business risks and the business opportunities. What actions have been put in place to minimise the risks and to take the maximum benefit of the opportunities?
• What changes need to be made in transaction processing systems and in information systems?
• What awareness/training plans need to be implemented in order to ensure full the full understanding of the change by the company management/staff?

On January 1, 1999, 11 industrial states will merge their currencies in an unprecedented step to create the European Monetary Union, the EMU. This will give rise to a capital market which in many respects is comparable to that of the US market. If the Euro proves to be stable, it will pose a serious challenge over the medium term for the Dollar. Institutional investors as well as companies will benefit from greater transparency and improved market conditions in "Euroland". Europe’s banking industry not only has to complete the technical preparations for the launch of the Euro by end 1998, but also has to find a strategic response to the ever tougher competition and the stronger trend towards investment banking.

Although the Millennium problem is basically an IT issue, it impacts on all parts of the supply chain. It is not always the obvious areas that will halt production or effect a supplier's ability to perform. It is important that, as a customer, we not only have verbal or written assurances that a supplier will be able to supply up to and through the Millennium, but that this is backed up by quantifiable evidence. Hence the need for a robust supplier programme as an integral part of our own Millennium Programme. Without millennium compliant suppliers we ourselves cannot achieve compliance.

In this decade a lot of companies initiated business process innovation or business process renovation initiatives. A great part of these initiatives were facilitated by Information Technology, especially for Enterprise Resources Planning, and were driven by aspirations for an upswing in the business results, lower stock levels, shorter lead times, improved market and consumer response, improved ROI etc. The last few years have seen also technology drivers behind many IT projects: replacing old systems, the Millennium problem, the introduction of the Euro. Both the business and the technology drivers were the causes for a tremendous demand for new IT tools and services. At the same time we also have seen a growing dissatisfaction at business management level regarding the real benefits at all the new beautiful things.
And if we look forward, what will happen if and when this wave is over? How did we reach our business goals? Did IT evolved into Business Technology improve our business? Can the industry continue with its current approach towards business processes and the role of IT in these processes? What will come in the next wave of technology inventions?

There are two strategic objectives for every adhesives company: excellent customer satisfaction and lowest possible cost levels. Today’s way of doing business is a result of history. The option is not to work harder but to work smarter! A case study, "Adheco", will be presented highlighting problems and re-engineered solutions on marketing and sales, production and logistics, product development, and administration. The moral of the story: in order to achieve your strategic objectives you should at least assess your current processes, and most probably reengineer most of them.

In a Mercuri-survey carried out in 1997 almost 70% out of 700 European Top Managers estimated that the bottom-line result could have been improved by 20% if strategies had been really implemented. This shows the relevance of implementation as the crucial bottleneck. Unfortunately many organisations still focus more on the development of strategies than their implementation. I would like to show you some of the most common implementation pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Creating and sustaining profitable growth in the aftermath of reengineering and cost cutting is perhaps the greatest challenge facing executives today. For many companies, the financial boost promised by such massive change has been short-lived at best.
And yet, some companies today are able to achieve dramatic growth in the toughest of competitive markets. They have stepped out of the downward spiral of cost cutting and created powerful new ways of doing business. How?
By employing the five strategies to create Customer-Centred growth. Joyce Willard , Senior Consultant for Forum Europe will discuss how companies can achieve growth by placing the customer at the heart of their organisation.