Articles in high-profile publications from Schaffer Consulting experts and thought leaders

06.20.12 Wes Siegal, Jonathan Stearn, Markus Spiegel, Christian Marxt

Results-Driven Innovation

This paper introduces the process of ‘Results-Driven Innovation’ as a complement to existing innovation management methods. The process is illustrated with six cases targeting different types of innovation.

Categories: Innovation

06.14.12 Daniel Dworkin

How to Ask Questions Like Socrates

This article gives you four tactics helpful in sharpening your question-asking capabilities.

Categories: Executive Alignment and Coaching

06.04.12 Suzanne Francis, Andrew Shapiro

Lessons of Scale: Large Deals by Large Companies

Lessons of Scale: Large Deals by Large Companies analyzes and illustrates the key lessons to be learned from major M&A activity in large companies. The article takes an organization development perspective and examines the role leaders can take.

Categories: Acquisition Integration

05.07.12 Wes Siegal, Evan Smith

Streamlining Pharmaceutical Portfolios: Cutting the Gordian Knot

In this article, you'll learn how one global pharmaceutical company overcame deep-set resistance, cultural legacies and organizational barriers in order to systematically remove low-value products from its portfolio.

Categories: Simplification

05.07.12 Nadim Matta, Markus Spiegel, David Whitehead

How to Design Leadership Development for Immediate Gains

Learn how Ascom, a global Swiss-based communications company, took steps to transform leadership development from a cost to a profit center in the annual budget.

Categories: Executive Alignment and Coaching, Leadership Development

04.16.12 Patrice Murphy

Pleasing the In-Laws: Integrating M&A Across Cultures

Managing a merger across borders is not for the faint of heart. However, by learning how to avoid obstacles such as cultural myopia, differences in leadership styles and customer misunderstanding, an integration leader can actually leverage cross-cultural differenc…

Categories: Acquisition Integration

10.10.11 Suzanne Francis, Jonathan Stearn

Reaping the Rewards of Cross-Business Collaboration in Mergers and Acquisitions

The success rate for mergers and acquisitions could increase considerably if managers from the two companies jointly developed a “merger intent,” a picture of what the combined organization should look like one year later.

Categories: Acquisition Integration

07.04.11 Ron Ashkenas, Suzanne Francis, Rick Heinick

The Merger Dividend

Mergers present unique opportunities to develop leaders. Don't let the next deal slip through your fingers. This article describes how companies can maximize the growth opportunities inherent in a merger by developing three specific leadership areas.