On March 27, Ron Ashkenas, Senior Partner at Schaffer Consulting,
will address the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) at
their Global Leadership Forum in New York City.
The AMCF is a
global trade association representing the consulting industry. The
organization was founded 85 years ago by Edwin Booz, Marvin Bower, and
others for the purpose of collaboration and advancement of the industry
as a whole. Each year AMCF holds around 45 events with different areas
of focus, bringing together leaders from a variety of consulting firms
and other interested parties to discuss issues of common concern.
The
centerpiece of the Global Leadership Forum on March 27, is the 2014 Top
"Global Game-Changers" for Business, a newly published list of eight
forces that will significantly impact the environment of business and
determine the needs of clients and the value delivered by consulting
firms in the year ahead and beyond. The findings are comprised of over
50 consulting firms’ viewpoints and represent a collective voice from
the most prestigious firms.
Ron will lead a discussion around the
topic of Complexity Reduction: Back to Basics, one of the key areas of
focus of the eight game-changers identified.
As stated on the AMCF website:
In
a survey of 300 CEOs, 86% of respondents agreed that their
organizations have not only become increasingly complex, but that such
complexity has reduced their ability to make decisions in a timely
manner; to change business processes; and to introduce new products and
services. Hence, the dramatic increase in complexity reduction
initiatives over the last 3 years. In 2014, everybody will hear and
speak a variation of the word “Simplicity.” 35% of organizations are
currently simplifying their IT systems and services/product portfolios.
Both strategy and business model simplification has become paramount to
organization restructuring, transformation or divestiture.
With so
many organizations facing complexity, the market is ripe for a shift in
organizational structure, where top management becomes more
inter-disciplinary with the assistance of specialized but collaborative
groups. Not a simple concept, but one that requires organizations to
know what they do, how it is done, where is being done, who is doing it
and what they do best. It is there where the single most influential
benefit of “Simplicity” lies: organizations gain a deep understanding of
who they are and what their customers want. As most CEO's are finding
out, the key is going back to basics.