KNOW! CASE STUDIES

Professional Services

CI and MI Capabilities Improvement: Professional Services Firm
The North American subsidiary of a global services firm faced an increasingly competitive market. They had a strong understanding of their competitors’ current positions, but needed to take the extra step to anticipate their competitors’ actions and positions. They also needed to improve intelligence communications and selected intelligence functions within their organization.

KiF Solution:
Knowledge inForm’s Consulting Services helped them develop a deeper understanding of their internal and external situation, as well as solutions for enhancing their intelligence capabilities. KiF devised a multi-phase plan to improve intelligence development, intelligence-sharing, and intelligence applications. To help them quickly develop their capabilities, KiF also provided targeted training and resources to their staff.

Expansion & VC Funding: Small Professional Services Firm
A small service business wanted to expand its market presence and possibly apply for venture capital/angel investment. Understanding competitors and industry pressures was critical to creating its growth strategy.

KiF Solution:
Knowledge inForm Consulting Services assessed the company’s current situation and strategy. KiF provided training, analytical frameworks, and other resources to help this small company understand its industry forces and dynamics, develop competitor awareness, as well as improve its market research methods and analytical tools. KiF also provided Advisory Services to address on-going strategic and tactical developments.

Business Advisory Service: Publishing and Consulting Firm
A growing publishing and consulting firm was confronting a number of issues relating to business development and growth. It faced few direct competitors and it enjoyed satisfied clients; however, it faced challenges relating to generating new business opportunities efficiently, balancing product mix and project load, and establishing a direction for the company.
KiF Solution:
Through a series of teleconferences Knowledge inForm’s Advisory Services worked with the head of the firm to better understand the key issues and decisions facing the company and its management. KiF worked with the firm over the course of a few weeks to help get the firm back on track. KiF helped firm management prioritize its issues, address some immediate issues, and provided strategic and tactical recommendations for marketing, lead generation, and partnership development. KiF also identified a series of blind spots and assumptions that were preventing the managers from more clearing seeing the opportunities presented to the firm.

Strategic Advisory Service: Research Services Firm
An established research services firm faced significant new competition, as clients and prospects shifted the types of services they require. The firm was struggling with understanding its competition and its new competitive dynamics, positioning itself in this new environment, as well as with finding better ways to generate leads and appeal to prospects.

KiF Solution:
Through a series of sessions, Knowledge inForm’s Advisory Service worked with the firm’s general manager to enhance her understanding of her new competitors, the competitive dynamics, and practices. She was able to better assess her firm’s environment; understand her competitor’s position, strategy, and tactics; and differentiate her firm from the competition. This enabled the firm to carve out a more robust strategy, establish a more stable position in the marketplace, and market itself in a way that more clearly communicates its value proposition to its prospects.

Employee Training Program: Professional Services Firm
A consulting firm became concerned about employee retention and determined that a robust employee training program was an attractive benefit. The firm then decided to re-invent its employee training program from a classroom/structured model to a learning organization model. The firm lacked the knowledge and experience to implement such a model.

KiF Solution:
Knowledge inForm’s Training Services developed a learning organization-based training program infrastructure, using best practices and case studies. The Guiding Principles for the program emphasized student-centric, actionable skill-based courses that incorporated corporate values. KiF created benchmarks and standards, so the program could be evaluated over time and prove its value as an employee retention tool.