Case Studies

Regulated Natural Gas and Electrical Company

Situation:

• The client, a regulated natural gas and electrical company.
• Executive Team believed that Business Unit "X" market segment was underperforming in both market share and profitability.
• Executive Team requested an outside opinion of Business Unit "X" as a viable strategic fit for their business portfolio.
• The corporate support resources that Business Unit "X" were afforded performed inadequately.
  

How Square One helped:

• Directed a team consisting of members from the internal resources of Business Unit "X". Accessibility with members of corporate was available if needed.
• Led the team in information gathering consisting of: pricing, competitive environment, market strategy, operations, and regulatory issues.
• Analyzed the current overall industry of Business Unit "X" along with industry growth, the competitive information available, the incremental earnings opportunities based on market sector (e.g. government, muni-coop utilities, commercial and industrial businesses, and farm and residential) leading to various strategic options that ranged from exiting the business to unregulated growth. A decision tree model was completed.
• Designed a business case that provided the strategic options to the Executive Team. The business case forced the Executive Team to make a decision based on the options provided. By doing so, it enabled the Executive Team to admit that Business Unit "X" was viable and fit into their business portfolio, however, it lent itself to a low-risk low return business model.

After:

• Business Unit "X" is functioning according to the business model selected by the Executive Team.
• The management team of Business Unit "X" has enthusiastically endorsed the Square One implementation approach and expresses a desire that this business case model be deployed throughout all levels of the organization.