Comprehensive Solutions for Running Your Business Efficiently & Effectively
We’re Committed to Meeting Your Timeline, Not Ours!
At Schumaker & Company, our team has worked with more than 100 utility industry clients. Assignments have involved all sectors of the utility industry, including work for utilities, regulators, public advocates, municipalities, and industry and professional associations. We fully appreciate the legal, regulatory, financial, and cultural factors that complicate planning and operations in the utility industry’s competitive environment.
We conduct the services we offer in conjunction with each other; in fact, at the core of nearly every service we perform is our basic approach to planning to leverage your strengths, identify your weaknesses, exploit your opportunities, and neutralize any threats.
Some of the standard services that we offer are briefly discussed below. As with any consulting assignment, the assignment would be customized to the unique needs of the client.
We Begin with A SWOT Analysis
The SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is one of the tools we use as a first step for a successful strategic, operational assessment engagement. This eye-opening exercise usually takes place during an initial brainstorming session with all participants encouraged to provide their input. By the end of the session, every participant will have a clear picture as to the current state of affairs in the organization and where future opportunities may lie in the marketplace.
Competitive Assessment
Whether you are an electric utility company, a manufacturing firm, or a dot.com, most companies are in an industry that is undergoing tremendous change and upheaval. Some players will be swept away by the change, while others will take advantage of new opportunities and thrive in this new environment. A competitive assessment refocuses a firm's resources on what is important for survival.
Information Management
An inadequate information system can present an obstacle to running your business efficiently and effectively. An information management and systems integration program can help you by identifying the strengths and weaknesses in your current automated information systems and targeting areas for improvement.
Strategic Planning
Frequently, strategic planning is a painstaking process, which– if not comprehensively conducted – can yield questionable results. Also, dissension in an organization regarding its strategic direction can create a potentially uncomfortable and anti-productive situation among management and staff. We will work closely with your management team to produce the most appropriate strategic planning process for your firm. Not only will your firm have a solid strategic plan, but it will have a firm grasp on how to successfully continue the planning process moving forward.
Quality Assurance
Each year, technological advancements push both governmental and private sector productivity to record levels. The installation of new hardware or telecommunications equipment, programming and/or implementation of new software applications, and training of employees can become a constant and overwhelming task for any organization. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of these tasks, changes in scope, cost overruns, and delays are all too common for these types of projects. These pitfalls can be avoided. For years, we have served as Quality Assurance (QA) consultants for various types of organizations. Under our supervision, projects have been successfully completed on time and within budget.
Customer Survey
Today’s competitive business environment requires that organizations pay closer attention to the needs of their customers. Innovative techniques and new approaches to meeting customer needs are essential. Our team can help demystify the process by conducting a customer satisfaction survey. You will get constructive, candid answers that you can use to help maintain or improve your services. We have found that the key is concentrating on what customers deem to be most important.
Customer Relationship Management
Retaining key customers, developing relationships, and managing associated information is the foundation for any successful business enterprise. Unfortunately, management often gets caught up in handling daily operations and the focus on customer development is lost. In other instances, the will is there, but the program is disjointed and ineffective. We can create a custom key accounts program that works for your organization. Our consultants will be with you every step of the way, from identifying key accounts to providing the training materials and sessions for your employees.
Management and Operations Review
Companies in any industry face challenging management issues at every stage of growth. A management and operations review (MOR) helps companies identify and implement practical, cost-effective solutions to prosper in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Measuring the soundness and effectiveness of your firm’s organization, policies, practices, and procedures are the key to keeping on track for success. Our fifteen years of experience with such reviews have enabled us to develop a set of efficient tools to help you conduct this review comprehensively.
Technology Integration
Today’s aggressive business environment demands that an organization use the latest innovations in computer and telecommunications technologies if it is to remain competitive. However, the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment in itself is no guarantee of a healthier bottom line if that equipment is not successfully integrated into an organization’s everyday operations. Technology integration is a customized technical consulting assessment, focusing on both off-the-shelf and custom-designed computer applications, which is intended to assist organizations in effectively applying technology to their business needs. It helps organizations stay ahead of their competition and can be the difference between an entity that excels and one that merely survives.
Project/Program Management
One of the most significant challenges managers face today is how to structure resources for the most effective and efficient accomplishment of business objectives. The use of project/program management techniques has evolved as an answer to some of the management challenges resulting from today’s increasingly complex business environment. Project/program management does not work in every organization, nor does every segment of an organization need it. However, more and more companies are beginning to recognize that when appropriately implemented where required, project/ program management will result in a greater probability of attaining targeted business objectives.
Process Reengineering
Reengineering of old business processes will help you realize the many efficiencies that a new IT solution can bring to your organization. Our reengineering efforts will help you to identify and eliminate non-value added tasks, and enable you to streamline your business into a leaner and more efficient enterprise. We will bring the tools, techniques, strategies, and facilitation skills to help your team analyze and redesign your organization, processes, and technology to more effectively achieve your business goals.
Change Management
We all know that change is the only constant. But who has the time to identify, assess, and properly respond to change? Answer: those who want to survive. Our change management methodologies will enable your organization to identify your current position in the market, define where you want your business to grow, and help you build the bridge to get there. Best yet, we will help your team develop the skills to continue the change effort so that you can seize new opportunities going forward. Additionally, we can help you develop the organizational structures you need to optimize your new business model.
Litigation Support
Case management, case consultants, and expert witness are all part of the services that we provide in the area of litigation support. Schumaker & Company recognizes the need for knowledgeable, principled, disciplined, and experienced professionals who can provide in-depth, authoritative testimony regarding the myriad issues facing the business community.