Management consulting approach

MANAGEMENT CONSULTING APPROACH - NICOLÒ FRIEDMAN
© 2018 Nicolò Friedman All Rights Reserved pag 1
ABSTACT
The aim of this document is to show my academic and professional
path, my predisposition to innovation and my ability to deal with
challenging situations.
In addition, there are some personal thoughts regarding the type of
strategies currently applied and a speculation of a new refined model
which has to be deeply analyzed in order to eventually be applied in
operations.

The importance of inter-disciplinary formation and academic research
1.1 M.Arch Graduate Architectural Design - Bartlett School ofArchitecture,University College London
1.2 Executive master in project management - MIP Politecnico di Milano - School of business
INTRODUCTION
1.ACADEMICPATHSUMMARY
2011-20122017-2018
Due to an interdisciplinary academic formation and a heterogeneous work experience, I am able to easily jump through
different territories and apply methodologies and processes with a high level of creativity and problem-solving skills. I
do not deny the importance of technical preparation and specific knowledge of the industry being analyzed, but I firmly
convince in the consultant’s ability to make innovation, to think out of the box in order to achieve extraordinary results.
This ability must be cultivated and must become a mindset to be applied in everyday professional life. In my opinion, to
reach this “super-power” two ingredients are fundamental:
RC1 - Alisa Andrasek and Jose Sanchez (biothing.org): Final Dissertation - “Variance” (Reaction Diffusion algorithm
- Agency Logic - 3D deposition technique)
Final dissertation: Development and analysis of a project for AEC platform of integrated services for the
construction sector.
academic preparation (which must be nurtured to stay up to date on new trends);
the consultant ‘s creativity (who must strive to think of something outside the box to give added value).
1
2
INNOVATION
RESILIENCY
CREATIVITY
ADAPTIBILITY
PROBLEM-
SOLVING
EMERGENCY
OUT OF THE
BOX
COLLECTIVE
CONSCIOUSNESS
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
BUSINESS
ORGANIZATION
INTERNATIONAL
MARKETING
INNOVATIVE
PROCESSES
MINDSET
AGENTS
BEHAVIOUR
SOFT SKILLS
The theoretical approach behind computational architecture and parametric geometry is quite fascinating. Concepts as
Resiliency, high level of adaptability, agents behaviours, emergency and collective consciousness are nowadays applied
in different fields (the management one as well). Basic algorithms with simple neighbourhood roles are used in order to
create complex systems with infinity outputs according to fitness conditions.
Innovative processes and tools to speculate the idea in line with the general trends and the current scenario (industry 4.0).
Tools: Business model Canvas; vision & mission; Poter analysis; Pest analysis; Big-Bang disruption; Blue ocean strategy (BOS);
value drivers’ identification; core resources.
This innovative master program combines methodological and multidisciplinary application skills to respond to the evolution
of organizational models, which sees the spread of business processes on project management. Disciplines as Stakeholder
management,Project planning and control,Accounting and performance,Business organization,Intercultural competences,Risk
management, Business process management, Finance, Project procurement, Program and portfolio managment, International
projects and marketing, Innovation processes, Feasibility study are deepened during the course of study.

2.PROFESSIONALEXPEREINCE3.THESCENARIO
2015-2018INDUSTRY4.02010-2014
TECHNICAL AND OPERATIVE ROLES
GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT ROLES
ARCHITECTURE
(DESIGN)
PRODUCT
DESGIN
GRAPHICS
R&D
RESPONSBILE
MARKETING
ACCOUNT
MANAGEMENT
SCENOGRAPHY
STRATEGICAL
MANAGEMENT
PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
PROPOSAL
MANAGEMENT
Knowing the current environment in order to better shape the proposal-strategy
Industry 4.0 is a name given to the current trend of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies. It includes
cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things, cloud computing and cognitive computing. Industry 4.0 is commonly referred as
the fourth industrial revolution. Industry 4.0 fosters what has been called a “smart factory”. Within modular structured smart
factories, cyber-physical systems monitor physical processes, create a virtual copy of the physical world and make decentralized
decisions.
Create “real” innovation
4.MYAPPROACH
INNOVATION
1.1 1.2 2 3
The synergy among all these elements makes possible to shape out innovative strategies for clients (despite the industry
sector). The knowledge acquired during the course of study, the experience in several fields, the creativity, considered as
the ability to apply processes and methodologies proper of a certain sector in another one, make possible to “create” real
innovation in a word where the logic of products and the services are approaching more and more.
+ + + =

TYPE OF STRATEGIES - Intended, Emergent, Deliberate and Realized and Nonrealized
An intended strategy is the strategy that an organization hopes to execute. Intended strategies are usually described in
detail within an organization’s strategic plan. When a strategic plan is created for a new venture, it is called a business plan.
As an undergraduate student at Yale in 1965, Frederick Smith had to complete a business plan for a proposed company as
a class project. His plan described a delivery system that would gain efficiency by routing packages through a central hub
and then pass them to their destinations. A few years later, Smith started Federal Express (FedEx), a company whose strategy
closely followed the plan laid out in his class project. Today, Frederick Smith’s personal wealth has surpassed $2 billion, and
FedEx ranks eighth among the World’s Most Admired Companies according to Fortune magazine. Certainly, Smith’s intended
strategy has worked out far better than even he could have dreamed (Donahoe, 2011; Memphis Business Journal, 2011). An
emergent strategy is an unplanned strategy that arises in response to unexpected opportunities and challenges. Sometimes
emergent strategies result in disasters. In the mid-1980s, FedEx deviated from its intended strategy’s focus on package delivery
to capitalize on an emerging technology: facsimile (fax) machines. The firm developed a service called ZapMail that involved
documents being sent electronically via fax machines between FedEx offices and then being delivered to customers’ offices.
FedEx executives hoped that ZapMail would be a success because it reduced the delivery time of a document from overnight
to just a couple of hours. Unfortunately, however, the ZapMail system had many technical problems that frustrated customers.
Even worse, FedEx failed to anticipate that many businesses would simply purchase their own fax machines. ZapMail was shut
down before long, and FedEx lost hundreds of millions of dollars following its failed emergent strategy. In retrospect, FedEx
had made a costly mistake by venturing outside of the domain that was central to its intended strategy: package delivery
(Funding Universe). Emergent strategies can also lead to tremendous success. Southern Bloomer Manufacturing Company
was founded to make underwear for use in prisons and mental hospitals. Many managers of such institutions believe that the
underwear made for retail markets by companies such as Calvin Klein and Hanes is simply not suitable for the people under
their care. Instead, underwear issued to prisoners needs to be sturdy and durable to withstand the rigors of prison activities
and laundering. To meet these needs, Southern Bloomers began selling underwear made of heavy cotton fabric. A realized
strategy is the strategy that an organization actually follows. Realized strategies are a product of a firm’s intended strategy
(i.e., what the firm planned to do), the firm’s deliberate strategy (i.e., the parts of the intended strategy that the firm
continues to pursue over time), and its emergent strategy (i.e., what the firm did in reaction to unexpected opportunities and
challenges). In the case of FedEx, the intended strategy devised by its founder many years ago—fast package delivery via a
centralized hub—remains a primary driver of the firm’s realized strategy. For Southern Bloomers Manufacturing Company,
realized strategy has been shaped greatly by both its intended and emergent strategies, which center on underwear and gun-
cleaning patches. In other cases, firms’ original intended strategies are long forgotten. A nonrealized strategy refers to the
abandoned parts of the intended strategy.When aspiring author David McConnell was struggling to sell his books, he decided
to offer complimentary perfume as a sales gimmick. McConnell’s books never did escape the stench of failure, but his perfumes
soon took on the sweet smell of success. The California Perfume Company was formed to market the perfumes; this firm
evolved into the personal care products juggernaut known today as Avon. For McConnell, his dream to be a successful writer
was a nonrealized strategy, but through Avon, a successful realized strategy was driven almost entirely by opportunistically
capitalizing on change through emergent strategy.
source: https://open.lib.umn.edu/strategicmanagement/chapter/1-3-intended-emergent-and-realized-strategies/#ketchen_1.0-ch01_s02_f02
5.EXISTINGTYPEOFSTRATEGIES

6.PROPOSALFORNEWSTRATEGYAPPROACH
NEW MODEL APPROACH - “SOAR” STRATEGY (Self-Organized, Adaptive, Resilent)
Existing type of strategies New model approach
INTENDED STRATEGY
“SOAR” STRATEGY
“SOAR” STRATEGY
REALIZED STRATEGY
REALIZED STRATEGYEMERGENT STRATEGY
think (1)
think (1)
think and act (2)
TIME
TIME TIME
think (1)
act (2)
Overview: an intended strategy is a strategy that an
organization decides to plan and execute while an emergent
strategy is an unplanned strategy that arises in response
to unexpected opportunities and challenges. Both existing
strategies’ processes follow two temporal steps: the moment
during which the strategy is planned (1-think) and the
actual moment when the strategy is applied (2-act). The
steps’ duration depends on several factors (for instance: the
consultants’ ability and speed on collecting the data and
shaping the plan).
“SOAR” STRATEGY (Self-Organized, Adaptive, Resilent)
models’ strengths:
• long-term model (since it is going to change
configuration, it can be applied for longer duration)
• it responds faster to external changes than the
traditional models
models’ weakeness:
• while performing the model can change its
configuration. This is the most complicated aspect
of the model itself. Actually, the values will have to
be changed in accordance with the fitness condition.
It means that while the system performing if the
external environment is changing there should be a
way of inserting into the system the new values.
Overview: the main concept around the SOAR model is
related to the idea of building a high-responsive and self-
organized system. The process is following these steps: the
moment during which the strategy is planned (1-think)
is more demanding than the existing strategies’ one. This
is fundamental for the system to perform in the right way.
During this moment all the data have to be collected and,
compared to the traditional strategy, another action is
required. The data have to be properly set in order to find
the VALUES: components, their spectrum of action
and the “simple rules” between them *(this process will be
explaned deeply later).models’ weakeness: Since strategies are always shaped
in response to external factors (market changes, competitors
behaviour, etc..) and since the industry 4.0 new logics are
speeding up the changes (turbulent environment), the timing
between step 1 and step 2 can become a problem. It may
occur that when the strategy is ready to be launched (starting
moment of step2 -act), it will be already not updated any
more (due to fast change of external factors).
After this process, the system is ready to be launched. This
temporal phase is defined as “think and act” because the
system has the ability to be resilient and to change its
configuration according to the external environment inputs
(in somehow the ability to think by itself).
TIME
think and act (2)
SOAR
MODEL
think (1)
TIME 2.1 TIME 2.2
TIME 2.3

FITNESS
CONDITIONS
FITNESS
CONDITIONS
FITNESS
CONDITIONS
FITNESS
CONDITIONS
FITNESS
CONDITIONS
FITNESS
CONDITIONS
EXTERNAL
ENVIRONMENT
“Market”
“Competitors”
“Potential of new
entrants”
1MODEL ∞OUTPUTS depending on the fitness conditions which insist on the model
FITNESS CONDITIONS: inputs from the external (stable or turbulent) environment’s forces (suppliers, market, external
factor, substitute products, etc...).
“Suppliers”
“External
factors”
“Substitute
products”
Self-Organized
Adaptive
Resilent
SOAR
MODEL
(STABLE OR
TURBOLENT)
think (1) think and act (2)
TIME 1 TIME 2
TIME 2.1 TIME 2.2 TIME 2.3
SOAR
MODEL
SOAR MODEL: during the time the model is able to change its configuration depending on the external forces’s inputs.

Application example - product segment
* For simplicity we will use only two values but the strength of the system lies in identifying many values
CLARIFICATIONS:
** The spectrum of action can be numerical or related to different behaviour/action to perform;
*** The written formula is only an example to demonstrate the relationship that the various values must have;
VALUES*: A. components; B. numerical spectrum of action; C. simple rules between them.
1MODEL
think (1)
TIME 1
SOAR
MODEL
A. components:
B. spectrum of action:
C. simple rules between them:
A.1. pestel analysis - social factor - demographic increase
B.1. demographic increase Δ 20% 80%
f: A.1*(B.1) ± A.2*(B.2) = R***
R= the model output, the strategy to be applied example: the n. of products to be produced
A.2. pestel analysis - techological factor - technological innovation in production processes
B.2. technological innovation in production processes Δ 30% 90%
example: percentage of occurrence related to the impact of the action**
example: formula which connected A and B
example: external factors
think and act (2)
TIME 2
TIME 2.1 TIME 2.2 TIME 2.3
f:A.1*(B.1) ± A.2*(B.2) = R1
A.1*(B.1)
A.1*(B.1)
A.1*(B.1)
A.2*(B.2)
A.2*(B.2)
A.2*(B.2)
example: B.1= 30%; B.2=80% example: B.1= 50%; B.2=30% example: B.1= 70%; B.2=50%
f:A.1*(B.1) ± A.2*(B.2) = R2 f:A.1*(B.1) ± A.2*(B.2) = R3

Management consulting approach

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