Going further faster, your perfect design partnership … Cambridge Advisory Partners and Kynesim
Working together Kynesim and Cambridge Advisory Partners provide an ‘end to end’ service. Cambridge Advisory Partners expertise in business strategy, operating models and commercialisation, led by some of the country’s leading business strategists create a strong team when working with Kynesim’s invaluable experience of technologies and industries to deliver development and implementation of the final solution. Both companies work together seamlessly to take away the hassle and stress of conferring with multiple companies, achieving optimum results.
Click below to learn more about Kynesim.
https://www.kynesim.com/
The Culture Series:...unlocking the influence of a business climate, the C5 model explained
The Culture Series:
...the C5 model explained
Achieving outstanding business performance is not just an ambition but something that all organisations strive for in today’s results driven business environment. However, attempting to balance both client and employee satisfaction can prove to be somewhat difficult whilst maintaining a high functioning company. The three-fold process, the C5 Model, measures the prevailing climate and provides leaders with data and insights enabling an effective action plan for business performance and improvement both internally and externally, providing the efficient framework for formulating an effective roadmap towards sustainable improvement. A better climate at work not only motivates “discretionary effort” in people but delivers advanced bottom line performance, which will then filter through the rest of the company creating a more motivated and productive working environment. Recent studies by the Hay Group across a wide range of sectors found that business performance improves by over 30% when employees experience a greater climate. These can be assessed through five dimensions that can be easily reflected and acted upon:
Clarity: everyone knows what is expected of them. People are clear about mission, values and goals.
Congruence: challenging but attainable goals are set that are aligned to the company’s strategy.
Control: employees are given authority to accomplish tasks and act without checking and there are no unnecessary rules, policies and procedures.
Contentment: employees are recognised and rewarded for good performance, performance management work effectively, and constructive feedback is given and well received.
Commitment: people are proud to belong to their team and organisation, give discretionary effort willingly and are committed to the common purpose.
Whilst the aforementioned factors influence largely the climate of a company it is integral that you create a process in which these can be put in place to continue to reinforce and adhere to the practices and beliefs of your company. Climate is influenced largely by;
Alignment of structure: This is the degree to which as leader defines and aligns their own role and the roles of their people toward attainment of the organisations goals. It looks at the nature of people’s jobs and examines areas of gaps or overlaps; headroom distance and compression and optimisation of spans of control.
Behaviours: Leaders who provide a clear sense of direction and purpose, encourage the commitment and enthusiasm of others, build trust, energy and momentum, and involve others in decision making, will be more successful in creating a favourable organisational climate than leaders who do not employ these behaviours, leadership behaviour has the greatest impact on climate.
Conventions and progress: these are the rules and regulations that prevail in organisations e.g. reward and recognition structures that are fair and equitable; two – way communication channels that are open; decision making is easy and there are no unnecessary rules; clearly understood business planning that is cascaded through the organisation.
To truly realise the potential and meaning behind this however each element of the process should be followed up and actioned to ensure the dynamics of a company are kept smooth and channels of communication kept open. A hugely significant factor in this failure rate is leaders not paying sufficient attention to culture and climate synergies and differences. Using a three stage approach to the previous collation of data allow for an in depth understanding of the climate prevailing in the work place.
Stage 1 – Stakeholder Interviews
The assessor conducts a series of interviews with nominated stakeholders. spending on the size of the organisation. During these sessions participant should be asked to share these experiences in relation to “What it feels like to work here”
It is important to point out both what’s going well and what should be improved on to ensure a focused balance on both parties, focusing purely on the negatives can create a negative working enviroment whereas an entirely positive focus is not accurate and does little to aid the task at hand.
Stage 2 – Leadership Assessment
Leaders should be asked to complete a predisposition inventory. Leadership behaviour has the most impact on Climate so should be a large focus. It has critical impact on a team’s performance and ultimately aids in the development of organisational capability and performance. This in-depth psychometric tool gives insights to leaders about how, and why they are most comfortable in communication with other, their preferred approach to problem solving and implementing actions, and their most comfortable and predictable leadership style.
Stage 3 – Client Feedback Workshop
An in-depth feedback workshop is then held with the client using the C5 model which will highlight what is working well in the business and enhancing the Climate and most importantly, the areas that are negatively influencing the climate.
The application of the Business Climate Diagnostic has been proven to add value and improve business performance across all sectors. It applies locally as well as globally. It delivers for Leaders and executive teams the insightful data they need to make good decisions and design intelligent road maps for their organisation. The result is a clear agenda for sustainable, profitable business improvement.
Helen Sweeney
The Culture Series: safe space for safe work
The Culture Series:
...safe space for safe work
A Partner and I recently met with a group of managers to discuss ways to improve meetings. Our goal was to figure out how to create a space that people actually look forward to being in. We each began by describing a meeting we remembered as especially powerful.
One story stood out.
My colleague told us about a time when he was a young engineer working on several project teams in a manufacturing facility. He said, “Neil, my manager, would take everyone out for pizza when he came to the factory, and we’d have a ‘no secrets’ meeting. Neil asked us about whatever he wanted to know and we did the same in return. It was a meeting where everyone had permission to say or ask anything. It was amazing.”
Neil used these meetings to discover how his team was doing, how their projects were progressing, and what they needed in terms of support and resources. He asked broad questions to initiate open conversation:
- What do you think I need to know?
- Where are you struggling?
- What are you proud of?
There was no pressure to have a perfect answer. The only requirement was to be honest and sincere. Of course, it helped that Neil was a thoughtful, authentic, and caring manager — qualities needed to create the psychological safety such a conversation requires.
The quest for better meetings ultimately lies in leading with mutual respectful, inclusivity, and establishing a space that is safe enough for people to speak their minds. You may not need to do exactly what Neil did, but you can increase the freedom, candor, and quality of conversation in your own meetings by focusing on two key areas: giving permission and creating safety.
Here’s how.
Let’s start with permission. Permission to say or ask anything is priceless. It allows us to fully express ourselves: to seek what we want, to give feedback, to speak up about issues when we find the need. By announcing that he would like to have a “no secrets” meeting, Neil was giving his team permission to display a level of candor that isn’t reached in most settings. He asked those who spoke not to hold back or edit their thoughts. He asked those who listened to give their peers a chance to be fully heard, which is what we all want — to say exactly what we are thinking and be respected for saying it.
In your own meetings, talk about permission up front — it’s best to address it directly rather than assume it’s already there. What permission would you like from the group so that you can lead effectively? What permission does the group need from you to successfully participate?
As a leader, ask your team permission to:
- keep the conversation on track when it diverges or gets repetitive
- call on people who have not yet spoken
- hold people back if they are dominating the conversation
- ask clarifying questions when you need someone to elaborate
Empower your team by reminding them that they have permission to:
- ask questions at any time
- invite colleagues into the conversation if they have not spoken
- ask to spend extra time on a topic
- ask other people to say more about where they stand on an issue
- express concerns that haven’t been fully addressed
Finally, encourage your team (and yourself) to ask permission before making a comment. It will help ensure that your comments are non-threatening and received thoughtfully. Before speaking out, say:
- May I ask you something?
- May I tell you something?
- May I give you some coaching?
- May I push back a bit on what you are saying?
If that feels like too much to remember, the main takeaway is: You and your team have a right to ask for whatever you need to be effective in a meeting — to lead for results, to fully express yourselves, and to add value to the discussion.
Now, let’s focus on safety. The degree to which a person feels safe in a meeting setting is largely based on their previous experiences. Many of us have — at one point or another — experienced feeling as if we were not heard or appreciated when we spoke up. But when people feel their comments will be listened to and treated with respect, they are more likely to be vulnerable and say exactly what they are thinking. Conversations become broader and deeper when everyone is involved and feels safe enough to speak their minds. To create psychological safety during a meeting:
- ask the group to devote their full attention to each person who speaks (do this at the start of the meeting)
- allow each person to take their time and complete their thoughts
- ask follow-up questions for clarity if necessary
- share what is valuable about someone’s question or comment
- use people’s names and refer back to earlier comments they’ve made
- invite people into the conversation who have not spoken
- answer any and all questions truthfully
- summarize what you learned as the meeting comes to an end
- explain what actions you will take to put those insights to use and ask your team for their suggestions as well
- acknowledge the quality of the conversation and thank the group for it
After the meeting, follow up by:
- completing the action items by the deadlines you set
- not sharing the conversation with others without permission
- sending written thank you notes to participants (when appropriate)
- following up with people to ensure their comments were addressed to their satisfaction
People don’t just want to belong, they want to contribute. You can give your team the opportunity to do so by applying the above principles. In the process of having more candid, mutually respectful conversations, your team will become more cohesive and able to work together more powerfully. They may even begin to look forward to your meetings because of the remarkable conversations that permission and safety create. And better still, you may even start to look forward to leading those meetings.
First published by HBR
The Culture Series: The psychology of unethical behaviour
The Culture Series:
The psychology of unethical behaviour
On a warm evening after a strategy off-site, a team of executives arrives at a well-known local restaurant. The group is looking forward to having dinner together, but the CEO is not happy about the table and demands a change. “This isn’t the one that my assistant usually reserves for me,” he says. A young waiter quickly finds the manager who explains that there are no other tables available.
The group tries to move on but is once again interrupted by the CEO. “Am I the only one annoyed by the view? Why is there construction happening today?” he demands to know. The waiter tries to explain, but to no avail. “You really need to up your game here,” the CEO replies. The air is thick with tension. After the waiter walks away, someone makes a joke about the man’s competence. This seems to please the CEO, who responds with his own derogatory quip. The group laughs.
If you were present at that dinner would you let the CEO know that you disapprove of his language and behavior? Would you try to better a better example? Or stay silent?
This scene encapsulates three psychological dynamics that lead to crossing ethical lines. First, there’s omnipotence: when someone feels so aggrandized and entitled that they believe the rules of decent behavior don’t apply to them. Second, we have cultural numbness: when others play along and gradually begin to accept and embody deviant norms. Finally, we see justified neglect: when people don’t speak up about ethical breaches because they are thinking of more immediate rewards such as staying on a good footing with the powerful.
The same dynamics come into play when much bigger lines get crossed in the corporate arena: allegations of corruption at Nissan, sexual harassment charges in the media sector, privacy breaches at Facebook, money laundering in the financial sector, and pharmaceuticals’ role in the opioid crisis.
While it is hard, if not impossible, to find evidence that leaders in general have become less ethical over the years, some are sounding the alarm. Warren Buffett, explaining Berkshire Hathaway’s practices in the annual letter shareholders, notes that he and vice chairman Charlie Munger
“…have seen all sorts of bad corporate behavior, both accounting and operational, induced by the desire of management to meet Wall Street expectations. What starts as an ‘innocent’ fudge in order to not disappoint ‘the Street’ — say, trade-loading at quarter-end, turning a blind eye to rising insurance losses, or drawing down a ‘cookie-jar’ reserve — can become the first step toward full-fledged fraud.”
Buffett’s note is important because it’s really about the majority of us: neither saints nor criminals but well-meaning leaders who sometimes fail to consult their moral compass while speeding ahead in a landscape full of tripwires and pitfalls. For that majority, moral leadership is not simply a question of acting in good or bad faith. It is about navigating the vast space in between.
So how do you know when you, or your team, is on the road to an ethical lapse? Here’s more on how to identify omnipotence, cultural numbness, and justified neglect in yourself and on your team, and a few tips on fighting each dynamic:
Omnipotence. Many moral lapses can be traced back to this feeling that you are invincible, untouchable, and hyper-capable, which can energize and create a sense of elation. To the omnipotent leader, rules and norms are meant for everyone but them. Crossing a line feels less like a transgression and more like what they are owed. They feel they have the right to skip or redraw the lines. In the dinner party example above, it is no coincidence that the CEO’s entitled and condescending behavior comes after a day of strategizing and masterminding the next big moves.
Omnipotence is not all bad. Sometimes the rush you get from bold action is what’s required to make breakthroughs or real progress. But, the higher you climb on the ladder, the more it can become a liability. This is especially true if fewer and fewer of the people around you are willing and able to keep you grounded. If no one tells you “no,” you have a problem. One way to gauge whether you’ve reached “peak omnipotence” is if your decisions are met only with applause, deference, and silence.
The psychological counterweight to omnipotence is owning your flaws. It’s a mature capability to look in the mirror and recognize that you are not above it all. Especially if you’re in a leadership position, assume you have weaknesses and think about them regularly.
Sometimes, you’ll need help with this. The best performing executives I see have close colleagues, friends, coaches, or mentors who dare to tell them the truth about their performance and judgment. You should cultivate a similar group of trusted peers who will tell you the truth even when it is unpleasant. In addition, make sure to encourage an “obligation to dissent” among your core team.
Cultural numbness. No matter how principled you are, you must recognize that, over time, the bearings of your moral compass will shift toward the culture of your organization or team.
From my work with police and military units infiltrating criminal groups, I have seen examples of how cultural numbness makes leaders cross lines. It usually starts subtly. Officers need to get to know and infiltrate a new culture. They need to fit in by speaking the language, acting according to code, and dressing to fit in. But, in doing that, they risk going too far — mimicking the culture of the gang members they are out to stop and getting caught up in a group’s values system.
The same kind of “moral capture” takes place in companies, not overnight, but gradually. Psychologically, you’re making a trade-off between fitting into the culture and staying true to what you value.
At first, cultural numbness can take the shape of ironic distance or disillusioned resignation when there is a discrepancy between the two, or between the ideals your company espouses and what you see demonstrated and rewarded. But the mind needs resolution. So, over time, you stop noticing when offensive language becomes the norm or you start to behave in ways that you would never have expected to be part of your repertoire.
Cultural numbness is where I have seen the most severe breakdowns in ethical leadership because it’s so hard to detect. Leaders who have crossed a line never describe this as a clear choice on that path but as wandering down a muddy road, where there they lost track of what was right and wrong. They describe a process where they became numb to others’ language and behavior and then to their own and lost their sense of objectivity. In essence, their warning bells simply stopped ringing.
So, start looking out for signs of moral capture: those brief moments when you don’t recognize yourself and any other indications that you are subjecting your own personal agency to the deviant norms of the collective. Another regular gut-check you can use involves asking whether you would be comfortable telling a journalist or a judge about what’s going on.
At the same time, you can’t always trust yourself in these situations. As with omnipotence, it can help to get an outsider’s perspective, turning to a trusted friend or family member, who might be able to detect changes in you that you are not able to see. Also remember to regularly extract yourself from your organization to compare and contrast its culture with others and remind yourself that the rest of the world may not work the same way.
Justified neglect. The human mind is skilled at justifying minor incursions when there is a tangible reward at stake — and when the risk of getting caught is low.
On the production line of a pharmaceutical company, for example, a hurried lab assistant forgets to remove all of her makeup. A speck of mascara accidentally drops into a batch of medicine large enough to serve a mid-sized country for a year. For a brief moment, the miniscule impurity draws a thin, yellowish color trail, but then it is gone, impossible to detect. The medicine is life-saving and very valuable, with just a hint of makeup that’s probably harmless.
Would you report the incident? If you were a manager who was quietly asked what to do, would you destroy the batch? Would you change your mind knowing that patients might suffer or even die from a serious production delay? Would your ballooning production budget and the tenuous financial situation of your company factor into your decision? Would you push the problem up to your superiors knowing that those with a greater stake in the outcome might turn a blind eye to the incident?
Many leaders have faced a choice between getting the reward or doing the right thing. The slippery slope starts right when you begin to rationalize actions and tell yourself and others, “This is an exceptional situation,” or “We have to bend the rules a little to get things done here,” or “We are here to make money, not to do charity.”
These initial slips cascade into more, which turn into habits you know are bad but which start to feel excusable and even acceptable, given the circumstances, and eventually, become part of your moral fabric. It is hard to pinpoint exactly when an important line is crossed, but it’s much easier to course-correct at the very start of the slippery slope than when you are gliding full speed away from what is right.
Remember that power corrodes more than it corrupts, often as a result of clever justifications of ethical neglect. You can combat this psychological dynamic by creating formal and social contracts that obligate both you and your colleagues to do right; rewarding ethical behavior; and defining and sharing your boundaries. The latter could be as simple as making a list of things you will not do for profit or pleasure, keeping it in a convenient place to read regularly, and occasionally showing it to your team as a reminder.
The reality is that, for many leaders, there is no true straight-and-narrow path to follow. You beat the path as you go. Therefore, ethical leadership relies a lot on your personal judgment. Because of this, the moral or ethical dilemmas you experience may feel solitary or taboo — struggles you don’t want to let your peers know about. It can sometimes feel shameful to admit that you feel torn or unsure about how to proceed. But you have to recognize that this is part of work life and should be addressed in a direct and open way.
Even though most companies have some cultural and structural checks and balances, including values statements, CSR guidelines, and even whistleblower functions, leaders must also be mindful of the psychological conditions that push people — including themselves — to cross ethical lines. Understanding the dangers of omnipotence, cultural numbness, and justified neglect are like installing the first few warning signs on the long road of your career. You will inevitably hit some bumps, but the more prepared you are to handle them, the likelier you are to keep your integrity intact.
McKinsey & Co.
The Culture Series...the alchemists’ next quest
The Culture Series:
...the alchemists’ next quest
Global M&A activity was strong in 2018, and it’s expected to remain healthy this year. As companies go forth and integrate, what do they need to know about successful mergers?
The biggie is culture. Leaders across industries know that the most challenging—and rewarding—aspect of an integration is merging two distinct cultures. Even so, leaders often don’t give it the attention it warrants. Some 95 percent of executives describe cultural fit as critical to the success of integration. Yet 25 percent cite lack of cohesion and alignment as the primary reason integration efforts fail.
Mark Heimbouch, the president of Worldpay Group, which successfully integrated with Vantiv in 2018, told McKinsey recently: “Frankly, I’ve never seen two companies that have the same culture. Companies work differently, people engage differently. Don’t underestimate the size of that challenge.”
Culture can be defined as the vision that drives a company; the values that guide its workforce; and the management practices, norms, and mind-sets that characterize how work gets done. To put it simply, culture is the soul of any business. When two cultures come together in a merger, a new one must be clearly defined by the C-suite and leadership team, and reinforced by middle managers, communications teams, IT departments, and so forth. And the faster the better.
So how do executives successfully avoid a culture clash?
First, ask yourself how each company makes decisions (centralized or decentralized)? How do they motivate their people (through financial or emotional incentives)? And how do they hold people accountable—individually or collectively? A holistic view uses a combination of diagnostic approaches, from management interviews to employee focus groups to surveys. Much like well-oiled business partnerships, the goals here are to generate a fact base about the existing cultures and to build a single common language around this understanding. Find the similarities, opportunities, and differences that could cause friction.
Once leaders understand the existing cultures they can begin to set priorities, including maximizing the value of the deal (such as moving to a higher-performance culture to achieve ambitious sales targets). After these coherent themes and initiatives have been identified, they can be plugged into the new company’s operating model and daily practices. The redesign of policies, processes, and governance models must reflect these important cultural aspects if change is to stick.
Companies often fall short when they try to realize their cultural aspirations during this third step. But if they track the implementation of themes and initiatives with the same rigor they use for financial targets, all will be well. And, as a bonus incentive, they should remember that treating M&A as a strategic capability can give their companies an edge that their peers will struggle to replicate.
McKinsey insights
Ahead of our fourthcoming series 'Business Paradox'
Background and context
How were we able to move from small hunter gather communities to communities comprising millions of people, complex social and political systems all operating in a globally interconnected economy?
Most historians emphasise the importance of complex language, which enhanced the ability to pass on accumulated knowledge from generation to generation. This is undoubtedly true. What has become known as “gossip” plays a critical role…and in a market based economy, it can be argued that it plays a dominant role. Whilst often maligned, gossip gives us the basics for essential co-operation in much larger numbers. The new linguistic skills that we acquired about 70,000 years ago allowed us to “gossip” for hours on end. Reliable information on who could be trusted meant groups could expand into larger ones.
The natural size of a group bounded by gossip does not however, extend beyond about 150 individuals. Even today most people cannot intimately know or gossip about more than 150 individuals. To coalesce larger numbers of people, inter-subjective belief sets are required. These are, put simply, our unique ability to collectively believe and organise around things that have no objective reality within nature, namely to believe in frameworks and value sets or including such familiar notions such as law, money, nation, even ideas of human rights and justice is at the heart of our success.
In our series of blogs we will look at how this influences:
- #thebusinessparadox
- #Settingupforsuccess
- #killing complexity
To help better understand this, it is useful to distinguish between objective, subjective and inter-subjective phenomena:
An objective phenomenon exists independently of our consciousness. Electricity, for example, exists objectively within nature. It existed long before people ever discovered it.
Subjective phenomenon exists only in the imagination of a single individual. It can change as that single individual changes. Thus, a child’s imaginary friend disappears when the child grows up and ceases to believe in it.
Inter-subjective phenomenon exists within the communication networks that link the subjective consciousness of many individuals within a community.
The inter-subjective is made up of the things in which many individuals, within the larger community, believe. Thus, if an individual changes his or her beliefs it makes little to no difference to the beliefs of the community as a whole. Inter-subjective beliefs only change, mutate or disappear at societal level.
The inter-subjective has no actual existence within the natural world in the same way that electricity does. It is made up of the socially constructed ideas that exist in our collective imagination. Nevertheless, the impact of the inter-subjective on the world is enormous: law, money, nations, the notion of human rights and justice are all examples of inter-subjective phenomenon.
A phenomenon includes a fact, occurrence or circumstance that is observed or observable. It is an observable fact that, in order to survive, Homo Sapiens must interact with nature. We must do so in order to produce basic necessities for life- such as food and shelter. It is also an observable fact that, in modern societies, we produce more than the basic necessities. That we engage with nature in the process of production is an objective fact just as much as electricity is. Our interaction with nature, and the interaction of other organisms with nature, is something that exists within nature.
The interaction of humans with nature through production in turn has a deep impact on the natural world and the environment. It involves the use of technology to transform nature and the way we organise production necessitates the formation of certain social relationships. That we impact upon nature, use technology to transform it and form certain relationships through the production process are all observable facts. They must exist objectively, although it is true that the way the social relations of production are perceived by us, invariably involves a high degree of inter-subjectivity.
Three main factors make it difficult for us from understand that the order governing our lives exists only within the collective imagination. First the imagined order becomes embedded in our experiences. It has a huge impact on our lives. The Western belief in individualism, for example, becomes embedded into every day life- even in the architecture of the family home with each resident normally having his or her own room or “personal space”. Second the imagined order shapes our desires. Consumerism for example tells us than in order to be happy we must consume. Third the imagined order is inter-subjective- existing in the imagination of millions- an individual changing his or her mind about the acceptance of a shared myth makes little or no difference.
Our network of shared frameworks and value sets is “culture”. Cultures are in a state of flux. They can be transformed due to interaction with other cultures or undergo transitions due to their internal dynamics. Cultures are full of internal contradictions and the process of trying to reconcile these contradictions fuels change.
Perhaps the inter-subjective phenomena with biggest impact is money and the economy.
Ten per cent of money is coins and paper. Ninety per cent of money is in fact no more than accounting transactions that recorded in computer servers. Yet money is a universal medium of exchange which enables people to store wealth and to convert it into almost anything else. It is the most universal and efficient system of mutual trust ever devised.
Stephen Warburton
Our Winter Comfort Campaign 2018
The festive season is all about giving so this Christmas we have come together with Cofinitive who are running a campaign to collect donations from across Cambridge in aid of Wintercomfort.
Wintercomfort supports men and women who are homeless or vulnerable by offering them vital welfare services and opportunities for learning and training. Their day centre is open seven days a week. They will be open throughout the festive period, including Christmas Day, providing Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
In the last year they have helped 742 individuals, welcoming an average of 52 people each day into their day centre. They supported 52 people back into employment, making lasting, positive changes in their lives.
Wintercomfort is in need of the following items:
Socks Thermal Socks Pants (new please)
Ladies knickers (new please)
Ladies bras
Gloves
Hats
Fleeces
Waterproof trousers
Waterproof jackets
Good quality backpacks
Good quality sleeping bags
Roll mats
Thermarest airbeds (that don’t need pumps)
Belts
Nail clippers
Shower gel
Shampoo
Tooth brush + paste
Men and Women’s Deodorant
Men’s Razors
Shaving Gel (not cream)
Make up/aftershave Baby/face wipes
Chocolate bars + sweets
Hot chocolate sachets
Mini flask
Torch
Sewing kit
Hand warmers
Notepad and pen
Key rings
Supermarket vouchers
Sim free budget mobile phones (RRP £15)
Dog toys
Dog food
So whilst you’re doing your Christmas shopping, why not add a few of the above to your list and drop them off at our office.
Cambridge Advisory Partners
(box located at reception)
Regis Building
1010 Cambourne Business Park
Cambridge
CB23 6DP
Contributions can be made until noon on 20th December, and then we will be delivering all donations to Wintercomfort. Thank you for supporting the campaign!
The Cambridge Advisory Partners Team
Challenging the business consultancy status quo
New Cambridge-based advisory firm brings decades of Big 4 experience to contribute to regional Phenomenon
CAMBRIDGE (26th February 2018) –
There’s a new game-changer to Cambridge businesses and it isn’t bound by industry or technology. Catering to the most ambitious scale-ups to those established industry heavyweights, this team of innovative forward-thinkers is ready to shake things up.
Cambridge Advisory Partners (CAP) is a boutique practice of highly-experienced consulting partners who work with entrepreneurs to accelerate business growth and routinely win in the market. They’ve been quietly perfecting their craft since setting up in 2017, but now CAP is ready to take the Cambridge business world by storm, opening eyes and minds to unimaginable possibilities. CAP is all about creating industry leaders through differentiation and agile opportunism.
CAP Managing Partner Stephen Warburton said,
“Having led Big 4 consultancy businesses for as long as I have, I could see a better way of working and with Cambridge Advisory Partners I have an excellent team who all share the view of looking for answers where different industries collide, and in the spaces in between.”
Cambridge is a hub of knowledge and innovation, but amongst its expertise opportunities are missed to turn them into business strategies due to a lack of overview. CAP is addressing this problem with its industry and technological neutrality, and distributed network of international experience in various capacities.
In their new approach to consulting, CAP wants to get to the very essence of business consultancy in the ever-connected digital society we live in. The art of going slow to go fast, a part of the Business Growth Paradox they subscribe to, is a difficult one to master but as a team of experts CAP knows its strengths and plays to them unashamedly.
ABOUT CAMBRIDGE ADVISORY PARTNERS
CAP is a boutique practice of highly-experienced consulting partners comfortable with success and accustomed to ensuring clients accelerate business growth and secure market leadership.
CAP is all about creating industry leaders, ensuring our clients achieve significant differentiation and secure unrivalled market leadership, and then driving home that advantage.
CAP knows that when the most relevant insights are assembled, shared and challenged from multiple perspectives, the best opportunities and outcomes will emerge. CAP knows this is best achieved when you harness both behavioural drivers and technology differentiators to truly motivate, and when you are unbiased towards industry norms and perceived wisdom.
Are you wondering if we can do this for your business? If yes, please contact us and we'll be happy to help.
CAP30
CAP30 is an exclusive, client-centred development community for leaders of local businesses who are focused on scaling up during 2018, and for whom a tailored and flexible workplace-based approach works better than an MBA.
CAP30 is for businesses that are looking for faster, more reliable growth, and a robust strategy to support their business goals.
CAP30 delivers increased skills, confidence, business focus, and the opportunity to direct more of your time to the things that matter most to you.
If you are interested in finding out more about CAP30 please contact [email protected]