The Bellwether Group, Inc.

Situation

As part of a multi-billion dollar, global enterprise, the Corporate Security group recognized key limitations within its organization which were reducing its effectiveness in serving the needs of the business. Industry consolidation and globalization had created new challenges as high-profile products became targets for theft, diversion and counterfeiting. The group believed it should be organized differently to mitigate these threats but there were very different views as to how to accomplish this. 

 
Approach

A broad-based internal evaluation was undertaken to determine requirements for enterprise-wide security, investigations and service levels that could be compared externally across the industry and other best practice leaders. The caseteam identified comparable best-in-class security providers, as well as core competitors within the client’s industry peer group to participate in a comprehensive benchmarking study. 15 global corporations participated including a number of the client’s peers representing almost 70% of the total industry. Key policy, process, organizational and engagement variables were identified and data from all participating parties collected and modeled. On-site interviews were conducted to understand the differences and gain insights into each model.

Analysis & Results

Internal analysis determined that the priorities of the key internal business units were not well aligned with the security services being provided and consequently, their needs were not being well met. Benchmark results showed that most other companies had elected a different organizational and engagement model and were enjoying numerous benefits as a result. In addition, certain other best-in-function companies had developed and refined their internal interfacing practices much further as a result of having been threatened in comparable areas for far longer than the client had been. The rich comparative database created through benchmarking facilitated the development of a reorganization strategy and helped make the overall case for change.

Benefits to Client

The company successfully implemented all key recommendations. Formation of local investigative capabilities focused on key markets grew out of better understanding the needs of the core businesses and enabled closer, more productive relationships in the field. A new corporate council was formed to determine and set policy, and a best practice that had been identified at one of the benchmark participants successfully imported into the client to enable faster information sharing, decision-making and tactical response. The company’s senior management team enthusiastically contributed and supported the recommended changes to the program and, within 2-3 years, the security group had been recognized for contributing demonstrably and significantly to the bottom-line of the company.