The Challenge

    A global leader in specialty chemicals and performance materials changed their strategy, shifting from a product and technical orientation to a market-focused approach. This change required new organizational capabilities, including marketing skills, process and a market-oriented culture.

    The Approach

    Market Edge worked with the client to design a modular, cross-functional (finance, sales, technical and marketing) program to

    • Enhance marketing planning and business development
    • Imbed lateral thinking approaches (e.g. simulation technologies and case scenario planning)
    • Apply learning to both business processes and individual areas of market responsibility
    • Drive immediate adoption thru intact working teams focusing on current markets

    Market Edge’s capability development approach included

    • Market-oriented modules so teams learned by doing
    • The development of actionable insights to drive critical commercial decisions
    • The immediate application of learning to participants’ “real jobs”

    The Outcome

    The Market Edge approach has become the backbone for marketing planning and business development across the global organization. Cross-functional participation resulted in a shared understanding of marketing processes and the development of a ‘Marketing Culture’ that extends across functional boundaries. All 60 of the businesses’ marketing plans have been developed to the agreed global standard.