Business Consulting
Business Consulting Grounded in Real-World Executive Experience
Today, models, approaches, and trends proliferate in the field of business consulting. Too often, organizations go through multiple rounds of short-lived, flavor-of-the-month consulting studies that fail to achieve their objectives or produce lasting improvements in performance.
However, H.S. Grace & Company, Inc. takes a different approach to business consulting. We bring together small, specialized teams of successful senior executives, current and former corporate board members, and other experienced professionals. In particular, these teams understand firsthand how organizations operate, make decisions, manage resources, and respond to complex business challenges.
Organizations may need to conduct self-assessments, address crises, evaluate major business decisions, or improve processes and performance. HSG provides practical business advice grounded in real-world executive experience.
As a result, our teams work quickly and efficiently to identify critical issues, understand the relationships among them, and help clients develop practical approaches for improving organizational performance.
How Does HSG Approach Business Consulting?
Models, approaches, and trends proliferate in the field of business consulting. Too often, organizations go through multiple rounds of short-lived, flavor-of-the-month consulting studies that fail to achieve their objectives or produce lasting improvements in performance.
H.S. Grace & Company, Inc. takes a different approach to business consulting. We bring together small, specialized teams of successful senior executives, current and former corporate board members, and other experienced professionals who understand firsthand how organizations operate, make decisions, manage resources, and respond to complex business challenges.
Whether an organization is conducting a self-assessment, addressing a crisis, evaluating a major business decision, or seeking improvements in processes and performance, HSG provides practical business advice grounded in real-world executive experience.
Our teams work quickly and efficiently to identify critical issues, understand the relationships among them, and help clients develop practical approaches for improving organizational performance.
Our Plan–Operate–Control Cycle©
H.S. Grace & Company, Inc. bases its business consulting methodology on the Plan–Operate–Control Cycle©. This framework examines how the board, management, organizational structure, business processes, information, and controls interact.
Specifically, the model recognizes that successful organizations must effectively connect three fundamental activities:
Plan — establishing objectives, strategies, organizational structures, policies, budgets, and expectations for performance.
Operate — executing strategy through management decisions, people, resources, business processes, and day-to-day operations.
Control — monitoring performance, evaluating results, managing risk, and using financial and operational information to determine whether the organization is achieving its objectives.
In turn, examining these relationships helps identify gaps between strategy and execution and weaknesses in business processes. Additionally, the analysis reveals ineffective organizational structures and other factors affecting performance.
Our Plan, Operate and Control Cycle© Model
In our business consulting work, we address management and performance issues using a comprehensive and time-tested methodology that evaluates the full range of relationships and performance factors.
How Can Business Consulting Improve Processes and Performance?
Staying competitive requires organizations to continually evaluate how effectively their business processes support both short-term performance and long-term value.
For example, public, private, and not-for-profit organizations alike depend on effective processes to translate strategy into results. Even a sound business can experience performance problems. For example, weaknesses in planning, operations, organizational structure, financial management, or internal processes can undermine results.
HSG brings field-tested knowledge and senior-level business experience directly to clients. As a result, organizations can identify and address performance challenges across a wide range of business functions.
Depending on the organization’s needs, our business consulting work may address:
Organizational structure and policies — evaluating responsibilities, reporting relationships, policies, and processes that affect organizational effectiveness.
Strategy and operations — examining how strategic objectives are translated into operating decisions, resources, processes, and results.
Business process improvement — identifying process weaknesses, inefficiencies, and opportunities to improve organizational performance.
Planning and budgeting — evaluating how plans, budgets, resources, and performance expectations support organizational objectives.
Cash and financial management — examining financial resources, cash requirements, and related management decisions affecting business performance.
Major business decisions and transactions — providing an experienced, independent business perspective on acquisitions, investments, negotiations, restructuring, and other significant decisions.
Our team draw son experience leading organizations and managing business improvement initiatives, allowing HSG to provide recommendations informed by how businesses actually operate—not simply by theoretical models.
Why Is HSG's Business Consulting Approach Different?
H.S. Grace & Company, Inc.’s business consultants are experienced executives and senior professionals. They have confronted many of the same strategic, operational, financial, and organizational issues our clients face.
Rather than deploying large consulting teams, HSG assembles small, focused teams selected for the needs of each engagement. This approach gives clients direct access to senior-level experience while allowing the team to focus quickly on the issues most important to the organization.
HSG advisors collectively bring more than 1,000 years of senior management and board experience across a broad range of industries. Consequently, our teams can evaluate business challenges from multiple perspectives. They provide practical, fact-based advice tailored to each organization’s circumstances.
Business Consulting Experience and Client Outcomes
For example, HSG has assisted organizations with operational improvement, acquisitions, investment decisions, contract negotiations, and financial challenges.
Representative business consulting engagements include:
Credit Union Operations
Overview: HSG served as a long-term consultant to a credit union, advising on acquisitions, interest rates, site selection and other major activities. The firm also served as consultant to the credit union CEO in his role on the industry’s national governing/regulatory board.
Result: Sustained growth and successful navigation of troubled times which led to the closure or forced mergers of other credit unions.
Professional Services Firm Rollup
Overview: HSG served as a consultant to the professional services firm (“PSF”) in connection with a proposed roll up. HSG pointed to multiple issues, operational and financial, in the proposed acquisition documents that HSG believed were not in the PSF’s interest.
Result: Successful renegotiation of acquisition terms.
Acquisition Price Review
Overview: HSG was asked to re-evaluate the price paid for an acquisition before the final payment as the original goals were not met. Seven executives from the acquired company were involved. Therefore, reaching an amicable settlement that was fair to all parties, including the acquirer’s shareholders, was critical. We analyzed the why, how and what behind the missed goals and offered recommendations on how to best resolve the issue equitably.
Result: The final payment was adjusted in a manner satisfactory to all parties.
Infrastructure Fund
Overview: An international services firm hired HSG to evaluate the creation of an infrastructure fund for major overseas projects. HSG weighed potential growth opportunities against customer concerns about competition with their own funds.
Result: Client put in place an approach which opened growth opportunities for client while protecting customer interests.
Contract Negotiations
Overview: HSG was hired to validate the credibility of an offshore contracting party’s claim that it would file for bankruptcy if HSG client didn’t reduce the amount it was trying to recover under an agreement.
Result: Client utilized analysis to achieve a satisfactory settlement outside of bankruptcy.
Unsecured Creditors Committee for Major Bankruptcy
Overview: HSG served as financial advisor and real estate consultant to the unsecured creditors committee in a major international bankruptcy. The bankruptcy involved large retail chains and significant commercial, retail, and residential real estate holdings. Work involved sale of various business units, including the parent company, and of individual real estate holdings. We also advised on the creation of partnerships in connection with certain real estate holdings and advised regarding tax planning in connection with the dissolution.
Result: Successful disposal of company holdings and creation of ongoing entities in which the bankruptcy estate continued to participate.
Experienced Business Advisors for Complex Organizational Challenges
HSG brings together senior executives, board members, financial professionals, and other experienced advisors. Their backgrounds span a wide range of industries and business functions. In addition, we assemble each consulting team around the particular issues and experience required for the engagement.
Meet Our Advisors →
Let’s Work Together
Whether your organization is evaluating performance, improving business processes, addressing a difficult operational or financial issue, or facing a significant business decision, H.S. Grace & Company, Inc. can provide experienced, independent business insight.
Reach out to discuss how our business consulting team can help your organization address its challenges and improve performance.