Intersect
Intersect Investment Services has enjoyed a successful business model for the last 25 years. During first part of the year 2001, the Federal Reserve was in the middle of an interest-rate cutting campaign in order to pull the economy out of recession and furthermore, the events around 9/11 terrorism and subsequent middle-east war, and the Enron/WorldCom scandals left the investors skittish towards Wall St. and investments in general (Twin, 2006). Due to these largely unanticipated world events, the Intersect Investment Services business model no longer is viable in terms of revenue growth and profitability. The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Frank Jeffers has chosen to change the business model to be one of “customer intimacy.” Customer intimacy is the superior management of the customer experience and relationship and a commitment to deliver a higher level or service to every customer across all product lines and service channels (Web Methods, 2004). Intersect needs to anticipate the customer’s needs and the extent to which Intersect gains their loyalty, the customer’s desire to switch to a competitor is much less.
Like any major change in corporate strategy, creating corporate-wide buy-in from both the management team and employees can be difficult. If the managers can’t develop a unified front with the customer intimacy plan, then the team should be changed in order to develop one voice and mind. Developing a solid communication plan and implementing tactical items of the change only address part of the strategic business model shift. The other part is for the management team to motivate the team to change through sustained efforts in providing an equitable and reinforcing environment. Intersect as a team of customers, management teams and employees now need to take a step back to re-evaluate the issues and opportunities, stakeholders’ perspectives, and the strategic capability gaps in the strategic plan in order to reach the ultimate end state...
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