SDG designed a major profit center structure for a large property and casualty insurer that restructured the organization and moved resources to decentralized operating units. During the design phase, we conducted frequent reviews and interactive sessions with the company’s CEO, COO, and top corporate officers. Once the design was accepted, we developed the program to implement the new structure. This entailed communicating major organizational change to more than 20,000 employees and managers. Among the methods the CEO, COO, and other top officers used were town meetings, question-and-answer visits to regional office centers, and workshops where middle managers identified issues and tasks necessary to move resources and establish the new working protocols. The middle managers were then encouraged to propose solutions to existing challenges or anticipated barriers to implementation. This process offered an interactive setting for reaching decisions on how to proceed and created an atmosphere of cooperation. The new structure was in place and working effectively within five months of the announcement.

Over a five-year period, SDG spearheaded new and expanded business initiatives for this insurer that generated an average of $350 million of new value per year. This increase in business value grew out of the CEO’s call for help in designing a strategy for introducing and expanding products designed to dampen the cyclical swings inherent in the core business. Working with the management team, SDG considered a number of alternatives and businesses that had the potential for strong earnings growth, were complementary with the core business, but had counter-cyclical characteristics. From the alternatives, the team identified two existing business areas that promised major growth through strategic reemphasis. The team also identified an area that would attract new capital and customers. By working with the client to turn each of these business areas into major earnings contributors, we achieved a portfolio effect, providing more stable earnings growth while attaining rapid overall business growth.

In other engagements for this client, we,

• Designed new operating and capital budgeting systems and developed and managed a training program to introduce the new system throughout the corporation
• Directed the turnaround of an unprofitable subsidiary and conducted a comprehensive operational and strategic review of its large claims function
• Directed a comprehensive change program to implement best practices, resulting in new organizational options and improvements to daily operations.