Syncrude: A Transformation Success Story
Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s management committee was composed of representatives from separate corporate owners. Some wanted to grow the business, others wanted to harvest it. It was at this point that the company embarked on an ambitious program to unblock the strategic agenda and extract the value that lay dormant in the business.
By Carl Spetzler, Phil Lachambre, and John Celona
Strategic Decisions Group.1999
Syncrude Canada Ltd., in the business of extracting oil from the oil sands in the Fort McMurray area of Canada, saw its margins erode with every drop in the oil price. And unlike a conventional well operator, Syncrude lacked the luxury of turning down the spigot and awaiting better times. Further, the company’s management committee was composed of representatives from separate corporate owners. The lack of a coherent strategy was exacerbated by differing objectives and views among the owners.
“We had a very complex and cluttered strategic agenda. In fact it was worse than that. We had four owners wanted to harvest the business and four owners wanted to grow it. So we had no consensus on what path we should be on,” said the CEO. It was at this point that the company embarked on an ambitious program to unblock the strategic agenda and extract the value that lay dormant in the business.
