Catalyst International

Provider of Supply Chain Execution (SCE) Software and Services

Business Challenge 

·        Catalyst brought in a new president and CEO in the summer of 2001 to stem operating losses and regain its position as a leader in the SCE space.

·        To execute this turnaround, Catalyst quickly had to:

-       Make sweeping operational and organizational changes.

-       Address customers’ concerns about quality and service.

-       Fill the sales pipeline.

-       Create and communicate a credible and compelling brand identity.

·        Critical to the success of all these initiatives was affecting meaningful change in the attitudes and behaviors of employees, too many of whom had become complacent, sluggish and unresponsive to customer needs.

Implementation Issues

·        Actions of previous management team had fostered a climate of fear, uncertainty and doubt, leaving employees distrustful and unwilling to take risks.

·        Employees were unaccustomed to being held accountable.

·        The fast-track timetable for the branding/marketing rollout required that all employees were ready to “live the brand” and deliver on its promises.

Strategy 

·        Work directly with the president and Catalyst’s VP of Human Resources to develop the following guiding principles for the cultural transformation:

-       Maintaining a laser-like focus on meeting customers’ needs.

-       Demonstrating a great sense of urgency in all activities.

-       Being decisive and willing to make commitments.

-       Thinking creatively and acting with bold enthusiasm.

·        Create a theme – Team Xtreme – to serve as a memorable program identity.

·        Develop a comprehensive program work plan and “playbook” for:

-       Establishing and training Team Xtreme coaches.

-       Creating employee performance metrics and incentives.

·        Launch Team Xtreme concept and identity (logo, banners) at an all-employee  meeting and reinforce through ongoing internal communications.

Results

·        In just 40 days, Catalyst formed 15 departmental Xtreme teams that were able to make simple and immediate changes that significantly improved:

-       Responsiveness (i.e., e-mail “flags” to notify recipients of urgency for action).

-       Product development process.

-       Intercompany communications (i.e., taking advantage of instant messaging capabilities to keep off-site technical staff in the loop).

·        Begin implementing Action Plans that targeted and prioritized more than 100 initiatives – large and small – based on the Team Xtreme guiding principles.

·        Achieve over 90% participation by Catalyst employees.

·        Establish a schedule of company-wide and departmental meetings to review progress, share successes and ensure accountability.

·        Provide numerous customers with great “brand” experiences, as evidenced by this testimonial: "There's been a complete 180-degree turnaround in service that's been absolutely incredible. Our customer service reps have done more for us in two months than anyone else had done in three years."