Energy and Utilities

After more than a decade of radical change, the energy sector, as well as utility industries more generally, is still facing major challenges and upheaval. Initiatives to facilitate international harmonization as well as strategies to create regional markets are changing the way in which business is conducted. This, in turn, means that structural and ownership transformation continues apace as individual companies seek to gain scale and find synergies to cope in a more dynamic and competitive world. Simultaneously, broader global-scale challenges such as depleting fossil fuels, climate change, and regional political uncertainty are also contributing to a reshaping of the utilities sectors in most countries around the world.

Monitor addresses issues of strategic importance to energy and utility companies, including regulatory change, competitive entry, mergers and acquisitions, geographic expansion, managing environmental impact, ensuring continuity of supply, and better segmenting and engaging customers. We help diverse energy and utility companies navigate the increasingly complex global business environment.


Recent work has included helping a leading energy company grow by reinventing the way it markets to customers, and refocusing the organization's efforts on the top growth opportunities available.

Managing Technology-Driven Innovation Risk: How to Turn Uncertainty into Advantage

Scott Daniels and Michael M. Baltay June 17, 2009 Article

In their quest for innovation-led growth, executives are apt to approach technology investments with a conservative risk-averse mindset. This paper explains how taking an active approach to technology risk management, using three common portfolio management techniques, can reduce uncertainty and increase a company's opportunity for growth.

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Exploring and Learning from the Future: Five Steps for Avoiding Strategic Surprises

Doug Randall March 23, 2009 Article

Why do organizations get blindsided by market transformations that could have been anticipated?  This article from Strategy & Leadership guides you through a systematic process for incorporating plausible but challenging future scenarios into your organization’s learning processes, to help mitigate risk and decrease the likelihood of being unprepared for discontinuities.

 

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Sustainability Insights for CEOs: The Business Value of Going Green

Monitor Group and Esty Environmental Partners February 1, 2009 Article

Increasing sensitivity to environmental issues among customers and channel partners, as well as a changing regulatory landscape, has caught many executives off guard. This report examines the myriad of topics surrounding Sustainability and shows CEOs how to execute a Sustainability strategy that can better the environment—and the bottom line.

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Economic Crisis Breeds Opportunities for Entrepreneurship

Monitor Regional Competitiveness Group January 15, 2009 Article

“Paths to Prosperity; Promoting Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century,” a new Monitor Group study, interviewed entrepreneurs in 22 countries to determine attitudes and critical policies required for entrepreneurship to thrive in different regions around the world, including the importance of a society's fostering of entrepreneurial skills and tax policies that encourage R&D.

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A Strategic Approach to Dealing with Activist Shareholders

Michael Armstrong and Jonathan Joffe January 14, 2009 Article

Monitor's research suggests that while the financial meltdown claimed a number of hedge funds, those funds with activist strategies are worth watching. This report, by Michael Armstrong and Jonathan Joffe from Monitor's Integrated Strategy and Finance practice, describes typical behaviors of shareholder activists and how CEOs and boards of directors can deal with them. 

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How to Lead—and Succeed—Through the Downturn

Monitor Group November 25, 2008 Article

These are unprecedented times for corporate executives—incredible volatility in the markets, sinking consumer confidence, a new financial crisis every week.  As a result, executives need to act quickly to tackle short term problems while setting the stage for long term growth. While we’ve dealt with recession before, the level of volatility and structural change posed by this crisis calls for a radically different playbook of options for achieving growth. 

In our view, there are certain, key levers companies can pull to find real growth and address the uncertainty.  The topics covered here can help shape your leadership agenda.

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How Marketing Drives Top-Line Growth in a Recession

Mark Pocharski November 25, 2008 Article

Top-line growth does exist in a recession, but finding it requires that marketing leaders be relentless in their pursuit of ways to redefine the playing field, be it through innovative go-to-market models, offer structures, or doubling and tripling down on the highest potential brands or segments.

In this paper, Monitor's Mark Pocharski explains how the strongest marketing organizations provide insight to help their companies make profitable decisions and minimize risk.

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Making Smarter Technology Decisions

Geoff Tuff November 17, 2008 Article

In today’s increasingly volatile economy, companies that make informed technology decisions can gain a significant edge over their competition without spending more on technology to do so.  This paper examines the forces that have prevented some companies from unlocking the strategic potential of their technology assets and highlights the tools top-performing companies have employed to drive growth. 

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Precision Marketing: Five Ways to Make Better Marketing Decisions

Jennifer Lacks Kaplan and Yakir Siegal October 31, 2008 Article

Once at the mercy of marketers, customers have developed coping mechanisms to combat the torrent of messages that come their way. Companies need to move past traditional approaches to get their attention.

In this Conference Board article Jennifer Lacks Kaplan and Yakir Siegel, both partners at Monitor Group, discuss five principles that can help companies better focus marketing investment decisions in a challenging world of new technologies and delivery channels.

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Scenario Planning: A Key to Future-Proofing Your Organization

Nick Turner October 15, 2008 Article

Nick Turner, a partner at Monitor Group and co-president of the Global Business Network, explains how scenario planning is a key to readiness in uncertain times in an article in CEO Journal.

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