WHAT: This U.S. company has business entities in over 90 countries and an international team of highly qualified business experts serving clients across most industries and sectors. Assignment: Advise the senior C-level executives and help the COO leverage the company’s position and assets to develop its enterprise customer offering to fit immediate and future customer desires while keeping growth and profit margins intact.

WHY: The company is a prisoner of its incredible success in rapid expansion and technological advancements. Customer service excellence has been vital throughout the growth trajectory, with an increasingly automated and client-managed user experience. So far, the company has primarily relied on one product and value proposition in its offering and communication for all clients. Emerging disruptive competitors call for more segmented value propositions with an immediate, interim, and longer-term trajectory in mind.

HOW: Extensive secondary research and interviews with closer to 35 critical internal and external stakeholders located in North America, Europe, Asia, and India, to understand enterprise customer needs and associated challenges in international expansion journeys. Design differentiated value-proposition(s) tailored for identified creative client segments that align with the company vision, operations, and resources. Refine and verify the soundness of the proposed design, business, and future expansion logic. Deliver a turn-key solution focusing on immediate (next year), mid-term (two-three years), and long-term implementation (beyond three years).

HOW: What a fantastic experience to meet and work with all of you! You were able to learn about our business deeply and provide growth opportunities that align with our mission! As well as generating ideas, the group has acted as a catalyst, encouraging us leaders to ask new questions about ourselves and how to improve our customer experience. This is invaluable as we strive to be the best in the business!

WHAT: One of the largest restaurant chains in the world with close to 15.000 locations in 90 markets. Assignment: Offer strategic advice to the Director of International Marketing Strategy and Director of Global Talent Management on ways the company can outsmart the competition in three chosen markets, followed by other vital regions. Deliverables include a complete business proposal to be fully implemented within six months and a shorter-term strategy and business case with relevant benchmarks.

WHY: The competitive landscape has become increasingly challenging over the last few years, especially regarding low customer loyalty, price sensitivity, and rapidly changing regional market dynamics. Competitors have introduced customized services and loyalty programs to secure market positions and retain high-value customers. The intense competition focuses, in particular, on pricing strategy, product and packaging innovations, service, and the quality, healthiness, and variation of food on the menu. The company is looking for ways to break away from this mold by leveraging its assets, like a strong brand, technology, and a global presence.

HOW: Extensive primary and secondary research to propose new service solutions, organization, and business models that resonate strongly with mission, vision, and values. Careful consideration was given to leveraging the company's position and assets to continue to develop profitable business in the selected markets while making appropriate comparisons to the U.S. and other market conditions. The proposed business initiatives are all implementable within two years, emphasizing realism and maximizing the market opportunity by thinking big and on growth.

WOW: Our team loved the project and wants to continue collaborating with you. The organization is now focused on this and working to transition even more to a global organization. Thanks!

WHAT: This global public company aims to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives. The company seeks to uncover opportunities at the forefront of medical innovation through partnerships through its venturing business unit. Assignment: Provide strategic advice to the company CFO and M&A Executive Director on potential strategic collaboration opportunities with emerging and smaller biotech companies based outside the U.S. and why these are particularly well suited for different forms of collaboration.

WHY: The competition among large international pharmaceuticals has increased over the past several years. Collaboration is of core importance. At the same time, significantly smaller biotech firms are less dependent. They have more alternatives to fund R&D. The company aims to optimize the potential of its extensive scientific base by seeking collaboration opportunities and by developing complementary business models in the most commercially promising areas.

HOW: A thorough market research was completed to support the company’s strategic initiatives and to provide a carefully prepared proposition to drive creative and innovative business-related collaboration opportunities. The approach built on the critical question of how the company should leverage its position as one of the largest pharma companies globally and its assets to develop profitable win-win collaboration opportunities. The research considered aspects to consider when expanding the collaboration ecosystem and forming successful agreements and strategic partnerships.

WOW: The presentation of results was of high quality, and I enjoyed the energy from the team. Please send my regards to them again, and as you can tell, the biopharma industry is a fascinating place to grow and continue to learn.

WHAT: The client needs an educational tool to demystify US sales tax and help foreign companies it works with to understand and prepare to handle US sales tax when selling online. Assignment: Prepare and publish a high-level guide to US Sales Tax related to e-commerce retail. The target audience is foreign companies interested in selling physical goods to US consumers via e-commerce. Most of these companies do not have a US legal entity set up.

WHY: US sales tax is currently seen as such a complex beast that many foreign companies avoid dealing with it. The client wants to change this mindset by making US sales tax less of a mystery by offering a practical guide that explains when, e.g., a tax advisor or a US sales tax plug-in is needed for online sales in the US.

HOW: Leadx3m business and legal expertise are brought together to provide experience and depth in understanding and designing a guidebook that meets client expectations. The guide's primary focus is on awareness of tax compliance and the risks of not addressing US sales tax. Extensive preparatory work to define across all states when and exactly how to handle US sales tax when selling goods via an online store or e-marketplace.

WOW: Thanks again for the great work with the sales tax guide! In general, this is a great starting point for e-commerce companies. It effectively raises awareness that sales tax can and should be dealt with.

WHAT: The City has prioritized cultivating a gaming/dining district to attract companies and visitors. Assignment: Offer strategic advice to the city Mayor and the Strategy and Business Development Officer on becoming an immersive gaming/dining district and how they can emerge from the pandemic with the economic driver intact.

WHY: The Major’s Office is known for working in unison with residents and businesses to tackle the city's many challenges. Working closely together makes the community the best it can be. Setting an ambitious strategy and building coalitions is necessary for the City to continue transforming towards a prosperous, inclusive, and equitable society. All stakeholders must be committed to moving the city forward toward a higher standard of living.

HOW: The foundation of this assignment builds on the perspectives of four key stakeholders the City, its citizens, its businesses, and the Chamber of Commerce. Extensive pre-research was conducted to identify appropriate benchmarks, trends, and drivers to transform the inclusive City environment into a vibrant and diverse creative business community. Close to 30 stakeholder interviews were conducted to understand engagement opportunities and how to enhance the delivery of services for all residents.

WOW: The insights on entrepreneurial strategies for the City’s economic development were invaluable and truly thought-provoking. The process itself was gratifying, and I loved talking with these international professionals who brought a breadth of experiences from around the world to our discussions. The action steps they laid out come from a sound understanding of what can make cities innovation centers. I am highly optimistic about their successful implementation thanks to their specific directives. I would not hesitate to do this again to measure our progress in building our city of the future!

WHAT: The U.S.-based micro-financing organization is not the first but often the only option for constrained entrepreneurs and their businesses. The challenge is the lack of credit history and collaterals to back up business loans. Assignment: Research how the microfinancier's loan application process unfolds and how their services influence an entrepreneur's efforts to secure financial capital by using social and human capital.

WHY: Micro-financing is an iterative and slow process where constrained entrepreneurs gain access to financial capital, often in smaller amounts, with higher interest rates, and after an extended processing period compared to qualified business loans processed by banks. Increasing efficiencies in this process favor all parties.

HOW: Analyzing the loan application journey of the entire population of applicants over several years and then focusing on a limited number of cases with significant financial constraints. The research helps to understand how loan processing can be enhanced by considering case-specific social and human assets, risk patterns, and the reduction of information asymmetries.

WOW: The research makes three contributions to business praxis: It sets forth a framework to accelerate the entrepreneur's loan approval process by using social and human capital to reduce information asymmetry, it proposes a set of concrete moral codes for mutual engagement and guardrails for loan officers to operate at a larger scale despite any remaining information assysmetry.