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EXCERPTS Contd...
Creating Financial Flexibility
Another key element of the "Blueprint for Growth" strategy was achieving financial flexibility, for which D&B planned to sell non-core businesses and their assets. The flexible business model required increased investments in growth areas, and doing away with redundant areas. D&B was constantly looking at reallocating its spending into those activities which drove revenue growth and expanded profitability...
Developing a 'Winning' Culture
Creating a new culture that supported constant change and promoted leadership abilities was important for the success of Loren's strategy. The objective of developing a winning culture was to create a team of leaders who would succeed in the market. D&B focused on the need to develop leadership capabilities among its employees.
Loren felt that leadership development was an ongoing process. He developed a
'Leadership Action Plan,' which defined an individual's path towards leadership. The plan focused on personal development and building on leadership strengths. Each team member was asked to list his/her strengths and areas for improvement. This helped them in leveraging strengths and working on areas that needed development...
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Focus on Small Businesses
D&B's new business strategy involved concentrating on small businesses and global accounts by redirecting their spending into these areas. The company aimed at earning revenues of $ 50 million from small businesses and $ 25 million from global accounts by 2003. D&B made selective investments and entered into partnerships with leading service providers and technology companies to leverage on the emerging opportunities on the Web...
The Results
In its efforts to arrest the fall in its share price, D&B decided that for every dollar in costs reduced by implementing the "Blueprint for Growth" strategy, 60 cents would be used for reinvesting in high growth businesses, 20 cents for reengineering transaction costs and 20 cents would go to the shareholders in the form of retained earnings which helped in improving the earnings per share (EPS). D&B's EPS grew consistently between 2001 and 2004 from 1.71 to 2.98. The company's free cash flow rose from $164 million to $239 million in the same period (Refer Table III for the key financial indicators of D&B between 2001 and 2004)...
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Exhibits
EXHIBIT I: ALLAN Z LOREN CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
EXHIBIT II: PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED BY D&B
EXHIBIT III: D&B OVERVIEW OF PRODUCTS
EXHIBIT IV: MAJOR PRODUCTS OF D&B
EXHIBIT V: D&B VALUES
EXHIBIT VI: D&B'S STOCK PRICE CHART
EXHIBIT VII: D&B - ANNUAL STATEMENT OF INCOME
EXHIBIT VIII: D&B - REVENUES BY PRODUCT LINE
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