Digital Strategy
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Enriched the digital offering of a leading educational services provider in China with innovative services such as gamification, AI adaptive learning and far-shored time banking
The client, a leading Educational Services Provider in China, was experiencing declining sales in the last three years.
A market analysis highlighted that the company was lagging behind the competition because of the limited variety of services the client was offering.
My role was to help the client understand which capabilities it had to acquire in order to offer differentiating services in the digital marketplace
ROLE
Business Strategy Consultant
CLIENT
Accenture Strategy and Leading Educational Services Provider
HOW I HELPED
After reviewing the market analysis performed by my colleagues, I have performed a gap analysis to understand what capabilities the client should have acquired to perform at the required level from its target customers.
It emerged that the client should have pivoted to offer more on-demand and self-paced study courses, increase its digital capabilities, offer innovative services to distinguish itself from the rising competition in the e-learning space and acquire a flexible workforce.
I have designed three innovative and distinguishing capabilities:
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embedding AI adaptive learning in the online services: this allowed customers to receive exercises tailored to their level and progressively more challenging
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gamification: exercises and tests took the form of engaging games
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far-shored time banking: we recorded interest from teachers spread around the globe and let them teach in their spare time though an online platform
On top of the client mandate, I have also highlighted that there were parts of the businesses that were considerably underperforming. The client has then commissioned me the analysis of those areas.
I have then formulated exit strategies for non-core and non-performing businesses to optimise the client business portfolio and explored selling non-core under-performing business units in China
WHAT DID I LEARN?
GOING THE EXTRA MILE PAYS OFF
Connecting with the client's team was fundamental in establishing a relationship based on mutual trust, even in a completely different culture. This allowed me to interact with people from other departments, discover opportunities for follow-up work and manage to receive the mandate for additional consulting projects
ADAPT LEADERSHIP STYLES TO YOUR DIRECT REPORTS
Managing people means also understanding to what kind of leadership they are more receptive. In this client engagement I had to tailor my leadership style to two kind of people: those receptive to a more coaching style and those receptive to a more authoritative style. Finding the balance is not easy, but it really makes the difference in carving out the best of your direct reports.
INFLUENCING IS BETTER THAN MANAGING
When working under pressure, it is important to get the best out of your team. Knowing them deeply and beyond the working relationships allowed me to understand what they valued and to plan the workload by taking into account their needs when extra time was required
RAQUEL PEDRO
Strategy Manager at Accenture
Having directly led Giammarco on several projects, I highlight the planning and management of a multinational divestiture for a Leading Pan-European Technology Company. In this project, Giammarco applied strategic thinking and business operations understanding, employing Microsoft Excel for the analysis and PowerPoint for the deliverables.
He showed strong communication and interpersonal skills, essential to collaborate with a multidisciplinary team in the Netherlands and the UK.
Additionally, during the definition and implementation of a strategic infrastructure transformation for a UK Media Services Company, Giammarco established the project and program management capabilities and the governance model. He carried out the financial assessment for new projects, demonstrating business case and Microsoft Excel skills.
Lastly, Giammarco took on the development of many proposals and the organisation of community events for our team. He was responsible for producing quality deliverables in tight deadlines and for fostering team building.