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Our client niches
As a professional firm we have had the opportunity
over the years since Changemaking Systems was founded in
1982 to gradually gravitate to client niches that seem
most natural and easy for us. Over time we have listened
to our clients and to what they have repeatedly asked us
to do for them. We have paid attention to which clients
ask for help and what those clients seem to have in common.
Here is what we have learned as to who
we serve well and who seeks us out:
1. Divisions of Large Corporations
A division of a large manufacturing, technology,
marketing, or utility company, that must adapt its plans
and practices to a shift in direction set at the corporate
level, or to the reality of no clear direction being set
at the corporate level, or to a merger, or to business
environment changes...all of which force new strategic
positioning.
Examples: Divisions of 3M, Honeywell,
Control data, Cray Research, Pillsbury, United Defense,
National Computer Systems, Dresser, and Northern States
Power Company.
2. Professional Practice Firms
A professional practice, such as engineering,
medicine, law, or management consultation, that wants to
work smarter rather than harder and wants to increase market
share, while perhaps struggling with the issues of turning
over ownership to the next generation of professionals.
Examples: Barr Engineering,
Public Strategies Group, Institute for Clinical Systems
Improvement, Dean Solutions, and several medical clinics.
3. Small and Mid-Size Businesses
A venture firm or small/mid-size business that
has built some momentum and must make some choices, including
how to get organized so that it can actually deliver on
what it has sold and also continue to grow.
Examples: B-Swing, National
Checking Company, Kinesis Medical, Safelite Autoglass,
and Washington Scientific Industries.
4. Health Care Systems
A large, integrated health care delivery system,
that must decide what it does best, how to compensate for
diminishing government reimbursement, how to meet the increasing
demands of consumers, how to compete better in the market
place, and whether or not this requires a merger with other
health care organizations.
Examples: Avera Health in South
Dakota, Methodist Medical Center in Illinois, HealthEast
in Minnesota, and Centra Care in Minnesota.
5. Social Service Agencies and
Learning Institutions
An aggressive community service agency or an
entrepreneurial school that wants to create and implement
a vision for the future that will enable it to serve creatively
and thrive as a community contributor with a vital mission.
Examples: Dunwoody College of
Technology, Totino Grace High School, Health Start, Temple
Israel, National Council of the YMCA, Johnson Institute
Foundation, St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation,
Lutheran Church in America, and Camp Heartland. |
