I have provided several insights into the actual application of Commercial Excellence programs, across four different industries and spanning almost a decade. Yet there remains a need to discern more tangible outcomes specifically in relation to financial results. Such research would require unabridged access to financial data and a much larger sample of companies, than has been the case for this work.
Another area of interest for future research could concern the impact on corporate culture of a
69 Commercial Excellence program. This would follow the line of thought seen in Carlsberg, who developed a ‘mindset’ of excellence.
However, this work is intended to serve as a foundation for further research, but also to facilitate the establishment of a fundamental understanding of Commercial Excellence within the public sphere. In this regard, I consider the definition and corresponding framework of Commercial Excellence as the biggest contribution of this thesis.
Thus this thesis has laid the groundwork in providing a flexible and encompassing definition that builds on strategy theory and competitive advantages. This definition will allow scholars and practitioners alike to use a common frame of reference when discussing implications of Commercial Excellence
70
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74
Appendix I
Figure R: Evolution of Business Excellence as academic concept - Source: Google Scholar [accessed 01/10/12]
The chart illustrates the number of distinct hits that were generated from a search on the specific construct
“Business Excellence”. The purpose of the chart is to highlight the evolution of Business Excellence being referred to by academia as a specific concept.
The search was conducted on Google Scholar, and results are therefore limited to academic references. The main feature of the search was the ‘interval’-feature, which allowed for a categorization of the references within yearly intervals. Thus results within each time bracket were published at that particular time period.
8 19 19 63 225
1670
4980
10500
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
Number of hits
Yearly Interval
Academic references
Academic references
75
Appendix II
The list of consulting agencies that offered information or services on Commercial Excellence.
The top 13 are all from the Vault 50 ranking.
McKinsey
BCG
Bain
Booz
Deloitte
PWC
Ernst & Young
Accenture
Oliver Wyman
KPMG
Roland Berger
IMS
Simon Kucher
Implement.dk
Tefen
Valcon.dk
Life sciences consulting
Quantum Leap
Solving Efeso
KINI Consulting
NovoFuturi
Camelot
DecisionFrameworks
UMS
PA
Retail Europe Excellence
TTM
Quartz
FranklinCovey – Jørgensen (KPMG)
GailBraightWight
76
Appendix III Interview information
Interview 1:
Mr. Eric B Williams Global Head of Sales Maersk Line
Conducted: 14/11/2012
Interview 2:
Mr. Thomas Leonhardt
Managing Consultant, Commercial Excellence PA Consulting
Conducted: 28/11/2012
Interview 3:
Mr. Henrik Tilsted
Global Program Manager, Commercial Excellence Coloplast
Conducted: 14/02/2013
Complete transcripts are available upon request, but have been left out at the interviewees’
discretion.
77
Appendix IV
Roland Berger Consulting:
“Commercial excellence goes far beyond the activities of the sales force, embracing all commercial interactions with customers. Ultimately, it aims to optimize impact by maximizing profit contributions on all levels.
Commercial excellence as we understand it comprises three dimensions: sales excellence, customer excellence and new business models.” i
--- Euro Asia Retail Excellence:
“Commercial Excellence is about achieving market leadership and sustainable financial results by putting special focus on your product, your services, and your customers”ii
--- TTM Consulting REF:
“Commercial Excellence is a key driver for enhancing strategic execution for any organization and a key success factor for attaining its goals! The key essence of enhancing commercial excellence during turbulent times is the integration of commercial functions - marketing, customer management and sales - towards developing, delivering and sustaining customer value!”
--- GalBraithWight Consulting:
“The truth is, we are all engaged in marketing, in all areas of the business including Medical Affairs, Sales Management, Business Intelligence, Regulatory, Market Access and Sales Management - so to ensure we speak to all functions, not just Marketing, we have branded this area of our consulting services Commercial
Excellence.”iii
--- Boston Consulting Group:
“Winning in the downturn and creating long-term competitive advantages both require that innovation and commercial excellence be considered true "hard science" by a chemical company’s leadership and employees, just as research and development and engineering are.”iv
--- Ernst & Young:
“As such, commercial excellence implies a dynamic interplay between business model development, market access, product launch life cycle management, and the ability of an organization to collect, assess and reflect market learning, in real time.”v
---