Sponsored Projects

The Kewpie Group is a leading Japanese manufacturer of mayonnaise, salad dressings, condiments, and other processed food products.

Project: Kewpie wanted to expand its egg business into the US market by utilizing its “Egg White Technology” to improve physicality of cholesterol-free protein. They believed this would allow them to position their products as healthier, more nutritious options than competitive products. The SGE Immersion team analyzed Kewpie’s products against both the competitive products and consumer preferences of the US market in order to help the company understand how it could best position itself to appeal to preferences related to health and well-being.

Emerson is a leading global industrial firm comprised of five business segments: Process Management, Industrial Automation, Network Power, Climate Technologies, and Commercial & Residential Solutions.

Project: Emerson’s customers faced three global macro challenges. First, turnover caused by the retirement of the baby boomer generation was expected to cause 23% of the current process instrumentation and electrical technicians and control installers to be replaced by 2020. Second, the learning styles and channels of the next generation were different than the preceding generation; a new generation of workers growing up in the digital age must be brought up to speed on increasingly complex technologies in order to keep customers’ systems running safely, effectively, and efficiently. Finally, development of new and remote international markets for the process industry had created local demand for workforces in which the necessary skill sets were not readily available. The SGE Immersion team identified strategic investments for training remote, inexperienced, and/or undereducated customers, employees, and future employees across 20 countries in varying states of economic development. The team developed an understanding both at a global and local market level for how to provide technical training and education that would create a more skilled workforce, thereby growing the available pool of process instrumentation field technicians. The team also provided insight and actionable plans for markets where education opportunities were either absent or faced major barriers for delivering quality training programs.

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) is a Zambian organization that produces IT’S WILD!, a special brand of organic, value-added processed products that come from farmers who live with wildlife and support wildlife conservation efforts.

Project: COMACO had recently been approached by the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (Norfund, www.norfund.no) which invests in the establishment and development of profitable and sustainable enterprises in developing countries. Norfund was interested in investing in COMACO’s for-profit activities. The SGE Immersion team worked with COMACO to clarify the financials associated with their food business – both individually by product, and collectively as a business unit – to develop a five-year strategic growth plan for the organization that could be presented to potential investors, including Norfund. This required the team to clearly delineate between COMACO’s for-profit and non-profit activities to develop a financing plan that would charter COMACO’s ideas for growth around particular products and markets to reach a $10 million annual turnover.

Barclays is a major global financial services provider engaged in retail banking, credit cards, corporate and investment banking and wealth and investment management, with an extensive international presence in Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia.

Project: Barclays was currently looking at how to provide technology solutions for market-failing segments in sub-Sahara Africa such as affordable housing, infrastructure, education, etc. by utilizing technology to mobilize and create shared value opportunities commercially in the region through project BETA – Barclays Enterprise Tool for Africa. BETA’s objective was to use affordable housing as a proof-of-concept by utilizing technology to bring together a broad range of stakeholders (i.e., government agencies, developers, landowners, and financers) who would be interested in launching their housing projects through an online portal. The portal would allow for more efficient and effective matching of stakeholders to projects and to one another. The SGE Immersion team developed the business case for a portal to address affordable housing needs in sub-Saharan Africa with focus on meso-financial needs ($20,000-30,000). The team assessed how to best target MNCs, government agencies, credit unions, pensions, etc. in order to create a financial one-stop-shop opportunity for retail banking (mortgage), corporate banking (for govt. agencies, pensions), and investment banking (re-financing).

American Governor Company (AGC) provides critical support and equipment to over 90% of the North American hydropower market.

Project: Although American Governor had experienced phenomenal growth for the past five years, the company wanted to evolve to ensure that it remained effective and efficient as both the organization and its business became more complex. The SGE Immersion team developed a competitive product/service management growth strategy for the company which included marketing and sales strategy, competitive analysis, product development, order execution, financial goal, and product lifecycle and long-term product line and company strategies.

Yingli is one of the leading vertically integrated photovoltaic (PV) product manufacturers in China that aims to provide affordable green energy for all. The company designs, manufactures, and sells PV modules and designs, and assembles, sells, and installs PV systems that are connected to electricity transmission grids or those that operate on a stand-alone basis. Yingli has more than 30 offices in countries around the world, has the capacity to manufacture 2.45 GW of solar panels, and has shipped over 40 million solar panels (+10 GW) to more than 50 countries, including Germany, Spain, Italy, Greece, France, South Korea, China, Japan, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and the United States. The company’s products and services substantially cover the entire PV industry value chain from the manufacture of multicrystalline polysilicon ingots and wafers, PV cells, PV modules and PV systems to PV system installation. Its end-products include PV modules and PV systems in different sizes and power outputs.

Project: Crowdfunding was rapidly emerging as a unique source of start-up financing and is projected to double in size to $3 billion in 2012. A recent study by Monitor had predicted that crowdfunding would grow to $500 billion annually. Crowdfunding had just been approved in the JOBS Act by Congress which, for the first time, gave the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) rulemaking authority over the crowdfunding market. The SGE Immersion team analyzed the potential for crowdfunding to become a viable source of capital for mid-tier (sub $10 million) solar projects, and provided recommendations to Yingli for whether or not the company should pursue crowdfunding to help fuel its expansion.

Founded in 1966 by Pierre Bellon in Marseilles, France, Sodexo (www.sodexo.com) is a global $22 billion food services company serving 50 million meals a day. The company is comprised of 420,000 employees in 80 countries. Sodexo North America is the leading provider of integrated food and facilities management services in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In FY 2011, Sodexo North America earned revenue of $8 billion, serving more than 10 million customers daily at 6,000 sites and 700 managed facilities.

Project: The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) provided a wild-caught sustainable seafood certification. Sodexo was purchasing MSC-certified wild-caught seafood as part of its global commitment to source sustainable seafood, but was prevented from marketing it as such to its customers unless it obtained what was called “Chain of Custody” certification. Chain of Custody certification utilizes third party audits to guarantee that the seafood at the table has come from a sustainably-managed fishery. While there were clear costs to obtaining Chain of Custody certification, the benefits were less clear. Sodexo was currently piloting a Chain of Custody certification program at 12 sites in Washington, DC where they obtained data on consumer responses to MSC-branded seafood. Based on the results of the pilot, Sodexo was considering scaling the program throughout North America. The SGE Immersion team determined whether there was true value to obtaining Chain of Custody MSC certification or whether an alternative approach would be more effective.

SOCOTA Textiles & Apparel Division is a vertically integrated design, fabric, and garment manufacturer delivering textiles to the European and South African market out of Madagascar. SOCOTA is a division of Groupe SOCOTA, an 80-year-old, family owned, industrial group of companies covering textiles, aquaculture, sea food distribution, real estate, agriculture, and is starting to move into energy. Last year, Groupe SOCOTA generated $450 million in revenue of which the Textile Division accounted for $70 million. Groupe Socota diversified into aquaculture with the establishment of OSO in 1976, which, in 2006, became the first world’s organic shrimp producer (AB Label). Recently, the company has expanded further to include a seafood distribution business (R & O) in Europe and a real estate (Socota Phoenicia) business in Madagascar and Mauritius.

Project: Socota had determined that after years of neglect, Madagascar’s national power company would not be able to provide reliable power in the future. Lack of investment in energy infrastructure and outdated equipment were undermining the ability of companies like Socota to grow. The Socota Textile & Apparel decided to become energy independent via environmentally friendly energy sources. The SGE Immersion team examined the energy options and investments that would allow the company to consume 2.5 MW of power and 10 MW steam. The team looked at the technologies and inputs available, determined what works for the company’s needs, and provided an energy strategy for implementation.

Novo Nordisk is a global healthcare company focused on diabetes care. The company has leading positions within hemophilia care, growth hormone therapy, and hormone replacement therapy. Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 32,500 employees in 74 countries, and markets its products in 179 countries.

Project: The SGE Immersion team focused on the India pilot in Patna, Bihar, where the company is experimenting with doorstep delivery of diabetes care services. The team analyzed the sustainability of the program and offered recommendations for improvement, scaling, and diagnosing risks and pitfalls.

New Holland manufactures a wide range of agriculture equipment, including a full line of tractors, hay and forage equipment, and harvesting, crop production, and material handling equipment.

Project: In 2011, New Holland launched a biofuels initiative in partnership with Growth Energy (www.growthenergy.org) that focused on the growth of the ethanol market. Specifically, the partnership was formed to develop initiatives to improve New Holland’s take rates with the 55,000 producers that deliver corn and stover to member biofuels plants. New Holland was entering the second year of a marketing program targeted at these eligible producers and was evaluating how to be an active player in 2nd generation biofuels based on corn stover and other plant materials. The SGE Immersion team developed a plan to maximize the effectiveness of the marketing initiative and recommended other ways to generate revenue streams from first and second generation biofuels.