Nuclear Consultants International (NCI) business strategy

Strategy consulting: Business strategy for the Nuclear Consultants International (NCI)

Despite purposeful actions to eliminate risk, the very existence of companies is often threatened by circumstances beyond their control and the only way for them to alleviate the risk, is by changing. When this happens, it requires an astute strategic approach and careful planning with a series of deliberate actions to make the transition as smooth as possible for the company still to succeed in its changed landscape.

Client profile

Nuclear Consultants International (NCI) is a certified leading nuclear engineering service provider to both the South African and the international nuclear and conventional energy markets.

The challenge at hand

NCI had developed a business strategy to clearly position the company in the energy space. When Japan was hit by a tsunami, nuclear energy received significant negative media coverage, which implied huge potentially damaging consequences for the business. NCI appointed Stone to facilitate a strategy development process with the objective to re-align the business and diversify it as a company.

Stone’s approach to meeting the need

Stone facilitated a comprehensive two-day workshop with the executive management of NCI. The objectives of the workshop were: to identify NCI’s markets and develop a strategy to target them, to understand and address NCI’s business environment, to map a clear strategic direction forward for the business, to provide strategic business direction going forward, to determine where sustainable growth will come from and, to identify what hindered NCI from reaching its goals. This enabled Stone to determine the business areas that were most in need of strategic focus. To commence the strategy development process, Stone applied its Pebble Ring Thinking© methodology, which always places the business goals at the centre and actively drives the business intent and objectives.

Results achieved and value added for NCI

Stone developed a fully-integrated business and communication strategy for NCI, which clearly illustrated the best way forward. It indicated what NCI should stop doing and what it should do more of, to align itself to its latest strategic objectives, while capitalising on the change. The strategy provided a detailed implementation plan with activities that enabled NCI to proactively market itself, engage and communicate, adopt one unified view of the company, engage in an integrated way with internal and external audiences, explore new opportunities and, actively seek new sources of income. The business and communication strategy enabled NCI to alleviate the negative perception of nuclear in its market place and to diversify its business to minimise future risk.