Volume 3, Number 3 - Fall 2006                                      print this:

Strategies into Practice: Transforming Legal Departments into Strategic Business Partners

Legal departments have a profound influence on the long-term value of corporations, yet most firms continue to side-step general counsel when undertaking strategic planning initiatives, often with disastrous results. Scott Snyder, DSI President and COO, and Justin Miller, Office Tiger's Senior VP and Managing Director of Global Legal Services discuss the changing legal environment and the ways in which firms facing increased competition and a highly uncertain future can transform their legal departments into better strategic business partners. More...

Fresh Perspectives: Leading the Vigilant Organization

George Day, Geoffrey T. Boisi Professor and Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Chairman and CEO of DSI, share some of the lessons they have learned about "minding" and "mining" the periphery. Citing examples from their recent book, Peripheral Vision, they identify six principles that guide vigilant leaders such as the BBC's CEO, Mark Thompson More...

Case Study: A Credit Union's Blue Ocean

Although few people look for examples of "value innovation" in traditionally conservative industries, the Pennsylvania State Employee Credit Union (PSECU) provides plentiful evidence to suggest that retail financial institutions can play a central role in creating the uncontested market spaces that make competition irrelevant. Roch Parayre, DSI's Managing Director of Executive Development, explores the blue ocean strategies that allowed PSECU to reduce costs while simultaneously creating new value for its expanding customer base. More...

News from Within:

• For the second year in a row, Philadelphia 100®, a joint project of the Wharton Small Business Development Center, the Entrepreneurs Forum of Greater Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Business Journal, ranked Decision Strategies International, Inc. one of the top 100 fastest-growing, privately-held businesses in the Philadelphia region.
  
  
  

• DSI's work on peripheral vision and scanning continues to draw the attention of a wide audience. For example Strategy and Leadership asked George Day and Paul Schoemaker to publish an article in the journal's fall issue, where the authors could examine the issues presented in this DSI Quarterly's article "Leading a Vigilant Organization," in greater depth. Additionally, the leading magazine for association executives, Associations Now, published an article by Schoemaker and Day on Peripheral Vision. With Peripheral Vision continuing to receive favorable book reviews in major journals and magazines, Cisco's CEO, John Chambers also requested a Day-Schoemaker contribution for Executive Thought Leadership Quarterly's fall issue.
  
  

• To better serve our clients and partners, Decision Strategies International's on-line home page (www.thinkdsi.com) features a whole new look and feel. Take a look to see our latest announcements and news on services, events, and publications.
  
  

• We welcome the addition of Steve Berg as DSI's new Vice President of Strategic Initiatives. Based in the Philadelphia area, Steve brings to DSI extensive management consulting and systems integration experience, including market research, category management/marketing effectiveness, supply chain management, and operational management. With specific expertise in strategy development for Consumer Package Goods Manufacturers, Steve will serve that industry's clients while also developing key strategic partnerships in DSI's Financial Services, Life Sciences, and Energy practice areas. He holds a B.A. in Marketing from Nichols College and is currently enrolled in the Master of Sciences program at the University of Pennsylvania.
  
  

Should you no longer wish to receive any further email communications from our company
Decision Strategies International, Inc., just reply to this email with the words 'Opt out'
as the subject header and we will immediately remove you from our mailing list.