Susan Hamilton unlocks the beautiful paradox hidden in the boundaries that constrain us, whether physical, intellectual, or emotional, and reveals a few obstacles that have stimulated creativity.  At the moment, many of us are encountering more constraints than we have ever experienced in our lifetimes. Options and freedoms of all kinds are limited. Your summer vacation plans? Canceled. Back to school in the fall? Not so sure. Even a simple trip to the grocery store has become a somewhat…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Anushia Kandasamy with Samanea Asia Consulting.  Anushia is a management consultant and senior leadership facilitator based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with 11 years of experience at McKinsey & Company. Anushia has extensive experience working with in the public sector, as well as with larger SMEs in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. She has also served United Nations agencies on Change Management and Leadership Development. As a versatile problem-solver, Anushia works across a range of topics related…

  From the archives of David Bernal’s company blog, timeless advice on how to build a competitive intelligence function that responds to business needs and informs an effective  strategy. Recently, I had a discussion with the VP of strategy for a major multinational retailer. Even a company with vast resources and highly capable management struggled with a common issue for top management: the lack of actionable, timely and relevant competitive information to make appropriate corporate strategy and performance-improvement decisions. Many…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Andrew Hone with Zenith Strategy Associates.  Andrew Hone spent three years as a Principal in the Strategy and Private equity practices at Bain & Company. Prior to Bain, he was a Partner at L.E.K. Consulting, where he specialised in corporate strategy and private equity advisory services. For the last eight years he has been running his own consulting firm and operates across ANZ and the UK. He focuses on strategy development, performance improvement and transaction…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Zac Peake with Constratego Ltd.  Zac Peake has broad consulting and corporate experience, with work that spans strategy development, growth planning, performance improvement, cost reduction, organisation design, and transformation / change for a mix of consumer and retail, financial services, and private equity clients. Zac has worked at Booz & Company (Consumer and Retail practice), The Parthenon Group (commercial due diligence) as well as independent consulting. Zac’s previous corporate work includes roles as strategy director…