Umbrex is pleased to welcome Michel Henri Philippart with Sourcing Plus. Michel has more than 30 years of experience in strategic supplier relations management and procurement. He holds a DBA from Paris Dauphine “Thesis: Managing Suppliers as an Intangible Resource to Contribute to the Creation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantages: A Resource Based Approach” (2016), an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management (1989), and a metallurgical engineering degree from University of Liège (1983). Michel worked for the…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Johannes Becker with Becker Management Consulting. Johannes started the first decade of his career at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in Munich working mainly in Financial Services, Technology and Energy industries. BCG then delegated him to a multi-year project with the University of Oxford and sponsoring his PhD in Industrial Marketing. Subsequently, he worked out of the Munich office as member of the BCG’s Energy Core Group and later the Chicago office focusing on Consumer…

Jesse Jacoby shares an article on how transformation programs, agility, and culture play a major in the success of a business.  Many companies are undertaking business transformation initiatives this year – to rein in costs, streamline processes, re-structure teams, drive new revenue, produce higher quality output, etc. These initiatives are inherently complex and require savvy program management skills. Now is a suitable time to review some of the less obvious success factors of program management for business transformations. Agile Governance:…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Stefan Faust with < F A U S T >.  Stefan spent 2,5 years at McKinsey, as a generalist consultant, then became a partner at a leading communications consultancy. Followed by 15 years of experience in the banking / wealth management sector, focusing on strategy, programme management & coordination, transformation & change and marketing & communications. He lives in Zurich / Switzerland and practices and teaches yoga and meditation. He is a certified coach and…

Umbrex is pleased to welcome Adrian Blake with Portrane House.  Adrian spent five years as a digital specialist at Partners in Performance, focusing on using digital tools to drive Operational Improvement. Prior to PiP, Adrian led the Advertising Business Group of DTN in its turnaround for private equity investors, including serving as Publisher of The Progressive Farmer, the world’s biggest agricultural magazine. He spent 6 years at McKinsey & Co., specializing in Media & Entertainment. He began his career in the Entertainment industry,…

Michael Wise recently co-authored this article for McKinsey that explores how best-practice purchasing is now an even more potent source of value creation for private-equity leaders. A careful review of purchasing is typically part of any private-equity (PE) playbook, with procurement savings factoring prominently into 100-day and longer-term business plans. As part of the process, procurement professionals are typically charged with finding and acting on low-hanging opportunities like requesting price reductions and volume discounts from suppliers. Leading PE firms are adopting…