Canon Creds

7/31/2019 Canon Creds

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Accenture helps Canon

rise above competitors

Management Consulting and Integrated Markets


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Business ChallengeFor a leading consumer electronicscompany such as Canon, a strongbrand name and superior productshad long provided valuabledifferentiation for customers-and for retailers who sold tothose customers.

However, globalization allowedan influx of competitive productswith similar functionality, pushingthe market toward commoditizationand an increased emphasis on price.As customers began to lose sightof what differentiated Canonproducts from the vast sea of look-alike competitors and to maketheir choices based solely on price,retailers were sure to follow suit.

Focused on maintaining itsmarket-leading position, thecompany saw a clear need tocontinually boost its differentiation

and value in the eyes of retailersand distributors, thus avoiding thecommoditization trap.

Canon Europe concluded thata transformation of the salesfunction-and the way salespeoplewere trained and rewarded-wasessential to ensuring competitiveadvantage.

More specifically, the salesfunction would need to shift fromits traditional focus on volume toa more consultative approachemphasizing mutual benefit. Forinstance, salespeople would needto be able to work with retailers tocreate and execute joint marketinginitiatives and design moreeffective displays. These efforts

would enable retailers to sell moreCanon products, thus benefitingboth parties.The company's approach was

consistent with how high-performance businesses view theirpeople. In its ongoing researchinto the characteristics of highperformance, Accenture has foundthat one of the building blocks of high performance is a performanceanatomy-the culture, leadershipand workforce elements thatenable a company to driveimportant differences in employeebehavior that lead to betterbusiness outcomes. Furthermore,by focusing on the sales function,Canon Europe was looking toimprove the workforce identifiedas most important by globalexecutives participating in theAccenture High PerformanceWorkforce Study.

How Accenture HelpedCanon Europe's Learning &Development department had a clearview of what they wanted to achieve

Accenture transforms the SalesOrganization for Canon

Accenture Management Consulting worked with Canon, a leading consumer electronics brand withsuperior products, to overcome the impact of global competitors on its business.


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and sought an experienced

partner to help it undertake thetransformation. They selectedAccenture Management Consultingbased on our proven experiencein helping companies achieve highperformance through more skilledand productive workforces.

Working closely with the Canon EuropeEuropean Learning & DevelopmentManager, Ronald van der Molen, the

Accenture Management Consultingproject team began by synthesizingthe European sales roles intoeight new core roles specificallydesigned to achieve Canon Europe'stransformative goals. The team thendesigned a customized Sales Academy;involving competency identificationper role and the design of a trainingcurriculum designed to develop rolespecific competencies. The salesfunction was involved at every stepof the process ensuring they understoodwhy particular competencies werechosen and courses included in theircurriculum. For example, the

curriculum for Key Account Managers

emphasized skills like relationshipmanagement and negotiation, whileSales Administrators were trainedextensively on problem solving andteamwork. In fact, a curriculum foreach role was designed specificallyto help them do their jobs betterand ultimately drive higher levelsof differentiation with retailers.

Finally, to ensure that this training

had a lasting impact, the SalesAcademy was closely integratedwith Canon Europe's performancemanagement system, enabling moreobjective, accurate and strategicallydriven performance appraisals andpersonal development plans.

High Performance DeliveredAs a result of Accentures managementconsultants implementing the SalesAcademy, Canon Europe has madeimpressive strides toward highperformance. For example, thecompany's differentiation andperceived value among retailers has

been directly impacted: While Canon's

account management had lower-than average customer satisfactionlevels prior to implementing theSales Academy, it is now aheadof the competition in this area.

Joachim Guembel, channel directorconsumer sales for megastores andmass retail in Germany, acknowledgesthe project has generated significantbenefits for Canon. "The Sales Academy

shows that apart from excellentproducts, Canon also has an employeefocus," he said. "It improves skillsand behaviors to perfection and isa great opportunity to further buildcommitment to both Canon and itscustomers." Joris de Haas, the EuropeanHR Director for the Consumer Businessgoes further and says "The academyis at the heart of the business creatingeffective development opportunitiesfor our employees, together with theright motivation and spirit for worldclass customer partnership. It's acondition sine qua non for the successof our [sales and marketing] employees."


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Accenture Management Consultingsexpertise extends beyond just salesforce, and includes contact center,finance and IT transformation, andis coupled with leading capabilitiesin learning, coaching, performancemanagement and performance

development. Combining thesecapabilities enables us to drive clearmeasurable business benefits for ourclients. Plus, we have more than adecade of experience with businessprocess outsourcing and workforceperformance issues-in effect, wehave built these skills so that ourclients don't have to.

To find out more about our WorkforcePerformance and Learning services,visit us at www.accenture.com.

Ronald van der Molen, the EuropeanLearning and Development Managersays that "The sales academy wasa huge success. one of its keyadvantages is that it provides amore structured approach to careerdevelopment which, in turn, helps us

to achieve our goal in becoming aworld class organization. The Academyhas recently been extended to ourMarketing and Product Managementdepartments and the intention is toopen it to Customer Services laterthis year."

Our work with Canon Europe is justone example of our expertise inworkforce performance. Our approachfocuses on instilling the keycompetencies and capabilitiesrequired to boost alignment tobusiness strategy, increase innovationand productivity and enable theworkforce to make a substantialpositive impact on performance.

Focused on maintaining itsmarket-leading position,Accenture ManagementConsulting helped Canonto continually boost itsdifferentiation and valuein the eyes of retailers anddistributors, thus avoidingthe commoditization trap.

Copyright 2008 Accenture

All rights reserved.

Accenture, its logo, andHigh Performance Deliveredare trademarks of Accenture.

About AccentureAccenture is a global managementconsulting, technology services andoutsourcing company. Combiningunparalleled experience, comprehensivecapabilities across all industries andbusiness functions, and extensive researchon the worlds most successful companies,Accenture collaborates with clients tohelp them become high-performancebusinesses and governments. With morethan 186,000 people serving clients in over120 countries, the company generated net

revenues of US$23.39 billion for the fiscalyear ended Aug. 31, 2008.

Its home page is www.accenture.com

About Management ConsultingManagement consulting is at the heartof Accentures promise to its clientshigh performance delivered. We applyour groundbreaking research and solidexperience to identify the businessingredients that can help our clientsoutperform their peers. We then workwith them to determine where they areon their journey to high performance anddesign innovative, achievable strategiesthat address their key business priorities.

Accenture is one of the leading providersof management consulting servicesworldwide, employing more than 15,000deeply skilled management consultantsin 49 countries. We work with clientsin every major industry, including 94 of the Fortune Global 100 and more thantwo-thirds of the Fortune Global 500.As well as strategy and industry-specificconsulting, our consulting services coverfour key business areas: customerrelationship management, finance andperformance management, talent &organization performance and supplychain management.

For more information, visitwww.accenture.com/global/consulting.

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Canon Creds