Bernard Ross, Author at =MC Consulting

Developing a business model canvas

The business model canvas provides you with a rigorous process for establishing a new business model or improving your existing one. The versatile and practical canvas approach could help improve your fundraising or service delivery, or to set up and run a separate social enterprise.

February 4, 2021
Bernard Ross

The strategy map

Organisations need to find a way to express their strategy simply and understandably – but that way also needs to reflect the complexity of their relationships and activities. One increasingly popular framework to combine these qualities is the Strategy Map which developed out of original work on the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). At its simplest the strategy map describes how an organisation plans to deliver its strategic goals expressed as a one-page systems diagram.

February 1, 2021
Bernard Ross

Developing a theory of change

Most charities and not for profit organisations exist to bring about change in some way. Change for individuals, for societies, or for the world at large. Bringing about those changes often involves working within complex systems and for long periods of time.

Theory of Change is an increasingly popular tool for organisations to describe how they believe that change happens, and to help focus their work on achieving their long-term goals.

January 7, 2021
Bernard Ross

Stop listening to your donors: they’re just trying to rationalise

Fundraisers are an emotional bunch. They care a lot about the bad stuff that’s happening in the world. And they desperately want everyone to care about it as much as they do. And they’re sensitive. So they spend a lot of time and effort listening to donors and supporters.

Unfortunately, this leads them to think the way to understand donors is to listen to them. My thesis here is that if you listen too much to donors you’ll be at best disappointed, and at worst very distracted. Instead you need to study what they actually do.

January 6, 2021
Bernard Ross

Too much yolk and not enough white – what’s your perceived added value?

Economists from Adam Smith onwards argue that people will buy whatever is cheapest when offered a choice between similar options – so acting in their own best interest.

January 5, 2021
Bernard Ross

Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model

Michael Porter has been the hottest (and most expensive) management consultant in the world. He has produced a number of ‘big ideas’. But perhaps his most famous is the Five Forces model which explores the situation in which you should consider entering or exiting a market. This article explains what this model is and why it might be useful to you.

December 10, 2020
Bernard Ross

Imagining alternative futures: using scenario planning for strategy development

In a quickly changing and uncertain world, it often feels like traditional strategic planning with its emphasis on analysis and projection isn’t quite covering all the bases. In this article we explain how scenario planning can enable you to create flexible strategies for uncertain futures.

November 15, 2020
Bernard Ross

Making sure you stand out from the crowd: developing a value proposition

A couple of years ago we were delighted to be asked by UNICEF International to help them develop a case for support. The more we got into the work the more we realised that they were great at making a case for helping kids worldwide, but not so good at distinguishing themselves from the many other great agencies like Plan, Care, ActionAid, World Vision and Save who share that vision. We worked on the case but built into it was what we call a value proposition (VP).

November 1, 2020
Bernard Ross

Swimming with the sharks or the dolphins? Red Ocean Blue Ocean thinking for charities.

=mc consulting is spearheading the use of Red Ocean Blue Ocean thinking in the not-for profit sector. The key idea behind this phrase is the choice you have to make: whether you are seeking to compete fiercely in the Red Ocean with other organisations for the same donors or even service users; or whether you are seeking the Blue Ocean of radical innovation in donors or propositions.

October 22, 2020
Bernard Ross

Pivoting insight

In this article =mc consulting director Bernard Ross explains "What is a Pivot?" and why it is an important business tactic – as increasing numbers of organisations, commercial and non-commercial, are looking to change their business model by taking advantage of pivoting to improve results.

October 5, 2020
Bernard Ross

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