Organizations that rely on our strategic business strategy range from a few people in size to large multinationals. We also work with sector representatives for entire industries and local to national governments.

Multi-Sectoral Advantage

Some industries are further ahead than others in implementing new strategies and solutions. Because we work in abroad range of industries we can provide cross-sectoral intelligence to all our clients.

Industries we work in are, among others:

• Chemical Industry (cosmetics, food additives, plastics)
• Manufacturing (Carpet, Packaging, Product, Transport)
• Agriculture & Food Distribution
• Construction & Design
• Urban Development & Infrastructure
• Policy & Regulation
• IT and Software Development
• Retail & Sales
• Energy production & distribution
• Waste & Water management

Use Systemic insights

The time when business strategy could be decided by financial and market data alone is past. Global intelligence from many different angles can be combined into 'systemic' insights using new techniques such as system mapping, combined with trend analysis and serious gaming. 

What will your organization do to adapt to the rapid changes in global material flows, economic balances and regulations? There are ways to adaptively ride these changes rather than simply react when a change becomes real. Using the right strategic tools at the right time allows you to take advantage of changing markets. We work with clients to embed systemic thinking in their business processes.

Sustainability as strategy

Various reports from different industries show that sustainability as a business endeavour only pays off if it's used as a core business strategy. In contrast, just focusing on energy and material savings, CO2 and other physical elements will likely result in a losing proposition. 

• How do you embed sustainability in the core strategy of your organization?
• Which steps do you have to take to roll out a strategy in different markets, cultures and product lines?
• How can we make our business more resilient?
• How can we prevent increasingly rising costs due to regulation and certification?
• What does the future of our industry look like in 10, 30 or 50 years?
• What intelligence can we structurally derive from our production chains, stakeholders and life cycle assessments?

We work with you to anwer these questions for your particular situation, and customize the solutions for optimal effect.

New business models

A great variety of new business models have been made possibly by developments in technology as well as in business management. You can take advantage of these leaner and more adaptable business models for, for instance, product development, innovation, strategy development, production and providing on demand services. 

• Embedded Networks
  Among these advances are the ability to make use of both physical and social networks. There are right and wrong ways to do it. In which way can Facebook, LinkedIn and your own intranet help to make your organization be more effective, and reach new customers? Or are these just hot air balloons? How can you use them for what they're best for, and make sure not to bet on the wrong horse?
   
• Knowledge Management
  Knowledge is power. How is the knowledge in your organization collected, stored and shared? Most organizations have a lot to gain from better ways to manage information and experience. New web and cloud based IT tools can help you capitalize on this, and improve the performance of your organization without adding any physical attirbutes or incurring large overhead costs.
   
• Products as a Service (PAAS)
  New technologies and product-as-a-service innovations allow you to increasingly dematerialize the services you provide. Which directions can this development take, and which steps need to be taken to take advantage of these developments?
   
• Decentralized business units
  There's a variety of proven business models out there which show the advantage of a far-reaching decentralization in business structure. How do you transition from your current model to new ones, or how can you use new business modles to set up new branches, innovation labs, product development centers or support local communities? 

We work with our clients to answer these questions, and embed these and other new business strategies in ways that are adapted to their specific requirements and strengths.

Ecology as strength

We increasingly learn that using ecology and biology not just as examples but as 'green engines' within business yield impressive results.

From inventions that use biomimicry principles to develop groundbreaking new materials and working principles for products to using organically developed business models that are based on cell structures, all around us ecology is proving its strength.

At Except we let ecologists, business analysts, engineers and designers work together to figure out smart ways to move forward. If you'd like to take advantage of these new insights and developments, contact us today.

Examples

Yale Carbon Calculator

Determine your footprint from travel and events

Except worked with Yale University to develop a customized online carbon calculator for the Yale Community Carbon Fund. The calculator allows anyone to calculate their footprint and directly support projects that offset this carbon.

The calculator is an intuitive and easy to use website for calculating greenhouse gas emissions from Yale events and operations:

• Travel and transportation
• Facility use
• Waste generation
• Education

 

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Leaders for Nature: Shared Resources, joint solutions

From awareness to action with the network of IUCN

On 17th April 2015, IUCN organized the Leaders for Nature forum in Eindhoven. Except supported IUCN in a year long trajectory to prepare and guide the Forum in a new format. This included concept development, stakeholder involvement and preparation of the challenges.

The preparations resulted in 10 challenges brought in by the network of Leaders for Nature. Over 150 participants from business, NGOs and government joined the forum. Guided by Except, teams worked on the most pressing natural capital challenges.

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MSC Datahub

Data-ecosystem concept for the Marine Stewardship Council

We worked with the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) on a new data management program to allow them to grow to thousands of sustainable fisheries around the world, sustainably.

The MSC is a growing organization in an increasingly data-driven world, seeking to improve, expand and streamlining its data-facilities to handle the growth of their certification program. Together we developed a vision and concept using systemic analysis, a co-creation session on-site with 13 MSc employees and 6 partners and stakeholders. The concept demonstrates an innovative data hub as precondition for growth and healthy future operations.

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IKEA Catalogue Supply Chain Dashboards

Intuitive Dashboards Enable Sustainable Decision Making

The IKEA catalogue with more than 200 million copies is the largest annual print run in the world. IKEA Media Production has worked diligently to improve the catalogue’s sustainability performance. To find new ways to boost its performance, IKEA Media Production engaged Except. Together we applied a new systems-thinking approach and found powerful ways to raise performance.

With implementation partners Trade Extensions and Deloitte we created new visual big data tools in less than a year. Together we realized a sustainability-driven learning supply chain that is now helping transform the biggest paper and print suppliers worldwide.

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Refreeze

Keep the Arctic in the Arctics

This project aims to reduce the temperatures in the Arctics to prevent massive climate disaster worldwide. It organizes the consortium, action plan, research, technology, finance, and legal framework to  move towards global climate mitigation using autonomous cloud whitening vessels  using salt water vapour. 

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