Case Study - Project Management
Develop, test and launch a new corporate purchasing card product, designed to help customer organizations manage and reduce the cost of their procurement processes. 
Context
An international financial organization with head offices in Europe and the United States partnered with Whitesell & Company to launch a new corporate purchasing card product designed to help organizations manage and reduce the cost of their procurement processes. The purchasing card would be based upon a client server, e-commerce solution enabled with proprietary technology. Due to the client's limited people resources, Whitesell & Company assumed the Project Management function for the launch of the corporate card as well as providing thought leadership in the area of technology and international market strategy.
The primary goal was to develop and test the product by means of a live beta launch with one of the top three automotive manufacturers. Following the successful beta launch, the next goal was to launch the product with six international organizations. Our client's share of the estimated $300 billion market was one of the key performance indicators.
Whitesell & Company applied its extensive project management methodologies to organize the client's internal resources behind the launch initiative. Our consultants were given the latitude to select key individuals from various departments to re-structure the systems to support the new card product. Resistance to change, communication, conflicting product strategies, morale, executive support and global integration were all issues that required resolutions through facilitation, root cause analysis and coordination.
Although it was not part of the original mandate, Whitesell & Company assisted with the professional development and coaching of key individuals who were involved in the technical, sales and marketing messages for the new product.
Outcomes
Our client's limited internal resources had resulted in several false starts over a period of two years before we took on the project. The client's commitment behind Whitesell & Company’s involvement as Project Managers resulted in a successful beta launch in less than four months and the establishment of a technology platform to launch the first set of global clients.
The client is one of only a few financial institutions that are structured to be, in Charles Handy's words, “supra-nationals” such as Amazon, Google and Apple. These corporations have the ability and agility to control a significant share of the purchasing and procurement supply chain before their competitors can alter their internal and external structures to compete effectively.
Whitesell & Company won a Quality Award for its work.