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“NEC has a real sense of renewed vigour and a sense of purpose around where it’s heading. As a technology company, we produce some pretty cool tech. It’s not just technology for technology’s sake – it’s really about creating things that add value to people’s lives. The 24 Hour Business Plan has allowed us to align towards delivering that outcome for the customer.”
– David Borean, GM of Brand & Customer Experience, NEC Australia
NEC Australia has a proud 50-plus year history of delivering innovation that balances customers’ business needs with social expectations.
“The DNA of NEC is all about creating social value,” explains David Borean, General Manager of Brand & Customer Experience at NEC Australia. “So, it’s not just about technology for technology’s sake, but actually creating things that add value to people’s lives.”
Continuous improvement and customer satisfaction have always been at the heart of NEC since it was launched in 1899 by Kunihiko Iwadare – one of the few Japanese who worked directly with prolific inventor Thomas Edison.
And as an early adopter of ‘kaizen’ – the Japanese concept of involving all employees in making change for the better – the company encourages its international teams to contribute to new, better ways of working and doing business.
NEC Australia’s dedication to kaizen, particularly the value of teamwork in driving innovation, drove the decision to work with the 24 Hour Business Plan team on refining a business strategy for the new decade.
“Let’s face it right now, technology is going through its greatest transformative stage ever,” notes David Borean. “So it’s important we know our competitive advantages, and how to articulate them.”
“Going through the 24 Hour Business Plan workshops is a great experience for everyone. It brings people into the room from different parts of your business, which doesn’t often happen, and it’s very well facilitated, always driving towards an outcome.”
Borean credits 24 Hour Business Plan’s C-level advisors for fostering authentic and constant collaboration among all workshop participants, which at NEC Australia included field technicians, technologists, marketers, solutions delivery managers and business directors.
“The 24 Hour Business Plan Senior Advisors who run the workshops have such a wide range of experience as senior business leaders, which gave us as an organisation a tremendous amount of confidence,” notes Borean. “The real-world business examples the advisors bring to the facilitation open your mind up to what’s possible in your own industry and they’re very skilled at holding the room to account.”
“I think that’s the power of the 24 Hour Business Plan process: the advisors push things along in a way that’s very provocative, engaging and collaborative. Everyone is incredibly active in the process and it’s very enjoyable.”
The final two workshops had the 24 Hour Business Plan Senior Advisors working with the executive team at NEC Australia to develop and prioritise key goals and tactics to execute in Year 1 of the 4-year Business Plan.
Borean reports the action plans refined during the 24 Hour Business Plan workshops in 2019 are frequently referred to by NEC Australia’s leadership team as the organisation pursues 25% growth in earnings by 2024.
“During the program we came up with a series of Top 10 Must Do’s, which included rebranding our managed services, better educating customers about our offerings and strengthening our government relations,” says Borean.
“Our strategy session identified key vertical markets, with very clearly articulated stakeholders within those government environments where we see the best opportunities to add value to their world – and equally to grow our business. We’ve also appointed a non-executive chair to NEC Australia as a result of the strategy.”
NEC Australia’s growth plan sees it shift from an organisation largely reliant on its managed service business, which served 80% of its overall customer base, to focus more on software innovations and customer experience.
“Our vision is to provide frictionless experiences for all customers and the people who interact with them,” explains Borean. “So we’re increasing our capabilities in AI, Big Data, and analytics, and building partnerships to pursue new markets. The business plan we developed is a living, breathing document in our organisation, and really guides our customer-centric focus.”
NEC Australia’s solutions are designed to bring people together, improve communication, enhance public safety, and deliver best-in-class customer experiences.
For example, NEC’s contactless curb-to-gate solutions for airports combine innovations in software and AI with network infrastructure and biometrics so people can seamlessly verify their identity at every checkpoint.
“The DNA of NEC is all about social value,” reiterates Borean. “During the 24 Hour Business Plan workshop we refined our purpose into two words: ‘Creating Value’. They help us consider our values in the context of our strategy and commit to them.”
“We now have focus and alignment to a clear strategy, which certainly meets the objectives NEC in Japan was looking to achieve in this part of the world. The big achievement of the 24 Hour Business Plan is we’re well positioned to deliver the best possible experience and value for people.”
