Company Philosophy

AC's style of working is based on three distinct, but interrelated philosophies:

Practice-based

It is about a collaborative style of working as our consultants and clients combine their knowledge and experiences to create success. This is best achieved when working very closely with the client's management teams since they have the ultimate responsibility in driving their organization forward.

Practice-based means to integrate:

a. Practical experiences of past assignments and projects

b. Clients' management team collective expertise and practices

c. Clients' existing organizational planning, implementation and development (OD) practices

d. On-site Implementation of tailor-made solutions that is geared to clients' requirements

Partnership-oriented

Working with clients in a practice-based manner requires trust and confidence on both sides. Therefore it is imperative that we see our clients as partners that we serve long-term.

The more we work together, the better is the understanding and the solutions that will emerge. Sustained change can only happen over a period of time as there are no shortcuts or miracles in organizational development.
Our aim is to partner organizations and contribute to their growth and development.

Holistic

We adopt a holistic perspective in the work we do which is expressed in three characteristics:

1. Systems Perspective - From experience we know it is important not only to locate a problem or root cause, but also to understand its relationship, pattern and impact on other parts of the organization. This means together with the client, we have to define solutions that take enough parts of the system into consideration to make a successful change.
2. Balance of Hard & Soft Factors - Consulting is a balance act between changing the "what" and the "how" things are being done in an organization. For example, cutting costs in the long-term is only successful if employees have the right attitude and are aware of what to look out for to reduce costs or are inspired enough to create alternative solutions. For us it is essential that we address the people and culture perspective in all our assignments while going for tangible results. This also means that we adopt Change Management Principles and a Communication Strategy for all projects
3. Transferring Knowledge, Growing Talents - we believe in engaging the client organization as much as possible, so that not only knowledge is transferred, but rather the organization's own learning mechanism is stimulated. Working closely with management and a dedicated client project team is a crucial success factor for any implementation.

The three philosophies are further anchored in ten consulting principles which guide AC in the design and implementation of client projects:

1. Focus on consulting processes, not industries.

2. Be cultural flexible, but don't get culture-hyped.

3. Engage humanity, not tasks.

4. Establish mutual trust, not obligations.

5. Consulting is an ongoing partnership, not a one-off event.

6. Have an eye on outcomes, not just means.

7. Document the learning, positive or otherwise.

8. Adopt a systems thinking perspective.

9. Offer maximum Value

10. Be humorous, be balanced.