Industries Served
SECG has served a comprehensive list of industries, both U.S-based and transnational. All industries share several things in common, including managing structural costs, finding operational efficiencies, and establishing the business value of IT. SECG's knowledge of industry-specific trends and relevant "best practices," as well as its expertise in strategic planning and management, lifecycle cost management, and competitive innovation, makes SECG capable of assisting clients in successfully addressing complex challenges.
Automotive
The automotive industry faces a paradigm change. Issues include:
- Alternative Energy Drive innovation, along with adaptable supporting infrastructure.
- Diminished Status of Ownership
- Value-in-use Model Transformation
- New Market Entrants
- Competitive Modes of Transportation
Banking
Difficulties, incident to liquidity problems in U.S. banks from 2007 to the present, have led to major bank failures around the world and have shaken the banking industry as well as the entire global financial infrastructure. Issues include:
- Questions regarding bank solvency
- Decline in credit availability
- Damage to investor confidence
- Challenges in pricing of risk
- Inflation
- Increased regulation
Chemical
Market volatility has put a strain on profitability of core businesses. Issues include:
- Feedstock availability and associated risk instruments to maintain predictable pricing
- Cyclical market demand — Specialty Chemicals versus Bulk Chemicals or both?
- Competition from suppliers by way of vertical integration
- New entrants — Emerging economies such as China and India
- Government mandated emissions requirements
- Refocus on core competencies
- M&A Pressure
- R&D Focus
Construction
The recession-induced decline of commercial property investment and construction project starts has led to negative growth in the commercial construction industry. Issues include:
- Industry consolidation
- Commoditization of supply
- Availability of supply
- Narrowing of margins
- Elasticity of workforce
Consumer Products
Aggressive competition, innovation challenges, reduced demand, and pricing pressure confront the consumer products industry. Issues include:
:- Competitive innovation — business model, product, process, product positioning, paradigm
- Product commoditization
- Shifting profit formulas
- Lifecycle cost management
- Addressing developing markets
Education
Public, or state universities, are facing operational challenges, with budget deficits on the incline. Issues include:
- State funding cuts
- Diminishing endowment values
- Fundraising
- Rising tuition and fees — affect the ability of students/students' families to pay
- Government take-over of student loans programs
- On-line competition
Energy & Utilities
Utilities, often regulated monopolies, include electricity, natural gas, sewer, telecommunications, garbage, and water. The current economic environment causes difficulty in accessing capital. Issues include:
- Maintaining reliable service
- Sustainable technology development
- Additional regulation
- Aging and inadequate infrastructure
- Rising demand
- Security of supply
Financial
The current financial crisis has destroyed value and substantially decreased the risk tolerance of the customer. Turbulence is good for Forex trading services. It is up to other firms in the financial services market to find ways to thrive in an unstable world economy. Issues include:
- Substantial public relations challenges
- Underperforming, sometimes toxic, assets
- Finding new sources of capital
- Increased government regulation
- Continued failures
- M&A activity
Government
Government spending is approximately 45% of GDP. Federal deficits are close to $13 trillion. Massive entitlements have increased the cost of Federal Government and the size of mandates to the states. There is a blurring between public and private enterprises due to massive stimulus spending. At the state level, budget deficits are reaching default status. Local governments grapple with diminishing tax revenues, public school budget cuts, and reduction of services. All of these things require significant strategic planning and management, operations management, IT lifecycle cost management, and organizational behavior change management. Issues include:
- Defining of mission statements
- Structural cost management
- Establishing the business value of IT
- Revenue management
- Spending restraint
Health Care
Innovation in the areas of diagnostic techniques, medical technologies, and advanced therapies is strained by pressure to reduce costs by government fiat. Issues include:
- Rising need of health care — baby boomers have increasing health care issues
- Adequate number of trained health care professionals
- Capitalizing on medical advances under increasing regulatory pressure
- Implications of socialized medicine
- High medical costs
- Debt problems
Insurance
Insurance companies are challenged to develop new, innovated, business models in a depressed financial market. They must find ways to bring value to their shareholders within a regulatory environment. Issues include:
- Life insurance business model innovation
- Adjusting to regulatory pricing pressures
- Capital requirements
- Risk management
- FASB/ISAB recommendations for change in the accounting for insurance contracts
- Structural cost reduction
- M&A
Media
Technology innovations have driven a behavioral shift, with the consumer now dictating what, how, and when content is consumed. Some, traditional, forms of content distribution, such as newspapers, broadcast media, and recorded music, are in danger of extinction. Advertising dollars are being redirected to the new, disruptive, innovations in the industry. Issues include:
- New business model innovation
- Low barriers to entry
- Slow response time
- Operational efficiencies
Mining
The outlook for base metals mining is positive, spurred by China, which is now the largest single consumer of base metals. Precious metals, particularly gold, have fared well during the recession due to the falling dollar, which always spurs rising gold prices. Steel & energy-related mining has shown weakness resulting from automotive industry declines. Issues include:
- New mining projects in remote locations, such as Chile & Mongolia where mining skills and human resources are limited
- High M&A activity
- High risk
- Government and mining community relations
Oil & Gas
Crude oil prices are high, and are expected to level off. Demand in expected to increase only minimally from recession lows. Gas demand remains weak and production declines are expected. Issues include:
- OPEC decisions
- Geostrategic tensions
- Alternative energy innovation
- Restrictions on domestic exploration
- Weak U.S. dollar
Pharmaceutical
Post-recession growth, in the pharmaceutical industry, is projected to be moderate. Innovation is critical for long-term growth. R&D budgets, however, may be impacted by economic conditions and government-mandated price decreases. Issues include:
- Innovation/patent expiration imbalance
- Structural cost reduction
- Supply chain consolidation impact on prices
- Safety events resulting in product withdrawal or prescribing restrictions
- Shifts in regulatory approval standards from their current levels
- The application of sudden cuts to drug spending levels
- Public health crises
- Deterioration in economic conditions
Public Sector
See Higher Education and Government Organizations such the United Nations, NATO, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank make up the international public sector. Despite their obvious political nature, these organizations are in need of substantial improvements in and consolidation of information technology. Issues include:
- IT budgets — controlled by member nations
- IT architecture
- High risk
- Project management
Retail
The retail industry relies on gross margins and inventory turns. Value propositions have become less well defined due to the economic crisis. Traditional buyer behavior has become less predictable. Growth is difficult, as M&A activity has had a low probability of success. On-line sales and services are steadily improving. Issues include:
- Segment cross-shopping
- Channel strategy
- Excess retail space capacity
- Operating cost management
- Market saturation
- Complex sourcing issues
- Declining customer loyalty
- Business plan innovation
- Revenue growth
- Risk management
Software
The software industry is affected by IT paradigms. Client hardware is moving from the PC to internet appliances. As technologies, such as cloud computing, evolve, there will be a well-defined migration from desktop software to the web. Social networking, e-commerce, real-time searches will grow and become relevant to business models of all industries. Issues include:
- Monetization — business models modification to include the web
- Managing operational efficiencies
- Data Security
- Regulatory policies — i.e. Net Neutrality
Technology
Driven by concepts like Moore's Law and Disruptive Innovation, the technology industry epitomizes change. Sectors in the technology industry are defined by the research-intensity and/or the technology-intensity in finished products or services. Technology follows a pattern of paradigm changes, with industries emerging, then maturing, then challenged by industries spawned by disruptive technology. Technology companies must be capable of identifying new growth opportunities and be nimble enough to deliver new value and deliver new, innovative, business models in order to remain relevant. Issues include:
- Revenue growth
- Identifying partnerships and/or M&A opportunities
- Role of information technology in innovation
Telecommunications
The telecommunications industry has successfully transformed from the long-time traditional wire-based systems to wireless. Data-driven wireless growth is seeing the emergence of new, non-traditional competitors. Wireless companies remain in competition with cable companies for telephony, broadband and media services. Issues include:
- Operating cost reduction
- Managing churn
- Declining wireless revenue
- Innovating in the area of data services
- Bundling and pricing
- Regulatory policies
Transportation
Sectors include airlines/aviation, rail and bus systems, and tourism. Consolidation in the airline industry is taking place in order to achieve or exceed economic profit. Consumer behavior is impacted by new fees for checked luggage and carry-on baggage. Public transportation systems have become increasingly more complex. Operators and authorities are challenged to provide greater mobility that is safe and affordable. Issues include:
- Rising fuel costs
- Security
- Rising fares
- Technology alternatives to business travel — GoToMeeting, Skype, etc.
- Natural events inhibiting air travel, such as the volcanic ash from Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano
- Demand for simpler and more efficient payment systems
- Quality of service
