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VisualCV URL: http://www.visualcv.com/ralphpoole
Photo for Ralph Poole

Ralph Poole

Contact Information

President
Coherence Group, Inc.

Boston, MA
United States
Home:
+1 617 242 2316
Mobile:
+1 617 803 3726
Other:
+44 778 852 7567
Fax:
+1 617 517 7722

Summary

Ralph has worked in management consulting since 1977.  He is an expert at developing business professionals to sell and deliver services to clients.  His work enables Professional Service Firms to grow their revenues, margin and service quality while delivering extraordinary business results to their clients. 

 

Ralph has worked closely with senior management in the top global Strategy Consulting firms, Management and IT Consulting firms, Marketing Consulting firms, Law firms, and Audit and Tax firms throughout the world.  His work focuses on developing the analytical skills of top performers, the business development skills of partners, teaching business research techniques, creating leadership development opportunities, and creating performance support tools that allow these firms to sustain their performance over time.

 

Currently Ralph has leadership roles in two firms:  in the U.S. at Coherence Group, Inc. and at Bridge Consulting International, a UK Consultancy:

 

  • Coherence Group works with global companies to develop systems to support the performance of knowledge workers.  This work involves developing and implementing knowledge processes and technologies, best practice transfer systems, learning management systems and content, and process methodologies. His clients are listed here.
  •  Bridge Consulting International works with companies to develop senior management’s ability to develop, lead and execute strategy: to grow their firm’s management capabilities, to drive service innovation and to enhance the company's ability to deliver results to their clients.

 

Ralph’s work has been documented in the Harvard Business Review, CIO and Fortune Magazine.  He is a frequent commentator on knowledge sharing technologies, Enterprise 2.0 systems and executive education.  Ralph writes two popular internet blogs:  What Ralph Knows and Learning to Change Business, both of which reflect his problem solving approach.

Work History

Coherence Group, Inc.

Boston, MA, United States
2003 - Present

President 

Responsible for selling and delivering knowledge management, learning, leadership development and process methodology solutions to global companies.

  • Managed customer relationships, contracts, projects, accounts, maintained production schedules, and managed contract labor.
  • Engaged with seven new partner firms to enhance the firms service offerings: Brightidea Inc., Cambridge Intellectual Property Limited , Communitas Online,Pandemic 101, Procarta, Quoininc, SigmaFlow, and Whatever SA to sell and deliver their innovative knowledge-based service offerings.
  • View my consulting biography, description of major projects and qualifications by clicking here.
  • Clients include: ATMI, Battelle, Booz Allen Hamilton, Collective Next, Ernst & Young, Fidelity Investments, ForestCity, L.E.K. Consulting, Moog, Inc, Premier Inc., Prophet, Professionals Services Marketing Group, Southern California Edison, The Omidyar Network, The World Bank.

Bridge Consulting International

London, United Kingdom
2005 - Present

Partner 

Responsible for selling and delivering knowledge management, strategy implementation, business transformation, and learning solutions to clients. Led large engagements that enable a company's critical business processes with knowledge and learning. Delivered transformational projects in Oil & Gas, Financial Services, Health Care and Professionals Services.

  • Clients include: Allen & Overy (UK Magic Circle Law Firm), BBC, Channel 4, Ofcom, Shell, Serco, UK Department of Health

Capgemini

Boston, MA and Paris, France; Global responsibility
2000 - 2003

Chief Knowledge Officer; Chair of the Gobal Knowledge & Learning Council; Director, Knowledge, Learning, Methods (KLM) 
  • Developed and managed global and regional knowledge management budgets plus a capital budget for enhancing the technical applications that support knowledge sharing. Budget responsibility exceeded $100 Million.
  • Created the enterprise portal, content and knowledge processes, people management policies, collaboration technologies, technology infrastructure, (including intranet and extranet applications) and content management practices, for a global consulting firm with 56,000 employees. Implementation involved building global and regional communities of practice in industry sectors, service lines and professions.
  • Transformed the creation and delivery of knowledge content, learning for skills development and the method for executing engagement work in a functional unit called Knowledge, Learning and Method (KLM). Developed a portfolio of improvement initiatives to improve consulting delivery productivity, engagement margins, and to accelerate the introduction of new services to the consulting market.
  • Directed the aggregation and deployment of the intellectual capital of the firm through presentation of practice experience, training, methodological work steps and project management expertise. Coordinated the global knowledge and learning technology architectures and balance computer mediated collaboration with Face to Face interactions for exchanging tacit knowledge.
  • Worked in a multicultural environment in multiple locations including the Paris headquarters of Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, London, Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Boston, Dallas, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Atlanta.

Ernst & Young LLP

Global responsiblility
1994 - 2000

Principal and Director of the Center for Business Knowledge 

Created the Center for Business Knowledge (CBK): a global organization that managed business research libraries, fact-based business research analysis, practice experience and knowledge, organizational learning, and knowledgebase development. Leveraged internal and external information and knowledge sources to accelerate the rate and quality of improvement in E&Y's Audit, Tax and Consulting businesses.

  • Developed knowledge management processes to acquire, store, add value and deploy practice experience and knowledge to support client development and the efficient delivery of results in client engagements. Created a knowledge shared service function within the firm (CBK) to manage the process of content creation and rapid knowledge transfer in the audit, tax and management consulting practices.
  • Built consensus within E&Y on the value of knowledge management and organizational learning. Lead the change management process within the management consulting practice to drive more industry/competitive information and fact-based content into consulting work products.
  • Member of the firm-wide Knowledge Council and Technology Planning Committee, responsible for the management of all knowledge and technology implementation initiatives in a firm of 30,000 US professionals and 90,000 worldwide professionals.

Symmetrix, Inc.

Lexington,, MA, United States
1993 - 1994

Principal and Cheif of Staff 

Managed all internal operations for a practice of 130 professionals billing $24 million annually and growing at 40% per year. Directed human resources, consulting staff training, business research and library management, financial planning and administration, information systems and technology, graphics, office facilities, recruiting, staffing and professional development. Consulted to client senior management on reengineering assignments in financial services, telecommunications and manufacturing.

  • Reengineered a large Canadian Telecom's sales, marketing and provisioning process for business customers. In a unionized environment, reduced process cycle time by 60% and headcount by 50%.
  • Developed and implemented a reengineering plan designed to change the fund accounting processes in a large mutual fund provider, built procedures and systems that supported a $130 billion mutual fund portfolio. Reduced the client's fund processing costs by 60%.
  • Reengineered a large multinational's corporate information system, reducing the cost of centralized computer operations by distributing manufacturing systems to the business units, while rationalizing and centralizing financial and human resource systems into a shared service center.
  • Participated on the Symmetrix management board as a member of the Operations Committee which developed and implemented strategic plans.

Bain & Company Inc.

Boston, MA, United States
1979 - 1993

Director of Consulting Services 

Promoted from Information Manager to Director for research and analysis, practice experience sharing, and training. Created and managed the firm's research infrastructure, including the research libraries and knowledge centers globally. Created a business research library and the research and competitive analysis techniques to support the formulation of strategy for Bain's clients. Developed and implemented methodologies for distributing problem solving technologies worldwide, including state-of-the-art training capabilities and services which added technical consulting skills to client case teams. Staff responsibility for up to 125 individuals.


Practice Experience Sharing: Continuously improved consulting staff productivity by actively managing Bain's problem-solving technologies. Identified practice areas for development and innovation, creating a worldwide framework for practice experience sharing, training and identification of best demonstrated applications of strategic concepts.

  • Created Bain's Experience Center to codify the accumulated problem-solving experience in clients, industries or markets served. Applied information technology and initiated training and seminars to distribute practice knowledge worldwide.

Executive Education/Training: Established Bain's training and development programs for executives and consulting staff.

  • Created a worldwide strategy for executive training programs. Designed programs to provide key consulting skills at career milestones.
  • Directed a $10-15 million annual investment in the development of proprietary training materials and technologies, creating state-of-the-art training capabilities for the professional staff and Bain clients.
  • Designed and directed the implementation of sales training for the worldwide vice presidents group. Sales increases of over 25% are attributed sales training and follow-up activities.

General Management: P&L responsibility for IT and market research functions. Created the product and marketing strategies for units charging over $12 million annually to clients.

  • Managed three specialty consulting practice areas: Bain Information Technology, Bain Market Research and the training department which sold services directly to clients, augmenting the skills of the consulting staff with a more technical skill set.
  • Developed strategic business research capabilities worldwide. Designed research facilities and implemented rigorous fact-based business research techniques for analyzing costs, customers, competitors, and organizational capabilities.
  • Restructured administrative overhead functions reducing costs by over $5 million annually.

Corporate Management: Chaired the team of executives responsible for providing administrative and information technology services to worldwide offices and client case teams.

  • Directed a process which rationalized fixed and variable office costs, providing management with greater flexibility to manage revenue fluctuations.
  • Developed internal and external benchmarks of worldwide operational costs providing incentive to reduce overhead costs by 20%.

Marketing:

  • Developed an analytical method to track and display Bain and Company's impact on client's stock price performance. Chart demonstrating Bain Client Performance

 

  • Directed the development of a marketing database which tracked client Chief Executive Officer and Board of Directors relationships, qualified high priority leads, and tracked company contacts.

The Boston Consulting Group, Inc.

Boston, MA
1977 - 1979

Information Manager 
Created a business research library and developed an organization which provided fact-based research, practice experience sharing and analysis to client case teams engaged in developing corporate strategy.

Skills

Skillometer_5

Executive Leadership Development

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_5

Knowledge Management / Enterprise 2.0 Strategy and Implementation

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_5

Strategic Business Research and Analysis

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_5

Scenario Planning, Case Writing for Senior Executive Education

(Rockstar)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_4

Development of Business Process and Software Development Methodologies

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_4

Best Practice Identification, Quantification and Transfer

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_4

Innovation / Research and Development Strategy and Implementation

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )
Skillometer_4

Taxonomy Development for Business Applications

(Expert)
10+ Years Experience, ( Last Used <1 year ago )

Education

Simmons College, Graduate School of Library and Information Science

1975 - 1976
Boston, United States
Masters of Library and Information Science

Ithaca College

1970 - 1974
Ithaca, United States
BA, Philosphy and English, cum laude

Press

Harvard Business Review: What's your Knowledge Strategy?

Harvard Business Review:  What's your Knowledge Strategy?
Morten Hansen, Professor at the Harvard Business School, wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review examining the work that I led at Ernst & Young, LLP and in Bain & Company's Global Experience Center.
 

Knowledge Management Case Study by Tom Davenport

Knowledge Management Case Study by Tom Davenport
A description of the knowledge management people, process and technology work that I led at Ernst & Young.
 

Managing Corporate Knowledge: Case Studies

Managing Corporate Knowledge: Case Studies
This paper develops and applies a framework that compares and
contrasts several consulting firms efforts in implementing knowledge management programmes. Ernst & Young's KM program is one of the highlighted efforts.
 

My Work

Coherence Group, Inc.

Coherence Group, Inc.

This site functions as Coherence Group's platform for connecting with customers.  It describes our service offerings and includes a weblog which discusses our approach to knowledge management, learning, leadership development and process methodologies.  Coherence Group ambition is to work for the best companies in the world to solve their most critical information problems requiring business process, technology and cultural change.

Bridge Consulting International, LLP

Bridge Consulting International, LLP

Ralph is a partner at the UK consultancy Bridge Consulting International. Bridge is an international provider of leadership development & learning programmes, top-leadership roundtable events, and strategic decision support services. Bridge's core services are tailored to meet the needs of senior executives.

Clients

My Clients

Clients

Partner Companies

Cambridge Intellectual Property, Limited

Cambridge Intellectual Property, Limited

Cambridge IP offers a range of products and services meeting the IP intelligence needs of the technology sector. It is located in Cambridge, England. Ralph is responsible for building new business in the Americas and providing technical and strategy advice.

CommunitasOnline

CommunitasOnline

Communitas Online uses a unique combination of traditional and new technology marketing & research tools that can create a unique and deep understanding of your customers. The approach creates meaningful, real-time 'voices' that can be shaped into strategies that demonstrate a deeper understanding of market needs and motivations. Communitas' products & services, plus methodology takes gathered information and puts them into tangible, meaningful strategic plans. These plans become the basis of your marketing tactics. 

Knowledge Plaza

Knowledge Plaza

Knowledge Plaza is an easy-to-use, open, flexible and intuitive solution for sharing information and knowledge. The Plaza is the meeting place between those who know and those who search, at the intersection of internal information and external sources.

Pandemic101

pandemic101

Coherence Group is certified to deliver pandemic planning services to companies and government organizations. Pandemic planning requires  collection and organizations of large amounts of highly critical information so people can act quickly in an emergency.  Emergency preparedness is one of the most critical learning and knowledge management tasks that a company undertakes.

ProCarta

ProCarta

ProCarta is smart, simple software that does four things. First it helps organizations define and design processes. Second, ProCarta captures the tacit knowledge associated with these processes. Next, it connects content (documents, forms, websites etc.) to precisely where they are used. Fourth, ProCarta auto-generates your processes to the web for execution.

Quoin Inc.

Quoin Inc.

Quoin is a technology consulting firm that builds innovative solutions that engage users and power online services. The firm excels at collaborating with clients to define the most effective ways to use technology in content management, social networking, ecommerce, knowledge management, and other applications. Quoin has built a track record of successful client engagements - creating great software and delivering on time. Qoin offers a range of services including application development, process improvement, tools consulting, and technology support. Quoin has the know-how and drive to build great software.

SigmaFlow

SigmaFlow

SigmaFlow's enterprise and desktop software solutions elevate corporate process improvement and best practice initiatives to a significantly higher level, reducing learning curves and project completion time, while improving results and cost efficiency.

 

My Weblogs

What Ralph Knows

whatralphknows

Since November 2002, Ralph has has blogged about information technology, knowledge management and knowledge worker productivity.

Learning to Change Business

learningtochangebusiness

A weblog designed to highlight how business  and leadership education is changing. The content examines how learning is being enabled by Enterprise 2.0 and other Web-based technologies.

What Ralph Knows About Software Development

What Ralph Knows About Software Development
This blog focuses exclusively on software development methodologies and user experience. It is a link blog that records relevant sites as I visit them.
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