Arena Consulting Group

Leadership you can trust

Haedicke Leadership

PARTNERSHIPS IN FOOD INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT (PFID)
Michigan State University, Chairman, 2002 - 2005

PFID is an initiative funded by USAID ($25 Million yearly) and executed by Michigan State University. Its' goals are to increase the flow of fruits and vegetables from developing countries into the US food chain. This involves the training of farmers in quality and cold chain control, entrepreneurial business development, the development of broker and retailer relationships, pricing and billing. Countries involved are: India, South Africa, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.

DEMANDTEC
Palo Alto, California, Board of Advisors, 2001-2003

DemandTec (DMAN) is a firm that specializes in price optimization by applying the concept of Bayesian Inference to historical changes in volume as related to the changes in pricing for individual products in a marketplace. DemandTec counts Best Buy and Wal-Mart amongst its many customers and executed a very successful IPO in the summer of 2007.

EFFICIENT CONSUMER RESPONSE (ECR)
Washington, DC, Chairman, 1994 - 1997

ECR (Efficient Consumer Response) was created in 1992 as a cooperative effort between the CPG Manufacturers and Grocery Retailers to reduce the cost of their joint supply chain in response to growing competition from mass-merchandisers. This involved literally every CEO from every major CPG Manufacturer and Retailer in the US. The principles to be employed were ABC (Activity Based Costing), EDI, CRP (Continuous Replenishment) and Category Management.

Most systems and process reengineering initiatives fail not because the task is too difficult or because the technology doesn’t work, they fail because of ineffective leadership.

Whether it’s summiting Kilimanjaro, mastering the technical aspects of Rainier, or implementing a complex financial system……. achieving success is most often about effective project management.

There must be a detailed plan on how to achieve the goal. The right team must be formed and trained in new skills, and those skills must be practiced until their execution is flawless. The team must learn to work together.........because when there’s four of you on a rope at 15,000 feet, and it’s 2:00 am in a blinding snowstorm, if one falls all fall. Communication, feedback and status must be honest, relevant and frequent so that everyone can achieve their goal with the minimum amount of effort and risk.

And the leader needs to lead. Having unforeseen challenges, like a crevice or a hurt member of the team, is just part of the process. The good leader steers you through them.

Jack Haedicke has led some of the most complex systems and reengineering initiatives the world has ever seen (ECR – Efficient Consumer Response). He learned his skills from Peter Drucker at Claremont University (MBO - Management By Objectives) and put them into practice at some of the world’s most prestigious firms (Hughes Aircraft Company, The Coca-Cola Company, Kraft Foods).

Experience does matter.

How do you climb a mountain?

With one very well planned and precise step at a time.