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Success stories
Alderley Accelerating innovation through cultural transformation
Andrew Charles, Aftermarket Operations & Projects Manager
How is Alderley thriving? End-to-end integrated services provider Alderley has achieved a complete cultural transformation, updating and enhancing its innovation platform to improve its prospects. Underpinned by the launch of a new Special Projects team to deliver high-quality, quick-turn solutions for its clients, the company has firmly moved from loss to profit making, with significant growth potential extending far beyond 2023. The challenge Established in 1989, Alderley has enjoyed a lengthy and successful history in the oil and gas industry, carving out its niche as an independent expert in system integration, with a primary focus on capital equipment. However, even established enterprises must negotiate challenges and periods of flux. During the 2010s, Alderley found itself facing stiff competition in the market, with several large and ongoing shifts leaving it in a situation where standing still and not innovating simply became an unsustainable strategy. The company also opted to conduct a wide-ranging internal culture study in 2019 involving team members from all corners of the business. By doing so, it identified several issues, including siloed teams, a lack of agility and few new initiatives that were limiting the company’s progress. The study found that product development and innovation was not prioritised within the existing culture, leaving it unable to improve its
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EIC Survive and Thrive
offering significantly and better serve its customers, not only in the oil and gas industry, but energy transition technology markets such as hydrogen and CCS too. Not only did this limit the scope for growth and innovation, but it meant the erosion of margins in the face of strong competition and unfavourable economic periods, with Alderley recording losses in both 2018 and 2019. The solution To turn the tide, a new market-led strategy designed specifically to put the organisation on a new, more prosperous and sustainable path was agreed. As with all business strategies, it needed its people to succeed. It was decided that three key business behaviours would form the foundations of this strategic change: agility, ownership, and customer focus. A company-wide audit in the form of a culture survey was key to understanding the challenges faced by Alderley. Here, two inter-departmental and international teams were empowered by Alderley senior management to investigate and discuss the existing culture of the organisation, and workshop potential business improvement ideas to address the challenges. Once the business improvement process kicked-off, the firm evaluated various business changes implemented by other companies and examined how effective they may be in the Alderley context. Solutions were presented to the board and approved. The use of inter-departmental teams was critical here, extending the reach of the initiative significantly through several “culture champions”. Through a continued process of communication and engagement as well as workshop activities and feedback, previously perceived “walls”
2023