Superdrug case study
Health and beauty retailer Superdrug's business transformation programme Living the Mission involved the education and training of all employees in total quality management (TQM) tools and techniques and using a cultural survey to track progress against cultural objectives. (4720 words)

BT Northern Ireland case study
The story behind BT Northern Ireland's corporate change programme called 'A Better Life' designed to create a coaching style of management and unlock the energy, contribution and creativity of the employee-base. (4757 words)

Reuters Change Management case study
Faced with an unprecedented business crisis in 2001, Reuters launched a transformation programme that touched every aspect of its operations. This case study shows how it orchestrated and carried through its Fast Forward programme - the people and cultural part of the change initiative - in the process of turning around its fortunes and regaining its competitive position. (6171 words)

DSM Resins case study
With the goal of revitalizing the organization following the early 1990s recession, four key behaviours are used to guide Netherlands based DSM Resins launched a culture change programme called VITA. A questionnaire-based Working Climate Analysis used to gauge employee perceptions of the working environment and organization performance. The results have been used to drive bottom-up continuous improvement. (3366 words)

Littlewoods Retail Ltd case study
After merging four divisions into a single integrated operation, Littlewoods Retail needed to encourage colleagues to work across boundaries. This case study shows how the company used a major conference to "endorse cross-functional working", together with other objectives. It details the value of professional presenters plus the use of front-line managers, who were coached and guided in their scriptwriting and presentation. In addition, a high level of visual excitement and interactivity was used to engage the audience and allow them to voice issues publicly. (1808 words)

Raynor Garage Doors case study
How corporate growth, reorganization and the development of new communication channels resulted in significant changes in the communications function at Raynor Garage Doors. The use of a corporate intranet to supplement, rather than replace, other forms of communication, such as a weekly voice-mail report. (1283 words)

AXA Group case study
AXA has a group of only ten communicators at its group headquarters in Paris, with the majority of responsibility for communications spread out among its operating companies. The case study describes how communicators at corporate headquarters are responsible for disseminating information and encouraging communications best practice among the operating companies. Their major challenge is the need to communicate with a multilingual audience.  A survey showed that communications were successful, with the biggest issue being a perceived lack of communication between local CEOs and their staff. (1833 words)

Opera North case study
How communications director Paul Gauntlett at Opera North, a national touring company based at the Grand Theatre and Opera House in Leeds in Britain, set about promoting understanding between various groups of employees such as artists and technical staff. This required engaging with the overall corporate strategy as well as the communications strategy. (1103 words)

Nuffield Hospitals case study
Combining internal and external communications is a necessity at Nuffield Hospitals, as the complexity of healthcare means that it is impossible to define which audiences are internal and which are external. How the corporate communications department ensured that the group as a whole retains a strong brand, while also allowing each hospital freedom to find the best way to communicate with its stakeholders. (1212 words)

Caterpillar Inc. case study
How the human services communications division at Caterpillar provides an internal communications consultancy to other functions in the organization. The case study explains the extensive use of measurement to plan and assess communication strategies and how this approach has improved the design, implementation and effectiveness of its communication plans. (1304 words)

The Associates case study
The Associates, a worldwide financial group, completed a major acquisition of Avco Trust. Both companies operated in the financial services market. How the group, subsequently acquired by Citigroup, handled the communications challenge during the integration of the two companies and the results it achieved. (2216 words)

NatWest & The Royal Bank of Scotland case study
The internal communications story behind one of the most dramatic business stories of recent years: the Royal Bank of Scotland's unwelcome takeover of the NatWest Group. The bidding was protracted and complex, and the result was the largest takeover ever seen in the British financial services sector. (1145 words)

American United Life Insurance Company case study
American United Life Insurance Company has a communications department which reports to the chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) and handles both internal and external communications. The case study explains how the communications team handles all the CEO's internal communications, while other departments have the option of whether or not to make use of the team's services. It explains why the communications team faces the constant challenge of demonstrating the value they provide to other functions. (1094 words)

Inland Revenue Accounts Office, Cumbernauld, Scotland - case study
How an employee involvement initiative transformed the Inland Revenue Accounts Office, Cumbernauld, Scotland, from a bureaucratic, poor performing organization to a benchmark of excellent public service. A focus on process measurement and improvement and total commitment from senior management proved crucial to effecting the massive culture change required to achieve this turnaround. (4659 words)

Millennium Inorganic Chemicals case study
Central to the globalization of its business has been creating a culture focused on sharing best practices across the organization. Taking out unnecessary costs and driving up Economic Value Added (EVA) have been key goals, measures which support its parent company's approach to profitable global growth. (3649 words)

KFC case study
How the appointment of a new CEO, David Novak, whose conviction that a winning organization was one wholly focused on supporting front-line employees and the customer interaction provided the basis for culture change in the fast-food chain. (3748 words)

Hyundai Car case study
How Hyundai Car (UK) achieved a dramatic turnaround in profitability by creating a culture focused on achieving competitive advantage through service leadership. Key implementation frameworks included the Harvard Business School's Service-Profit Chain and a six-step approach to change. (4992 words)

Ernst & Young case study
How the international financial and business advisory firm Ernst & Young used an ambitious culture change programme to help the organization focus on delivering value to its clients. (4972 words)

Lehigh Portland Cement Company case study
Sensitive handling of cultural factors meant supported the successful merger of US-based Lehigh Portland Cement Company with the North American operations of Cimenteries CBR. How proactive leadership from the top and a well defined new ways of working based on the principles of total quality and a participative approach to management led the way. (3420 words)

Sun Microsystems case study
Sun Microsystems has redesigned HR according to a four-quadrant model, of which shared services is an intrinsic element. This case study explains that for Sun Microsystems shared services means more than just a transactional operation and describes how the evolving global shared services model builds on the organization's hugely successful US-based SunDial operation. (2655 words)

Scotiabank case study
In this case study HR senior vice-president shared services, Shirley Fudge explains how customer-centricity was installed into shared services and why it opted for a partly virtual functional configuration. (2064 words)

US Office of Personnel Management case study
The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is working to ensure that human resources management (HRM) is aligned to strategic goals within Federal Agencies. Central to this has been the development of an HRM accountability system that links HRM goals to Agency goals. Also key had been the promotion of the concept of 'shared accountability', which calls on managers and HR staff to work as partners in driving forward HRM performance. This case study explains why HRM accountability has become a key focus in Federal Agencies and how OPM is helping to develop good 'accountability' practices. (3569 words)

Siemens KWU case study
In transforming its power-plant building business, Siemens KWU had to learn to work in an open, global market-place rather than the closed German market. THe cultural shift involved building employee awareness of the importance of price issues and continuous improvement within a competitive market-place. (4278 words)

Deutsche Bank case study
This case study shows how employee surveys have been made to become central to the Bank's success - they are now used to feed and inform management decisions. Its new approach to measuring performance is closely tied in with its goal of maximizing the contribution of staff. (2949 words)

Allied Irish Bank case study
Creating a new set of non-financial measures was a central plank of an HR strategy designed to foster a performance-driven meritocracy at Allied Irish Bank, Ireland's leading international banking and financial services company with 24,000 staff in 800 offices worldwide. An important factor in getting them established has been adopting formal measures and indicators that allowed AIB to benchmark its people policies against those of global exemplars - and then publish the results to the Bank's stakeholders. (1677 words)

Royal Bank of Scotland Group case study
The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) has been a pioneer in strategic HR measurement. Its human capital model provides its business with a detailed understanding of how effective the Group is at attracting, engaging and retaining its best people and how its people strategy drives business performance. How the HC Model was developed and applied across the Group. (2298 words)

Austrian Research Centre, Seibersdorf ARCS case study
Why the Austrian Research Centre Seibersdorf (ARCS), a public/private agency covering a broad spectrum of fields that includes materials, engineering and life sciences, embarked on the development of an intellectual capital report to track and manage knowledge within the organisation. (2221 words)

Deutsche Bank case study
This case study shows how employee surveys have been made to become central to the Bank's success - they are now used to feed and inform management decisions. Its new approach to measuring performance is closely tied in with its goal of maximizing the contribution of staff. (2949 words)

Novo Nordisk case study
Headquartered in Denmark, Novo Nordisk is a pharmaceutical company with a strong commitment to the environment, staff and community. How it developed a balanced scorecard to enhance its success in these and other people-related areas of its business. (1668 words)

Central Norfolk Health and Social Care Economy case study
How the Central Norfolk Health and Social Care Economy - or Central Norfolk NHS - developed a long-term Performance Improvement and Transformation Programme and measures to improve local diagnosis and better home-based care. (5275 words)

Nortel case study
A winner of US Baldrige and European EFQM awards, Nortel developed its own model, the Nortel Business Value Cycle, to explicitly link resources (people, financial, knowledge, etc) with customer satisfaction and shareholder value. (1150 words)

Yorkshire Water Services case study
Yorkshire Water Services has created an HR scorecard to ensure that people strategies are robust and aligned to business strategies. How the HR scorecard was created and the benefits, to both the business and HR, that have been achieved. (2332 words)

Borealis case study
Borealis has created an HR scorecard that supports the corporate strategy and is focused on performance improvement against best-in-class benchmarks. Within HR itself, HR teams have created their own scorecards. These support both the higher-level HR scorecard and local business unit scorecards. This case study describes why and how the HR scorecards were created and how their development benefited from six years of wider scorecard experience within the Borealis organization. (3104 words)

Union Fenosa case study
The HR function has been transformed from an administrative department into a fully-fledged strategic partner in Union Fenosa. Among other things, HR objectives focus on supporting the organization in its global expansion, success of a Corporate University and the development of an intellectual capital framework. (2599 words)

Scotiabank case study
Scotiabank has created a performance management and measurement framework for human resources that consists of five key focus areas and ten strategic measures (two for each area). Pat Krajewski, vice president employee communication and leadership at Scotiabank, explains how the framework was built and the importance of ensuring the system was business focused. She also stresses the importance of securing buy-in from the senior HR executive team. (4187 words)

Nextel Communications case study
Nextel Communications' training organization is implementing a Training Scorecard to demonstrate the return on investment (ROI) of its training programmes. Comprising five levels, from participant reaction to a programme through to the actual ROI calculation, the Training Scorecard is proving a powerful tool for ensuring that the training organization is focused on meeting business needs. (3250 words)

Verizon Communications case study
Verizon Communications is recognized as an exemplary exponent of the HR scorecard methodology. It serves as a best-practice role model for other HR functions taking the scorecard route. In this case study, Verizon's senior HR manager Garrett Walker explains the process by which the HR scorecard was built and implemented. He explains how 17 key questions were articulated to focus scorecard creation onto compelling and strategically critical business imperatives. (4253 words)

First Union case study
Financial services provider First Union Corporation has created an HR scorecard that sets out to show how the function is answering 12 critical questions about its performance. HR measurement co-ordinator Paul Lockamy explains that successfully building an HR scorecard was a two-phase project. Lessons that were learned in Phase 1 helped to shape the scorecard creation process for Phase 2. (3427 words)

BP and Exult case study
BP's outsourcing partnership with Exult provides a state-of-the-art HR delivery process on three levels: through an intranet (called myHR.net), a service centre (myHR Service Centre) and on-site expert BP advisers (myHR Adviser). BP's Urbain Bruyere and Exult's Alan Little explain how this pioneering partnership works in practice, and how BP is set to achieve both improvements in HR service delivery and significant HR cost reductions in what is one of the largest HR outsourcing deals in history. (2913 words)

The Children's Mutual case study
The launch of the Government's Child Trust Fund marks a new peak in the fortunes of The Children's Mutual, the newly-branded company that was formerly The Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society. David Bornor, fresh from a strategic personnel role at the Woolwich, was appointed to head up HR and revitalize the people strategy. (3427 words)

BT Plc case study - Outsourcing of Personnel Services
The case study follows through BT's need to develop senior staff in group and business functions with distinctive skill sets and tracks the learning curve that the BT Group underwent in its re-structuring of the HR function, the centrepiece being a service agreement with the leading management consultancy, Accenture. Largely as a result of the decision to outsource their personnel services, the group HR function increasingly distinguished between functions (and therefore capabilities) that are transactional, those that 'add' value (ie support strategic aims) and those that 'create' value (ie shape or inspire strategic aims). (1057 words)

Nationwide case study
The full story behind the building society Nationwide's implementation of total reward, in particular an account of its ‘Committed and Engaged Person’ model and philosophy of ‘total remuneration’. It describes the practical issues involved in designing these solutions and the benefits the building society has gained in terms of engagement and improved performance.

Allied Irish Bank case study
Creating a new set of non-financial measures was a central plank of an HR strategy designed to foster a performance-driven meritocracy at Allied Irish Bank, Ireland's leading international banking and financial services company with 24,000 staff in 800 offices worldwide. An important factor in getting them established has been adopting formal measures and indicators that allowed AIB to benchmark its people policies against those of global exemplars - and then publish the results to the Bank's stakeholders. (1677 words)

International Paper case study
The diversified manufacturing company, International Paper (IP), has built a reputation over 100 years in North America and is now represented in more than 50 countries. Since 1997, the corporation has been systematically rethinking its interpretation of talent management. This has resulted in wide-ranging innovations in how it is positioned, talent practices and a more compelling value proposition based on employee engagement. (2903 words)

Sun Microsystems case study
Sun Microsystems has redesigned HR according to a four-quadrant model, of which shared services is an intrinsic element. This case study explains that for Sun Microsystems shared services means more than just a transactional operation and describes how the evolving global shared services model builds on the organization's hugely successful US-based SunDial operation. (2655 words)

Standard Chartered Bank case study
Group head of human resources Tim Miller and PK Medappa, group head, HR service delivery, Standard Chartered Bank, describe the process for creating a Shared Services Center in Chennai, India, stressing the importance of allocating high-potential HR staff to the transition process and of outstanding project management. (2476 words)

Eastern Health Shared Services case study
Eastern Health is pioneering shared services provision within the Irish Health Service. In this case study, chief officer Valerie Judge explains why imbuing pride and professionalism into the shared services staff has been critical to delivering both service excellence and cost effectiveness. (2397 words)

Reuters case study
How Reuters has turned its scorecard into a tool for performance improvement, with an integrated strategy, planning and people review cycle developed within the 'Corporate Performance Management' component of a broader change management programme. (3125 words)

Procter & Gamble case study
In this case study Bob Livingston, vice president, employee services and HR explains why for Procter & Gamble shared services means more than just transactional processing. He demonstrates how it supported a corporation-wide restructuring effort and stresses why taking a customer-centric approach to service delivery was important from day one. (2151 words)

Corus Colors case study
Corus Colors is using the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model as a framework to assess the performance of the business and its work units/functions, including human resources. This case study describes the benefits to the business generally, and HR specifically, of taking this approach. (3676 words)

BC Hydro & Power Authority case study
The HR community in the Canadian utility company BC Hydro and Power Authority has built a scorecard that assesses its performance against its customer value statement. The scorecard is fully aligned to the organization-wide strategic objective of 'building a strong and capable organization'. The HR community is the 'owner' of this corporate objective. How the scorecard captures key HR priority areas and how it is helping ensure BC Hydro recruits, retains, develops and competitively compensates the people it needs to deliver to its business goals are covered in this case study. (3493 words)

The Children's Mutual case study
The launch of the Government's Child Trust Fund marks a new peak in the fortunes of The Children's Mutual, the newly-branded company that was formerly The Tunbridge Wells Equitable Friendly Society. David Bornor, fresh from a strategic personnel role at the Woolwich, was appointed to head up HR and revitalize the people strategy. (3427 words)

Orange Group HR case study
When France Telecom acquired mobile telecom innovator Orange. The resulting integration of resources and values between parent and subsidiary, far from marginalizing its operations, has transformed Orange's Group HR function's capability and capacity. Orange's head of group HR strategy Alison Speak demonstrates why. (1881 words)

BT Plc case study - The BTHR Strategy
The case study describes BT Group's iterative HR strategy process and rolling business planning model, developed during the first years of the new decade and shows how they are designed to integrate key elements that help to shape the company's goals and key activities. (1243 words)

Allied Irish Bank case study
Does the strategic credibility of an effective HR function derive from the standing of the function itself or the team leading it? Mike Lewis, head of strategic human resources at the AIB Group (Allied Irish Bank), drew on his own line management and consultancy experience in leading a team which re-established the authority of HR in Ireland's leading international banking and financial services company. (2019 words)

Kelly Services case study
How the UK and Ireland division of US-owned employment services group Kelly Services took a pro-active stance on upcoming European legislation that will require agencies hiring out temporary staff to fully employ them. How this HR-led strategy become an integral part of Kelly's commercial proposition and full members of the sales and client service team. (2062 words)

Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital case study
How the RNOH developed an HR strategy to support a multi-disciplinary management development and clinical leader program, produce a profile of the future workforce to support the business case, manage junior doctor hours' issues as part of the NHS Plan, set up a Recruitment Group to provide a Trust-wide drive to lower vacancy rates, and also provide more robust HR information to both the Board and the Strategic Health Authority. (2886 words)

ITNet case study
How ITNET, Cadbury-Schweppes outsourced IT department, developed a comprehensive HR integration strategy based around systematic induction, one-to-one counselling, mentoring, upward feedback and appraisal and formal training; balanced scorecard measurement monitored monthly by the senior executive team in all operating divisions. (1090 words)

Phil Porter case study
A profile of Phil Porter, who, like many senior HR practitioners, achieved a good grounding in the professional aspects of his work including recruitment, selection, compensation and benefits, as well as management organization development. How he delivered HR and business goals as HR director. (2277 words)

Continental Airlines case study
How Continental Airlines transformed its fortunes from a company facing bankruptcy to profitabililty. The story behind its Go Forward Plan, which has helped to build a new, and winning, corporate culture. (4748 words)

Royal Bank of Canada case study
Royal Bank of Canada, Canada's largest financial institution, in common with other financial institutions, was looking to cut costs and outsource non-strategic activities. The case study explains that the communications team had tended to focus on 'tactical' production of communication materials and needed to prove their strategic worth. This entailed restructuring the communications team and ensuring that formal communications were aligned with business strategies and actions, in addition to proving their success in doing so. (1269 words)

St Luke's Communications case study
St Luke's Communications is a leading performer in the UK advertising industry, according to key sector indicators and has a high reputation for attracting, retaining and motivating creative talent. Unlike its peers, the agency is very unconventional - in being completely co-owned as a co-operative and in continually challenging the status quo. It has the lowest talent turnover rates of any comparable company. (3199 words)

First Data Corporation case study
US electronic payment and Internet commerce provider, First Data Corporation (FDC), has built its successful global business on systems and operational excellence. But, given a newer solutions focus within and fundamental change in financial services markets, it has been rethinking its talent management strategy and programmes. These shifts are as much the remit of organizational development (OD) executives as those in HR. (2411 words)

Agilent Technologies case study
Agilent Technologies, a spin-off of Hewlett-Packard (HP), is a world leader in talent management practices. Talent management is positioned strategically in the organization and directly integrates business and diversity strategies - this builds on HP's track record of over 30 years, but is mainly the work of its 15-person new HR global talent team and extended global talent network. (3432 words)

Carter Holt Harvey case study
Founded in 1899, forest products group, Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), is a leading employer in New Zealand with over 11,000 people in 33 separate businesses across the Southern Hemisphere. Mariner7, the company's HR function, was spun off from the group in 2001 as a stand-alone business is responsible for CHH talent management directions/interventions. (2848 words)

Manpower Plc case study
Staffing and employment solutions organization, Manpower plc, has established a reputation over four decades for best employment practice in the UK and currently employs two groups of people - 1500 operations staff and, in the course of 12 months, around 200,000 contract workers, all of whom are on its payroll. But, despite its reputation, the company is rethinking talent management practices to sustain its market leadership. (2606 words)

International Paper case study
The diversified manufacturing company, International Paper (IP), has built a reputation over 100 years in North America and is now represented in more than 50 countries. Since 1997, the corporation has been systematically rethinking its interpretation of talent management. This has resulted in wide-ranging innovations in how it is positioned, talent practices and a more compelling value proposition based on employee engagement. (2903 words)

South African Breweries case study
SAB Ltd is the South Africa Beer Division of South African Breweries plc, South Africa's leading brewer. It enjoys a 98 per cent market share from 16 brands, in addition to strong business growth and a reputation for equitable employment and people practices. How SAB deals with the talent management challenges posed by changing socio-political, economic and internal circumstances. (2655 words)

ST Microelectronics case study
This case study shows how ST Microelectronics deals with its sector's talent management challenges - identifying high performers, growing internal talent and retaining the top talent needed for continued success. (1430 words)

Diageo case study
How Diageo sets about finding and keeping staff with the right skills. What the company looks for in terms of practical skills, an ability to deal with managers and employees at all levels, resilience, a good sense of business and commercial awareness as well as academic qualifications. (1605 words)