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Leading through innovation, delivering through Healthcare.
September 13, 2017 Katy Roberts
For Rune, just doing "enough" was never quite an option. And when your professional career leads you to developing and launching innovative healthcare organisations that provide care to young people with Autism, you know that what you do is exceptional. For Talmix independent consultant Rune, consulting has never just been about delivering results, but more so about delivering results that transforms people's worlds.
We speak to Rune about the Healthcare industry and how through consulting, he continues to change the worlds of the businesses he works with.
The Formative Years
"I studied Economics and Business Administration at the Norwegian School of Economics before joining a Norwegian multinational that kick-started my career," he tells me. But it was when Rune moved to Holland and was asked to take up the role of the Finance Director for a Joint Venture initiative that his leadership ability was demonstrated. Not someone to stand still for too long, Rune pursued his MBA at INSEAD and joined the consulting world first at LEK Consulting in London then PWC in Amsterdam and Zurich, followed, in 1999, by a Vice President role at A.T. Kearney in Amsterdam. His main focus was the telecom sector where he helped clients understand environmental change and develop business strategies that delivered profit, cost saving and growth. "It was there that I started to experience the wild and crazy years – everything was changing, the market was changing, and our clients started facing bigger and more complex challenges than ever before," he says.
A leap into Healthcare
But it was following his time with A.T. Kearney, that Rune developed an interest in the Healthcare industry, through a chance initiative with a friend who had started a healthcare company that provided support and care for university students with Autism. The business needed a strategy, a business plan, and financing – and Rune was the man for the job. Within 5 years, JADOS grew to have a presence in over 50 locations throughout the Netherlands. "We were profitable, saw revenues of EUR10 million, and employed 200 people. But it was clear that the healthcare industry, as many others at the time, was changing: Legislation, Technology, Competitors, Clients demands – it was one big perfect storm," he says. And that's when Rune realised that the healthcare industry was the one that needed his help. And that's where he has specialised – continuing to deliver support and consulting services to organisations within this sector, who need it most.
What are they up against?
Looking at the Healthcare sector, particularly in the Netherlands, Rune shares his thoughts on what organisations operating within this market, are up against. "The healthcare industry has always been a very traditional industry. Now, however, it is also facing a perfect storm of change: new technology innovation that appears almost overnight, new laws and regulations, new competitors, more demanding patients and clients, increasing demands to reduce costs," he tells me. Whether the organisations are large conglomerates who have grown through acquisition and rendered them too big to be truly effective, or whether, through consolidation, they're lacking in specialist skill (and therefore focus), it's a story that many healthcare organisations across the world, tell. They are all looking to solve one key problem: How to provide the best product to their customers and do that through staying efficient.
So, what's the answer?
"For me, it starts with asking 1 simple question: "What business are you in?". So many of these organisations have lost complete focus. They've been so busy focussing their attention on getting bigger, maximising marketing opportunity – but somewhere in this mix, they've lost focus on what they're really delivering," he tells me. "Organisations that find themselves being too broad are facing huge business challenges. But it doesn't mean that it's the end of the road for them. For some, it may mean that they need to sell parts of the business that conflict with their core business model, for others, it may be that they need to think about different market combinations," he adds. But for Rune, it's pretty clear – organisations that find themselves at a crossroads need to take a step back and consider: What is it that their customers want? What needs can they satisfy? And for Rune, it's about becoming focussed. "In the pharmaceutical industry, for example, blockbuster drugs are becoming a thing of the past. Drug development is becoming so much more specific, that they're fine-tuning their effectiveness on smaller needs. They're becoming more specialist, more detailed. And it's the same for Healthcare – when you bring back focus, you get a higher quality of care. You find the right people to work for you, who deliver the right level of care, and more importantly, who enjoy what they do – because it's structured and targeted. They're not trying to be everything to everyone. As an organisation, you will see your costs reduce as you take out the complexity in the levels of management required to manage and regulate such a broad organisation. People become specialist – they know what they need to do, and the simply get on and do it".
Why you'd want to work with Rune
Rune's career has allowed him to develop understanding in both worlds – knowing what is important to an organisation and, more importantly, how to get the results you're after. Rune's insight and know-how means that he can help to deliver success within an industry facing huge upset and challenges. Naturally innovative, Rune applies his skill and insight and works with the client to help them deliver their own results.
If you are facing change, and need insight that will strategically set you up for success, then get in touch with Talmix today.
Katy is an independent marketing consultant and founded Fresh Brew Marketing out of her love for the cuppa. A seasoned marketer, Katy writes for several global publications and provides outsourced marketing services to businesses throughout the UK. She is a keen geocacher and rates running around in city centres dressed in Christmas lights as one of her most successful Social Media campaigns to date.
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