GRAPH Blueprint™

We organize our work around the 5 stages of our GRAPH Blueprint™ - our best-practice methodology.

Define	Organize	Investigate	Analyze	Advise

Making difficult decisions under tight time pressures will always carry risk. Teams run hard and you want the very most out of every exercise.

We developed BLUEPRINT – our delivery model - to consistently deliver superior advice and make the journey easy and effective for your team. Our best-practice methods provide more valuable data and analysis, more creative and constructive ideas, and avoid risky shortcuts and costly rework.

We will soon roll out our digital engagement platform, helping the collaborative team (i.e., you and GRAPH) run the process even more efficiently and effectively. Keep posted for updates.

• Define

  

  Proper definitions ensures that every ounce of effort is directed toward the highest-value activities.

  Each project needs to have a clear intent – not every project should look alike. What is it that you need to resolve and accomplish?

  It is critical that we are selective in the topics to be covered. Less is more, and focus allows us to dig deep into the issues that your stakeholders agree are most critical for this decision gate, creating radically more value than a typical market report would.

  Key Activities

  • Discuss the context and purpose of the work
  • Develop an effective thesis that supports a prospective investment – whether an acquisition or an organic growth initiative
  • Review overall valuation / investment model
  • Specify agenda and down-select the topics that matter most
  • Secure case team and stakeholder alignment

• Organize

  

  Upfront organization ensures that we have the right things in place and reduces the risk that key themes will get overlooked. We take the time to ensure alignment with stakeholders – nothing is worse than failing to get input early enough from a smart team member who has an alternative insight or line of thinking.

  Key Activities

  • Align on the analytical approach and frameworks (to test each investment case statement)
  • Determine the proof necessary (to test each investment case statement)
  • Audit the diligence questions to make sure that we fully address the determined agenda
  • Identify key data requirements and best research sources and methods
  • Align roles and responsibilities between GRAPH and client teams
  • Test with stakeholders for buy-in and approval

• Investigate

  

  Generate the data needed to bring a unique perspective and proprietary insights to your Investment Case. Cross validate, dig deeply and don’t ignore the anomalies that could be hidden clues for bigger opportunities or a dangerous risk. “Garbage in means garbage out,” and it’s easy to fall prey to confirmation bias, so we apply strict quality controls throughout the process.

  Key Activities

  • Leverage relevant public and syndicated data
  • Source, screen and interview subject-matter experts
  • Conduct primary research with current market participants – decision makers and influencers
  • Apply quality-control processes to ensure data sufficiency and robustness
  • Share and iterate with the core client team as we go

• Analyze

  

  We examine and challenge the strength of evidence around the individual hypotheses (that together make the investment case). We identify risks and mitigation strategies, and identify new value-gen opportunities that go beyond the original thesis.

  Key Activities

  • Populate analytical frameworks and models
  • Identify dominant patterns and important nuances
  • Pressure test - examine contrary opinions and evidence
  • Pressure test the hypotheses - and determine the implications of exceptions
  • Examine potential Business Value Drivers and Customer Value Drivers and determine the ones that really move the needle
  • Hold collaborative creative sessions to drive unconventional thinking

• Advise

  

  Our goal is to reach conclusions so you can make the decisions you need to make, and to help you understand nuances that will make you a better owner and operator. We will:

  1. Provide the independence and strong evidence base for sound conclusions;
  2. Provide you with an understanding of the grey space that creates value-development opportunities and risk management
  3. Set you up for next steps

  We will finish with a final or revised investment case and strong recommendations that you can take into your future planning activities.

  Key Activities

  • Take a position, but recognize the nuance
  • Present value-gen plans
  • Name the key risks and potential mitigation strategies
  • Prepare inputs for the Value Development activities or equivalent (e.g., your “100-day plan” activities)
  • Secure stakeholder buy-in and approval