‘Everything is about value for customer, ecosystem and organization’  

Digital transformations and strategies should be deployed primarily from a value focus. More than the internal processes and systems, according to Erik Vuuregge, it’s all about distinctive value for customers and the ecosystem in which organizations operate. Supporting organizations in co-creating their strategy will be his approach as the new Lead Strategy at Anderson MacGyver.  

“Showing what form of growth and value creation best suits our clients,” says the former entrepreneur who joined the consultancy in 2019. Shortly after completing his Master’s in Business Informatics at Utrecht University, he started a company in 2009 that developed solutions especially for SME-manufacturing companies.  

“Besides managing software developers and other IT specialists, I gave a lot of business- and strategy-related advice,” he says. “I was also regularly busy with IT and organizational design, but my heart is really on the value side.” After an Executive MBA at Nyenrode Business University and four years as a Management Consultant, Erik Vuuregge is the new standard-bearer of Anderson MacGyver’s strategy branch.  

Make a mark 

Vuuregge is not afraid to make his mark on the DNA and face of the Strategy Guild. “I am very appreciative of my predecessor’s work, but I like to push boundaries. For example, with clients, I want to focus more on the part of their strategy and operations that makes the money. In other words, the entrepreneurial side of technology and data that brings value to the customer and the ecosystem.”  

“As far as I am concerned, we no longer consider our clients’ existing corporate strategy as the obvious starting point for an internal change process in this regard. As a consulting firm, we can make even more of a difference if we help think through how organizations can differentiate themselves in the digital age. In doing so, we may also gain new conversation partners. In addition to the CIO, we will more often sit at the table with CEO and CDO.” 

Thought leadership, the intellectual property of Anderson MacGyver remains leading. “We use our proven models and concepts, such as the multimodal analysis and the operating model canvas, in all trajectories. We will continue to deploy and develop these. I would like to keep all of this practical, however. My background as an entrepreneur probably plays a role here. I showed client executives how they could operate smarter, serve their customers better and increase sales. I still view organizations primarily through this lens.”  

Creativity

In addition, according to the new Guild Lead Strategy, you cannot separate strategy from creativity: “Thinking about the future, developing scenarios and roadmaps, constantly looking for improvement and new opportunities. This also includes a clear and sincere ‘purpose’ and a keen view of value within the ecosystem.”  

All of this is reflected at a large energy company which Anderson MacGyver works for. “Their purpose is to support people and businesses in the energy transition and contribute to combating climate change. There is also a clear value proposition that is in line with the higher goals of providing sustainably generated energy. Data and digitalization also enable new products and business models here.”  

Business activities and operations have the ultimate goal of delivering value. The analytical and results-oriented Vuuregge helps figure out and argue the strategic focus. After that, it stops for him and other forms of service come into the picture – whether or not provided by Anderson MacGyver. “Don’t get me wrong: I find things like enterprise architecture, IT and sourcing issues very interesting, but I like to choose another form of focus and depth.”  

Fruitful approach  

“For me it’s really about value for the business, the customer and the ecosystem. I do that in close cooperation with fellow Management Consultants Gert Jan Oelderik and Tomas van Woerkom. Of course, we can call on a full team of other specialists.”  

An example of a fruitful approach is Vital Innovation, a company emerging as a platform for sustainable housing based on a digital twin of the home environment. “We helped management and shareholders make strategic choices for the future. This process included an exploration of the ecosystem within which the company operates – using our value web and operating model canvas. In addition, we made a proposal for the implementation of the IT architecture.”  

“Our approach is characterized by simplicity and elegance, based on a proven but ever-evolving method,” Erik Vuuregge continues. “Within the strategy domain we have worked very hard on this internally in recent years. We can now go public with confidence. Our group management explicitly asked me to do so. As such, I really get all the space I need.”