Strategy consulting & executive-education

Michael J. Lanning (Atlanta) – Managing Director & Chairman             

• Author, consultant, lecturer, and founder of The DPV Group
• His and firm’s work has widely influenced business thinking and practice, past 35 years
• Created seminal concepts & coined phrases: Value Proposition, Value Delivery System, Value-Delivery, and Customer’s Resulting Experiences
• He and firm pioneered DPV methodology to discover major strategic insights by creatively studying what customers actually do (versus relying on asking them to reveal what they want)
• Has served >80 clients, via consulting and executive education, in N. America, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, SE Asia, and China in B2B and B2C businesses
• Industries served include Info Technology (HW, SW and Integration), Chemicals and Plastics, Telecomm, Imaging, Lighting, Logistics, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Transport, Financial Services, Construction, Paper, Other Forest Products, Concrete, Beverages, Steel, and others
• Author, 1997-98, definitive book on this topic, also titled Delivering Profitable Value
• Has taught an executive-education and graduate-school course based on his concepts to many thousands of managers worldwide, and guest lectured at grad business schools of Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Melbourne
• Strategy Consulting, McKinsey & Co 1980-87, where he first created the seminal Value-Delivery concepts, then further developed them in collaboration with McKinsey partner Edward G. Michaels
• Brand Management, Procter & Gamble, 1973-1980
• BA Mathematics, Columbia

Helmut Meixner (Cincinnati) – Senior Director

• 28 years general and brand management, extensively international, with Procter & Gamble
• 20 years’ experience with The DPV Group, helping clients in Chemical, Pharmaceutical, Lighting, Electrical Equipment, and other industries benefit from his many years’ strategic and general management experience, and deep understanding of the DPV concepts and methodology
• Contributed to development/evolution of DPV concepts and tools, drawing on principles learned from extensive P&G strategic management experience
• Highly developed skills include strategic planning & integration of global, regional & local plans to achieve superior results in very competitive markets
• Accomplished leader skilled at energizing/enabling complex organizations to achieve ambitious goals, and at developing and deploying systems to flawlessly execute critical tasks
• P&G experience included numerous marketing and general management positions in US, including VP Global Strategic Planning, Laundry Products; held high level international roles in Germany, Belgium, Mexico, Latin America, Canada, and lastly as Country General Manager P&G India
• The DPV Group 2001-to-present; Procter & Gamble, 1973-2001
• BA Vienna; MBA UCLA; fluent in German

Jim Tyrone (Ashburn, Va) – Senior Director

• Jim recently joined DPV Group as a Director, with great experience and capabilities in commercially-oriented general management & consulting
• 35 years in chemicals, consulting & paper; ran several businesses, turning around two large paper ones. Ran Sales & Marketing organizations, consistently outperforming the market in revenue & margin growth
• Strategic thinker/leader with practical, commercial focus; is consistently cited by employees as an exceptional leader, helping them develop
• Jim has a BS in Chemical Engineering (UVA) & MBA (Harvard); after 4 years Quality Control in Chemicals for Hercules, he consulted in a variety of industries for 7 years at McKinsey, where he worked closely with Michael Lanning, including while Mike was first developing the Value Proposition and related Value-Delivery concepts.
• Jim has long had a deep understanding and appreciation for the DPV concepts and approach; and in the past 15 years as a senior leader he periodically engaged DPVG for strategy & business projects.
• Cumulative expertise includes Gen’l Mgmt, Sales & Marketing, Strategic Leadership, M&A Integration, Senior-level Customer Relationships, Turnaround Management, & Organizational Development.
• After McKinsey, at Mead & MeadWestvaco he was President, Fine Paper Division & VP/SVP Sales & Marketing, then for NewPage Corporation he was SVP Sales & Marketing, & was EVP Commercial Operations and Business Development, NewPage.
• Jim most recently served as Senior Vice President, Appvion (previously Appleton Papers)––makers of specialty coated paper and micro-encapsulation. At Appleton Jim tripled annual EDITDA for the Thermal Paper segment, driven by >15% pa sales growth; before that, at NewPage he produced growth of 3% in an industry declining -4%. Some of his NewPage success was supported by working closely with DPVG to bolster current-business strategy & successfully explore & then develop new technology with major sustainability advantages.

Miller L. Macmillan (Destin, Florida) – Senior Consultant

• >30 yrs strategy consulting, management, and executive-level HR consulting; Society Int’l Bus Fellows 1999-01; Macmillan & Co 1990-96; McKinsey & Co. 1976-90
• The DPV Group since 1997; DPV applications in chemicals, energy, forest products, professional services (accounting and law), financial services, and software
• Participated in some early development of DPV concepts and tools
• Has served over 50 clients, from start-ups to Fortune 50, in strategy development and organizational effectiveness projects, for clients in US, Europe, Mexico, Japan, and Australia
• Industries served include banking, chemicals, paper, railroads, telecomm, natural gas/energy services, pharmaceuticals, software, education, the Olympic Games, and others
• Past President, International Society of Business Fellows
• BA English, Yale; MBA with High Distinction, Harvard

Sam Ross (Cincinnati) – Senior Consultant, Packaging Specialist

• Consultant specializing in Packaging and issues related to Package Design and Development
• 34 years’ experience in Package Design for Procter & Gamble; retired in 2002 as Global Design Director, Fabric & Home Care Products
• In recent years, created and designed equity graphics and packages for several international and regional consumer goods firms
• With DPVG, made important package design consulting contributions to a major project for a large pharmaceutical, and advised on other smaller projects
• BA, CSU Long Beach, CA; Masters, Xavier University (Cincinnati)

Glenne Harding (San Francisco) – Senior Consultant

• 30 years experience, Hewlett-Packard, in Supply Chain/Distribution, Marketing, Business Development, and Finance/Accounting
• 1990’s: Manager, Worldwide Supplies Marketing, Computer Accessories, and US Laser Jet and Printer Supplies Fulfillment, plus SAP implementation
• Extensive successful DPV applications 1991-99; supply chain DPVG consulting from ‘99
• Highly skilled helping clients apply DPV methodology, especially to complex chains
• BS Psych/Math, William & Mary; MBA, Finance, Santa Clara

Hilary Kahn (Melbourne, Australia) – Retail Specialist

• A world-leading expert in integrated retail solutions; unconventional focus on developing winning retail resulting experiences to concretely improve business
• Uses distinctive methodologies she created, including DFP (Driving Frontline Performance), Performance Triangle, and others, integrated with DPV framework and methodology
• Creates physical presentation, and rigorously controlled, scripted staff-consumer interface
• >30 years experience in retail-related consulting, in part as leader of Frontline Strategies, retail consultancy based in Melbourne
• BA, University of Witwatersrand, S. Africa

Gates Moss (Cincinnati) – Packaging and Manufacturing Process Specialist

• >30 years management experience in Packaging and Manufacturing, for Procter & Gamble
• 20 years Packaging Development managerial roles, most recently including Associate Director North American Fabric Care and Global Coordinator for all Fabric Care Packaging (1993-2002)
• Recently joined DPVG, helping clients think strategically about packaging, and more effectively and efficiently develop packaging that helps deliver their chosen Value Proposition
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Michigan; MBA Harvard