Our consultants work in different roles depending on customer need and task at hand, including:

• Program / project manager
• Senior management advisor
• Change leader as a ’wingman’ to key leader(s)
• Subject matter expert
• Coach to leaders, experts and teams
• Facilitator
• Interim manager
• Mentor

Customer story:

KONE’s mission is to improve the flow of urban life. As a global leader in the elevator and escalator industry, KONE provides elevators, escalators and automatic building doors, as well as solutions for maintenance and modernization to add value to buildings throughout their life cycle.

In 2019, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 10 billion and at the end of the year approximately 60,000 employees.

KONE

Brave Alliance has been in a key role in driving and guiding us throughout our Finance transformation journey.

What I have been impressed about is the ownership and commitment the team puts into their work – you can’t actually recognize that Brave is an external advisor as they are serving us as they would be part of KONE.

This is customer centricity as it’s best. Brave have strategically positioned themselves very wisely as their focus is more in “getting things done” vs. “powerpoint magic”. In their case the promises actually happen and they aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. Thus they have developed a strong reputation as highly professional implementation partners.

Last but not least, it’s all about the people: Jupu, Teemu, Risto, and especially Sirkku, you are great people to work with. Your pragmatic yet energetic approach combined with a relentless “can do” attitude has brought us miles ahead. We have jointly had the courage to fail fast and learn and you have challenged us when we really needed a push.

It has been a privilege to work with you and I can genuinely recommend Brave for other clients.”

Customer story:

YIT is the largest Finnish and a significant North European urban developer and construction company.

YIT develops and builds apartments, business premises and entire areas, and is a specialist in demanding infrastructure construction.

In 2020 YIT generated 3.1 billion € in revenue and employed 7,400 people.

YIT

Brave Alliance worked with us in implementation of Step Change in Occupational Safety pilot project in our capitol area Housing business units. The project objective was to achieve a significant improvement in building site safety by changing safety management practices and how supervisory work is done at the building sites.

We also wanted to ensure that commonly agreed safety measures are actually manifested by change in daily behavior.

As the pilot project progressed, safety levels at our building sites showed a marked and measurable change. Safety became even more integrated part of the daily operations and a common priority throughout every moment of the day.

Another indicator of success is that now the pilot building sites are actively sharing best practices more than ever.

Customer story:

Caruna distributes electricity and maintains, repairs and builds a weatherproof electricity network for its approximately 700,000 customers in South, Southwest and West Finland, as well as in the city of Joensuu, the sub-region of Koillismaa and Satakunta. Caruna’s electrical network is approximately 87,300 kilometres long.

In 2019, Caruna had annual net sales of EUR 466,4 million.

Caruna

“In 2018 we updated our strategy due to the disruption in the energy sector and consequent significant changes in the competitive and operating environment. At the same time, we implemented significant changes to our operating model and values to speed up cultural change.

All these changes resulted in great number of initiatives being run at the same time, causing execution challenges. Also, due to changes in the organization and my leadership team, my new team was not aligned on management practices and goals.

Brave Alliance supported us in establishing clear picture of the current state, aligning the management team and defining the team’s role in leading execution of these numerous simultaneous changes. Clarified management priorities, strengthened execution focus and more engaged people were the key outcomes.

Clarity on how Electrical Networks contributes to implementing Caruna’s strategy, improved commitment of the management team, and solid implementation plans with clear objectives accelerated strategy execution significantly. Employee engagement index improved by 6 %-points to an all-time high. Strategic KPIs (customer satisfaction, safety, quality, predictability) show continuous positive trend.

Brave’s approach took our business reality and needs as the starting point and allowed sufficient focus to really dig into individuals’ situations, establishing team alignment and common direction. The results speak for themselves.

Customer story:

Fortum is a leading clean-energy company developing and offering solutions for our customers in electricity, heating, cooling, as well as solutions to improve resource efficiency. We also provide services for the power generation industry and solutions for consumers so that they can be smarter in their energy choices.

Fortum’s operations in 10 countries serve more than 2 million customers, generating 6,771 M€ sales. Fortum employs over 5,000 people.

Fortum Battery Recycling aims to revolu­tion­ize the lithium-ion battery value chain for electric vehicle and indus­trial use batteries. Our low-CO2 battery recycling solution makes it possible to recycle over 80% of the battery, and 95% of the valuable metals contained in the battery’s black mass can be put back into circu­lation

Battery Recycling, a unit of Recycling & Waste business, is part of the Circular Solutions segment.

Fortum Battery Recycling

“Brave worked with our operative management to create and new operating model, including a revised management system, redesigned management forums and related agendas, KPIs and OKRs, and described the core processes of the new organization.

We have collaborated with Brave on a number of change initiatives during the years. Brave’s ”no-nonsense” approach to problem solving is both effective and practical.

After a common vision is found, a clear commercial proposal and implementation schedule is delivered – and they stick by it. Brave was sensitive to our scheduling needs and adjusted when our business situation so required. We highly appreciate Brave’s hands-on, both-feet-firmly-on-the-ground approach and ability to read the game.

The new operating model was deployed beginning of 2024 as planned. We strongly recommend Brave. The customer is cared for also after the project has been completed.”

Customer story:

Sandvik is a global, high-tech engineering Group with three business areas, approximately 40,000 employees, sales in more than 160 countries and revenue of over 10,000 M€ in 2019.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology business area’s nine divisions manufacture equipment and tools for the mining and construction industries and offer service and digital solutions that help customers maximize their productivity and profitability.

In 2019, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology employed 14,000 people and generated 4,100 M€ in revenue.

Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology

“Our cooperation with Brave Alliance started in 2018 shortly after I had been appointed as the CIO of the Business Area. The entire Sandvik Group was transitioning from a centralized operating model to a decentralized one, with which our existing ways of working were largely incompatible. Consequently the IT function had to be nearly completely rebuilt and company governance model altered to enable cross-organizational decision-making in the decentralized setup.

Support from Brave Alliance was instrumental in making this change. Majority of the work by Teemu Saikkonen and the Brave team concentrated on changes to the governance model. Comprehensive discussions with key business stakeholders formed the starting point for the new decision-making structure design, which was then implemented with hands-on support from Brave to the first rounds of decision-making. 

Brave Alliance’s approach immediately inspired confidence. They dug into the topic exceptionally profoundly, didn’t lock into any single theoretical model and drove the implementation decisively while still incorporating new ideas into the model as new information and feedback came in. During the final steps of our nearly 2-year cooperation, Brave Alliance did an exemplary job at making sure our organization properly assumed the new governance model roles and responsibilities.

The results of our cooperation were excellent. In addition to rebuilding the IT organization we ended up making changes to the operating model of the entire Business Area, which has helped us clarify the next steps of our digitalization development. Despite subsequent significant changes in our business environment, the changes we made with Brave Alliance have persisted and I believe they continue to create value for us for years to come.

I warmly recommend Brave Alliance for similar assignments.”

Customer story:

Compass Group Finland offers high-quality food and multi-services, making it is easy for customers to choose responsibly. The Finnish Work Association has issued a Key Flag mark for lunch and packaged food served in our restaurants. We prioritize domestic and seasonal ingredients and serve our customers with a big heart, always putting safety, health and well-being first.

We bring joy and refreshment to the day for schoolchildren, students, employees, seniors and people in need of care and attendees at events, on site or take away. We value everyone’s work contribution: together we build new operating methods and improve both employee and customer experience. There are 3,000 of us at Compass in Finland. Our service brands in Finland include Amica, Food & Co, Market 24/7 and Unison.

Compass Group Finland

“Brave Alliance supported Compass Group in developing the operating model for centralized food production, which is a new capability for us. The support included general project management, as well as hands-on support and practical sparring related to the planning, design and implementation of different project streams.

Our needs focused mostly on tactical and operative level design and planning, where Brave Alliance’s competence and experience in driving change on the day-to-day level really separated them from the rest.

Brave provided support for holistic project planning as well as delivered subject matter expertise across multiple areas. Most of all, we got flexible and needs-based support through different phases of the project and changing situations.

Structured and clear way of working combined with a humane and flexible approach worked well. Especially valuable was the very personal approach where Brave adjusted to the varying skill levels in our organization and helped us bring experts across different areas around the same table.

We got the support we needed, and our cooperation has continued since.

I recommend Brave especially as an implementation phase partner. They have broad expertise and experience which they put to work for providing practical and hands-on support, that is truly adjusted to the customer’s needs in a way where the number of slides is irrelevant but rather getting real results together.”

Customer story:

Fortum is a leading clean-energy company developing and offering solutions for our customers in electricity, heating, cooling, as well as solutions to improve resource efficiency. We also provide services for the power generation industry and solutions for consumers so that they can be smarter in their energy choices.

Fortum’s operations in 10 countries serve more than 2 million customers, generating 6,771 M€ sales. Fortum employs over 5,000 people.

Bio2X mission is to produce high-value products from agro-residues and woody biomass to replace fossil and other environmentally detrimental raw materials.

Fortum Bio2X

”Bio2X is a Fortum internal growth initiative with a mission to produce textile fiber and other high-value products from straw.  

Brave has helped us clarify our vision and change our way of working to be ready for the next phase of the initiative as we proceed from development to implementation.

Brave provided us with a structured process and challenged us to answer the right questions and identify the steps to implement our vision.”

Customer story:

Stora Enso is a leading global provider of renewable solutions in packaging, biomaterials, wooden construction and paper. Stora Enso has some 25 000 employees in more than 30 countries, and is publicly listed on the Helsinki and Stockholm stock exchanges. Stora Enso sales in 2019 were EUR 10.1 billion, with an operational EBIT of EUR 1.0 billion.

Stora Enso Wood Supply Finland procures wood needed for the mills in Finland from private forest owners, state forests and companies. Wood Supply Finland employs 550 forest professionals and 400 contractors across the country.

Wood Supply Finland procures approximately 20 million m³ of wood annually.

Stora Enso Wood Supply Finland

”We have cooperated with Brave Alliance extensively, covering topics such as sales management and customer strategy development.

Brave Alliance can provide us with wide range of expertise and good networks. Above all we have been impressed by Brave’s strong commitment to our cooperation.

We have carried out entire development initiatives with Brave, covering all phases from planning and design to following up on implementation, but also smaller scale cooperation such as workshop facilitation.

Brave Alliance puts a lot of effort in understanding customer needs deeply and also challenges customer’s views if necessary. I think this is what makes Brave different from most service providers – customer is delivered a solution that is based on deep customer-specific analysis, not an off-the-shelf standard package. This is often a critical factor when seeking true improvement and change.

Another strength for Brave is commitment. I feel they have been equally committed to our objective as we have as the customer. An indication of this is that we keep in touch and follow-up on our progress on the topics long after the project completion. Brave appears to have true and keen interest in that we really accomplish what we set out to do together.

I warmly recommend Brave Alliance.”

Customer story:

Fortum is a leading clean-energy company developing and offering solutions for our customers in electricity, heating, cooling, as well as solutions to improve resource efficiency. We also provide services for the power generation industry and solutions for consumers so that they can be smarter in their energy choices.

Fortum’s operations in 10 countries serve more than 2 million customers, generating 6,771 M€ sales. Fortum employs over 5,000 people.

Fortum Recycling & Waste Solutions aims to turn waste into new raw material whenever possible and keep it in circulation and utilized again and again. Fortum offers sustainable turnkey solutions to treat hazardous waste and ensure a safe final disposal, recycling services for plastics, metals and for example lithium-ion batteries.

Recycling & Waste Solutions business area is part of the City Solutions segment, generating revenue of some 250 M€ in 2019.

Fortum Recycling & Waste Solutions

”We have worked with Brave Alliance around management team development, making and implementing business plans as well as a business turnaround project.

We sought support for implementation and idea generation. Brave Alliance was the chosen partner for their pragmatic implementation approach and because they follow through. They are proactive, energetic and are not afraid to challenge if needed.

All projects have been delivered as planned, especially when they have been scoped and defined well. Compared to many other service providers, Brave Alliance is more focused on implementation, meaning that they focus more on getting things done instead of slide decks.

I recommend Brave for implementation cases and making execution plans.”

Customer story:

Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa SSO, owned by 72 000 members, is a growing regional retail cooperative with operations within eight municipalities across western Uusimaa and Varsinais-Suomi regions.

SSO provides well-known private label and branded goods for its customers through over 80 grocery and department store, motorist service station, hospitality, hardware and agriculture, and car dealership locations.

SSO revenue is over 450 M€ and it employs over 1100 professionals across multiple fields.

Suur-Seudun Osuuskauppa SSO

”We worked with Brave Alliance on a strategy implementation initiative with focus on how our values and revised strategy are made real and tangible on all levels of the organization and what changes are needed in our leadership and management practices to ensure successful implementation. We selected Brave due to their extensive experience in developing strategies and corporate culture, as well as their long background with leadership positions in various industries.

Brave Alliance started off the project with an extensive interview study on how well the personnel understand the strategy, how our values are reflected in our daily operations, and the state of our leadership and people management. The study results partly confirmed our preconceptions about the state of our strategy communication, but also brought new understanding of our current challenges.

Through workshopping with top management and line managers a common understanding was formed on how we must develop our management behavior to align with our values. In addition to the concrete outputs from the workshopping, our managers liked the practical, down to earth approach and sharing valuable insights among colleagues.

Personally I was especially impressed by Brave’s thorough and analytical approach. Peter and Esko are trust-inspiring personalities and strong experts of their trade. The study findings and clear understanding of the required actions gained from the project equip us well to drive our strategy and values to all our employees in daily operations.”

Join us

We are looking for experienced, brave people with exceptional leadership skills to facilitate, coach, manage and lead implementation for our customers. If you have a proven track record and you are truly passionate about helping customers succeed, we should talk.

To learn more about Brave Alliance and discuss our potential future together, please call Peter or Teemu.