clients

BECG takes on a variety of engagements across a broad spectrum of organizations. There is no such thing as an “economic psychology” project per se. Rather, we view standard problems differently. In turn, we create impressive results with and for our clients. Because most of our work is highly confidential, we do not publish client names. However, we offer for your consideration several examples of projects we have undertaken, and the results achieved:

A credit card company facing unprecedented losses from late payments and non-payment was able to turn the situation around when Dr. Wedeman's team showed them how their approach to debt collection was backfiring. Essentially, they had structured their operation around an erroneous set of beliefs about customers who did not pay their bills on time (or at all.) Moreover, their rigidity in structuring payment arrangements was causing them to leave tens of millions of dollars on the table. Based on extensive research and a wide-ranging organizational assessment, we recommended they restructure collections to include traditional marketing activities like segmentation and product development and that they re-train collections staff in the use of influence-based strategies rather than threats and accusations. Results were immediate and dramatic: savings in the 8-9 figures over a 1-year period.

In an established software firm, growth begat some good things (stability, security) some not-so-good things (loss of intimacy between do-ers and decisionmakers), and some hard-to-achieve things (increased cash requirements, to fuel a bigger, more powerful “machine.”) The resulting “growing pains” showed up in the development group, where unrealistic expectations combined with inexperience at managing bigger, faster projects caused a series of delays, late shipments, and lost sales. Based on research conducted among developers and their “internal customers,” the client made changes that restored the connection between employees at all levels while instituting project planning that stressed interim goals building toward the ultimate goal of shipping product, together with decision rules for managing the inevitable snafus. This led to improvements in developer morale, reduction in turnover, and an increase in on-time shipments.

Leaders and members of a prominent international association were concerned about the impact on traditional associations of on-line communities. They commissioned a large study, “Community is Strategy,” which was led by Sara Wedeman. Not only did the research yield a number of published papers, she designed and tested a survey instrument. This instrument, called the State of Community Assessment (SOCA), produces data that measures member satisfaction as well as the sense of community, then links these intangibles to the specific drivers of an association's financial health, such as attendance at meetings, payment of dues, etc. It also reveals how members connect with their associations, online an off. The SOCA is also licensed to the SPR Center, where it is a featured service.