McLaren's quick thinking races into the boardroom
McLaren Applied Technologies and SmithBayes are today launching a joint venture that will take the advanced software used to decide race strategies in the fast-paced world of Formula One racing to the boardroom.
Dubbed a ‘decision engine' by those behind its development, the software promises to fundamentally change the way Global 2000 corporations go about strategic planning and decision making. The technology has been piloted successfully by leading players in the aerospace, telecommunications, financial services and consumer goods sectors.
Team McLaren Mercedes relies heavily on the software to determine the optimum race strategy in response to events as they unfold on the track such as competitor actions or other unexpected events such as the deployment of a safety car. In partnership with software company SmithBayes, a graphical decision platform has been developed to adapt the technology for use in the world of business.
The software platform enables decision makers to rapidly develop scenario-based trees that map out the value, risk and success probability of defined business strategies. These scenarios are linked in real time to company and market financials, thus enabling companies to immediately recalibrate their strategy in response to changes both at the micro and macroeconomic level.
Commenting on the market need for this software, renowned London Business School Professor Don Sull said: “Today's fast-changing environment creates golden opportunities for profitable growth, but also entails unprecedented risks. The key to seizing these opportunities and mitigating these risks lies in strategic agility--the ability to consistently spot changes in the environment and exploit them to create value. Strategic agility is difficult to achieve. Companies that rise to the challenge can reap great rewards. Those that remain inflexible risk extinction.”
"Organisational agility is of vital importance in today's fast paced global economy, but most senior executives I speak to tell me their organisation's approach to strategic planning today is totally unsatisfactory. It is precisely this need our software is addressing, and the very positive feedback from our first customers convinces me we are on the threshold of an enormous and global commercial opportunity,” said Simon Williams, CEO of SmithBayes.
About SmithBayes and McLaren Applied Technologies
SmithBayes was founded in March 2006 with the vision of being the iconic decision-making product for board level management in the world's leading companies.
McLaren Applied Technologies was established in 2004 and is the latest company within the McLaren Group. The primary objective of the company is to work within a diverse range of industries and develop commercial applications for technology developed within the McLaren Group.
The new venture will be based at the McLaren Group's corporate headquarters – the McLaren Technology Centre - in Woking, Surrey . Mike Phillips, the Managing Director of McLaren Applied Technologies and Simon Williams, the CEO of SmithBayes will be overseeing the venture.
