A professional in human resources management, Richard Blain has extensive experience in operations management and finance as well. In his more than 20 years of business, he developed and implemented human resource strategies that increased the efficiency of the firms that he worked for. Mr. Blain has worked in various industries, in particular in the retail trade, the mining sector and public transport. He is known for his ability to identify challenges that companies need to face and for implementing management practices designed to increase organizational efficiency and profitability within a growing and changing environment.
Richard Blain is an expert in managing talent and developing competencies, mobilizing resources, improving work climates, diagnosing organisational problems and handling employee communications. He also has great skill in succession management, due diligence reviews, post-acquisition integration, business process reviews, work group facilitation and coaching managers.
Mr. Blain has held a fair number of executive positions in human resources management. He was Vice-President Human Resources of BouClair Inc., Réno-Dépôt Inc. and the Montreal Stock Exchange. He also filled several management and professional positions for Cambior and the STM. Mr. Blain is a Board member for the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines et en relations industrielles agréés du Québec.
Philippe Collas is the Mobilization Practice Leader for SECOR-Taktik and a Principal at our Montreal Office.
Philippe brings 20 years of management experience to SECOR having held different positions and senior roles within the AXA Group (Insurance and Asset Management leader). Philippe was head of staff of the IT Group and developed the IT Group’s strategic planning, group reporting, vendor relations and skills management. In addition, Philippe was Group V.P. Human Resources Development (including surveys, Corporate University management, and Top management meetings). Philippe was also CFO of AXA Millésimes (an AXA subsidiary, managing real-estate and wine production). Philippe spent more than 10 years at AXA’s head office, where he was involved in pre-merger and post-merger integration activities.
Philippe developed a corporate university for a large co-operative financial group in Canada as well as developing a mobilization survey. He has conducted more than 85 surveys in 50 different companies. Philippe is actively involved in business training and development, at Sciences Po Paris and UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal,).
Carole Deniger has over 15 years' experience
carrying out strategic analyses for major clients in the culture,
communications, media and entertainment industries. She works
closely with top executives of several majors firms, primarily
identifying major strategic issues and developing
growth-enhancing and value-creating business models.
She is the author of various studies such as An
alyse de positionnement de l'industrie du jeu interactif au
Québec,(analysis of the interactive games industry
positioning in Quebec)
Le marché de la communication au Québec : chiffres
clés et enjeux (the communications market in Quebec:
key figures and issues);
The Emergence of the TV Portal and others.
Daniel Denis is an expert in economic and sectoral studies, as well as in strategic planning and analysis.
Mr. Denis’ 21 years in consulting have given him a solid experience in identifying strategic issues facing organizations and developing suitable strategies for them. His expertise ranges from competitive analysis and positioning strategies for public and private organizations to performance assessments of competitor or benchmark company strategies. A specialist in economic and industrial analysis as well as in regional development, Daniel Denis has developed significant expertise in the fields of finance, life sciences, IT sectors and energy. He is frequently called upon to provide expert analytical advice to various government bodies, associations and the media on economic or industrial issues.
Before joining SECOR, he worked for and important financial institution.
From 2000 to 2005 he worked for SECOR Europe in their Paris office, where he developed the strategic leadership practice. In the course of his duties he helped a large number of companies deal with transformational and leadership issues. Claude is an experienced facilitator, conference speaker and consultant. Keenly interested in the development potential of human dynamics, Claude has centred his professional practice on people, culture and strategy. He has developed a real knack for guiding executive teams through complex transformation issues.
Over the last 18 years, Louis J. Duhamel has garnered considerable expertise in consulting, notably in strategy advisement, business planning, corporate governance, and international development.
Mr. Duhamel’s broad experience working with mid-size companies and institutions gives him a strong edge in advising them on their strategic direction, development and financing. He is a recognized strategic-workshop facilitator and a seasoned trainer. He also helps businesses take steps to counter Chinese competition, from developing a diagnosis to formulating business strategies. He is in charge of the TAKTIK-CHINA division of SECOR-TAKTIK.
He is the author of Les 10 e-commandements des affaires électroniques published by the Éditions Transcontinentales in 2004, and he has written several articles on various business topics over the years.
Alain Dumas is an expert in business strategy and business plan development and follow-up. He is SECOR-Taktik’s managing partner and is in charge of finance and administration for SECOR as well as being on its board of directors.
Alain Dumas has more than 15 years of experience in business accounting, auditing, consultation and administration. This experience has given him a solid background in various fields such as diagnostic analyses, business strategies, turnaround and business plans, scorecards, financial modeling and budgetary processes.
He regularly advises top corporate and institutional executives on major issues, business processes, and implementation of their action plans at both the organizational and financial level.
Before joining SECOR-Taktik, Alain Dumas distinguished himself as audit manager at KPMG where he was involved in several mandates to turn companies around and handle their public share offerings while dealing with other major auditing mandates at the same time. He was also director and comptroller of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
David Griller is an expert in technology and innovation and has a passion for life sciences. His clients range from major pharmaceutical companies to small biotechnology firms involved in drug discovery and diagnostics. David works with them on broad strategic issues as well as operational challenges. He also works with the public sector providing advice on policy and technology trends.
David has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University College London and is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Chemistry. David spent half his career as a research chemist at the National Research Council of Canada and the other half in business. He has worked in management, strategic planning, and consulting with Plastic Constructions Inc. Deloitte Haskins and Sells, and KPMG.
With more than ten years experience as a consultant, Mélanie Kfoury is an expert in strategy and business planning, market analysis, and sectoral and economic studies.
Her analyses of complex issues enable management teams to agree on a policy direction that yields action strategies. She also carries out strategic industrial and sectoral analyses and assists top management of high-technology companies in deciding upon directions to take.
Before joining SECOR-Taktik, Mélanie Kfoury worked for two years as an analyst at Accenture.
Benoit Marcoux is an expert in the information, telecommunications energy and aerospace sectors.
After starting out as an engineer in 1981, Benoît Marcoux has been a consultant to businesses and investors for the last 12 years. Creative, pragmatic and sensitive to organizational realities, Mr. Marcoux is able to identify real-world financial and operational imperatives and integrate them into practical, international, high-technology business strategies. His main fields of expertise are strategic analysis, technology management, marketing, and financial modeling.
In addition to his experience in consulting, Benoît Marcoux has distinguished himself in several prominent management positions, including: Vice-President, Finance for ObjectWorld Technologies Ltd, Vice-President of Marketing for Systèmes Proxima ltée, and Vice-President of Systems and Network Operations for AlphaNet Telecom Inc. He was also Director of Finance for Teleglobe Canada, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Director of Marketing Management for Optinet Telecommunications, Director of Product Management and project Leader for Memotec, scientific programmer for Sperry Defense Systems, as well as an engineer for Canadair Inc.
Claude Marier is an expert in human resources strategy.
Mr. Marier has extensive knowledge of strategic human-resource management, notably aligning organizations’ human resource management strategy with business plans. He has carried out numerous HR diagnoses and implemented plans designed to attract, retain and mobilize staff. He has also acquired extensive experience in various fields: strategic analysis and development of remuneration programs, establishment of performance indicators, due diligence auditing and post-acquisition integration.
Claude Marier developed his experience in various companies and sectors where optimal talent management is a key success factor. He has held many top management positions in HR departments, particularly in the distribution sector. He was Corporate Director, Strategic Human-Resources Projects, at the Paris head office of Rexel S.A., Corporate Vice-President, Human Resources of Westburne Inc., Corporate Vice-President, Human Resources Provigo Inc., Vice-President of MLH&A, a consulting firm advising on human resources, remuneration and fringe benefit programs. He has also held several HR management and specialist positions at Shell Canada.
Jean-Yves Ménard is an expert in M&A, strategy, marketing and international sales.
He developed extensive skills working in consulting, ranging from diagnoses, action plans, strategic analyses, to merger and acquisition strategies. He has carried out numerous strategic repositioning, marketing and business-plan mandates. Mr. Menard has extensive experience in various fields: cutting-edge technologies, consumer products, distribution, food processing, and the aeronautics and tourist industries.
During his career, Jean-Yves Ménard has held senior positions such as vice-president of sales and development of international business for Systèmes Proxima, president and CEO of Polyquip, and vice-president of sales for AVS Technologies. He also held several senior management positions at Air Canada, the last being first vice-president of sales and operations for Air Canada Vacations.
Christian Roy is an expert in innovation studies and strategies.
With over 10 years’ experience in consulting and management, he designs performance indicators and measuring tools that are based on a company’s industrial, strategic and innovation practices. These tools are used to develop relevant action plans to foster company growth or regional economic development. At the international level, Christian Roy has worked on exports, industrial clusters and collaboration between research institutes and industry.
Over the course of his career, he worked as strategic advisor to various companies and institutions. He was also in charge of the first Quebec regional support program for innovation in manufacturing, and carried out its implementation at the participating firms’ executive levels. He was also mandated by the Canadian Plastics Industry Association (ACIP), the NRC-IRAP, Economic Development Canada (EDC) and the Ministère du Développement économique de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation (MDEIE) to develop an approach using benchmarking as part of strategic planning for SME. He has always worked closely with CEGEPs and universities regarding research support and program management. At the international level, he has worked in exports and in European research exchange programs, specifically with the University of Strasbourg.
Yves Roy is the
President and Chief Executive Office of SECOR.
Yves Roy was appointed CEO of SECOR Consulting
in June 2007. He has twenty-five years of experience in the
consulting field in deployments across the world, advising
companies of all sizes. Posted previously in Canada
(Montréal), the US (New York and Chicago), Europe (Paris)
and Latin-America (Sao Paolo), he has helped manage, acquire and
divest of companies in each of these regions. He has also led a
mid-size Quebec-based company in manufacturing and distribution
of building materials.
Client work includes:
Domestic and international acquisition/alliance
strategies
IT Governance and strategy
Employee mobilization measurement and strategy
Oona Stock is in charge of SECOR Events and specializes in client strategy. She supervises SECOR’s corporate communications.
Oona joined SECOR in 1997, initially as a strategy consultant. She developed the communications and marketing function and led it for over 7 years. In 2005, she set up SECOR Events, which she continues to direct today.
Oona Stock was General Director of the Mouvement québécois de la qualité and Head of SECOR’s Prague office; Marketing Director at Propagart – entertainment division; lecturer at the University of Montreal and head-hunter for Daigneault et associés.
Bio
Jim Aber is a consulting partner in the Toronto office.
Jim brings 25 years of consulting experience to SECOR. Before joining SECOR in September of 2007, he led the eLending Business Unit for Fiserv, Inc. with responsibility for providing strategic direction and leadership for the product management, development, operations, sales and marketing teams. Prior to the acquisition of eLending by Fiserv in May of 2005, Jim served as President, eFinance for Emergis, Inc., leading the sales and marketing teams offering North American enterprises a wide range of eBusiness solutions. This business segment focused on payment enablement and loan document processing solutions.
Prior to joining Emergis, Jim spent over 20 years in the telecommunications industry in both Canada and the United States. His roles included Vice President, Global Accounts for Rogers Wireless, Canada’s largest wireless company; Director of Sales, Sprint PCS; and Branch Manager, National Accounts, MCI Telecommunications amongst others.
Address
390 Bay Street
Suite 2400
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y2
Bio
Trilingual, James BAER has 25 years experience in management, strategy and consulting.
Areas of expertise
James is specialized in operational strategy and the use of new technologies in management training. In particular he developed and marketed a SECOR/Les Echos Formation joint offering: “Leadership and Results”.
Professional Designations and Education
A graduate of ESSEC, James Baer also holds an MBA from McGill University in Montreal.
A professional in human resources management, Richard Blain has extensive experience in operations management and finance as well. In his more than 20 years of business, he developed and implemented human resource strategies that increased the efficiency of the firms that he worked for. Mr. Blain has worked in various industries, in particular in the retail trade, the mining sector and public transport. He is known for his ability to identify challenges that companies need to face and for implementing management practices designed to increase organizational efficiency and profitability within a growing and changing environment.
Richard Blain is an expert in managing talent and developing competencies, mobilizing resources, improving work climates, diagnosing organisational problems and handling employee communications. He also has great skill in succession management, due diligence reviews, post-acquisition integration, business process reviews, work group facilitation and coaching managers.
Mr. Blain has held a fair number of executive positions in human resources management. He was Vice-President Human Resources of BouClair Inc., Réno-Dépôt Inc. and the Montreal Stock Exchange. He also filled several management and professional positions for Cambior and the STM. Mr. Blain is a Board member for the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines et en relations industrielles agréés du Québec.
Areas of expertise
Professional Designations and Education
M.B.A. from the École des Hautes Études Commerciales de Montréal
B.A.A. – Finance from the Université du Québec à Montréal
James brings 20 years of consulting experience to SECOR, having held senior roles with several leading global strategy consulting firms. James has advised clients through pre-deal strategy issues, and post-merger integration management. His clients are Canadian and global leaders of capital intensive sectors such as the resources, telecommunications and transportation industries, as well as service sectors such as information services and consumer products.
James has conducted a number of studies on behalf of government and industry groups on public policy issues such as competitiveness, industry strategy, and international trade. He has directed other public and private initiatives on economic issues such as foreign investment and globalization. Moreover, James has been a frequent speaker throughout North America in the print and television media on various topics.
Recently, James spent more than a year seconded to a Canadian-headquartered global firm as a senior advisor on strategic planning and corporate development where he was involved in pre-deal strategic work through to post-merger integration planning.
Areas of expertise
Corporate strategy development considering related and unrelated growth options
Business strategy development including turnaround and exit situations
Joint venture planning
Acquisition and divestiture planning
Post-merger integration process design and implementation in transportation, telecommunications, and manufacturing
Large scale restructuring projects ranging in focus from organizational strategy and design through to accelerated comprehensive cost reduction efforts
Professional Designations and Education
MBA, Queen's University, Kingston
BA (Honors), Huron College at the University of Western Ontario
Articles and Publications
Navigating the Acquisition Road to Market Leadership, Perspectives, December 2007.
Philippe CASTILLA is passionate about human dynamics in organizations, teaching and the art of leadership.
Areas of expertise
Philippe assists companies in changing their corporate culture and management style. He is specialized in creating values in service companies by changing management practices.
Mario-Jacques has a rich and varied career path: sales supervisor for the Hudson’s Bay Company, educator and then director of the Fashion Marketing program for LaSalle College in Montreal (Canada), he then took over management of the educational services and the Fashion Marketing program in Singapore and became General Manager in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia). He has been living in France since 1995, where he has worked as an independent consultant, coach and trainer before joining the consulting firm of Ariade. He is French Canadian and is bilingual (English French).
Areas of expertise
A manager at SECOR since 2002, he acts as coach and designs and facilitates sessions aimed at senior executives of large corporations, essentially on corporate personnel development and the human side of change management.
Professional Designations and Education
Mario-Jacques has an MBA from HEC Montréal, is a certified coach, master NLP practitioner and Gestalt practitioner.
Madeleine joined
SECOR as a consultant in 1994, became a partner in September 2000
and headed the Montreal office from 2003 to 2005. Since 2001, she
has led the Strategic Leadership and Organizational
Transformation Practices team for our Canadian offices.
With eighteen years of experience in consulting and
management, she leads projects that help clients achieve
successful results through leadership initiative and
organizational transformation. Madeleine is also widely
recognized for outstanding diagnostic and conceptualization
skills and has developed numerous, high-performance measurement
tools for employee mobilization, organizational culture, and
organizational change capacities. She is also responsible for
designing and managing transformation programs aimed at executive
development for national and international companies. She has
significant knowledge of varied industries in retail, finance,
manufacturing and media.
Areas of expertise
Working with executive teams that invest in client relations and/or operational excellence strategy in order to stand out in the market
Measuring organizational mobilization and aligning it to strategy
Defining corporate cultural references (diagnosis, target management and, support during implementation)
Designing programs for organizational change (implementation of corporate strategy, development of leadership/management skills)
Streamlining management practices (revising structures, processes and management systems) in terms of corporate strategies, i.e., client strategy, innovation strategy, etc.
Professional Designations and Education
École des Hautes Études Commerciales in Montreal
Member of the Board of Directors of SECOR
Member of the Board of Directors of the Montreal Canadian Club
Member of the Board of Groupe Conseil Omnitech (GCO)
555, René-Lévesque blvd. West, 9th floor
Montreal (Quebec) H2Z 1B1
Bio
Philippe Collas is the Mobilization Practice Leader for SECOR-Taktik and a Principal at our Montreal Office.
Philippe brings 20 years of management experience to SECOR having held different positions and senior roles within the AXA Group (Insurance and Asset Management leader). Philippe was head of staff of the IT Group and developed the IT Group’s strategic planning, group reporting, vendor relations and skills management. In addition, Philippe was Group V.P. Human Resources Development (including surveys, Corporate University management, and Top management meetings). Philippe was also CFO of AXA Millésimes (an AXA subsidiary, managing real-estate and wine production). Philippe spent more than 10 years at AXA’s head office, where he was involved in pre-merger and post-merger integration activities.
Philippe developed a corporate university for a large co-operative financial group in Canada as well as developing a mobilization survey. He has conducted more than 85 surveys in 50 different companies. Philippe is actively involved in business training and development, at Sciences Po Paris and UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal,).
Areas of expertise
Mobilization and engagement measurement and action plans
Corporate alignment strategies
Top executive and managerial development and training activities
Post-merger integration processes
Brand and culture alignment
Surveys and research methodologies
Professional Designations and Education
Diploma, Economics and international trade, Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Sciences Po) Paris
Marcel
Côté is a senior partner and a co-founder of Secor. Up
to this year, when he resigned as CEO of the firm, he was
instrumental in building up Secor. He is now retired from
management, but remains active as a consultant.
Marcel is well-known for working closely with
CEO's to develop value creating strategy at leading Canadian
companies. Its 30 years of experience at Secor has given him a
wide exposure to a variety of issues and several industries. He
is particularly known for its strategic insights in business
situations, and is associated with several major transactions and
turn-around. For the past ten years, he has also been active in
France, where he brings a North American perspective to strategy
development, working closely with several corporations at the CEO
level.
Marcel's key area of focus is strategy. In that
capacity, he has assisted CEOs and their senior management team in
rethinking their strategy and unleashing new ways of approaching
their business strategy. He is also increasingly taking an interest
in change management strategy to boost the organizational
effectiveness of large enterprises. Marcel has extensive experience
in working with task forces made of both managers and consultants
working on strategic projects. He has been particularly active in
basic industries, finance, retailing, media and telecommunications.
In recent years,Marcel has also been advising clients in France,
bringing an North American perspective to their strategy issues
Over its career, Marcel has also been involved
in the public policy arena. An economist by training, he has
worked as a senior aide in both the Prime Minister Office in
Ottawa and the Premier Office in Québec City. He has sat on
the Boards of various public policy Think Tanks and has presided
the Board of the Public Policy Forum. He is a frequent
commentator on public policy issues, with a special in interest
on growth, innovation and productivity and on Québec issues.
For the past 15 years, Marcel has also written the back page
column in the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants'
monthly magazine.
Areas of expertise
Assisting senior management in the conduct of strategic reviews
On-going advice to CEO on their strategic issues
Working with senior management task force to develop turn-around strategies
Participating in high level teams working on sensitive merger and acquisitions
Advising on Post Merger Integration
Advising CEOs on Public Policy issues
Professional Designations and Education
Harvard University: Fellow, Center for International Affairs, 1987
André COUPET is an expert in helping executive management teams looking to focus on customer relations to differentiate themselves in the market and in helping corporations develop customer relations cultures: from measuring mobilization toward customer relations to aligning the organization and its functions with the customer relations culture.
André holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Paris as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Sherbrooke.
Areas of expertise
André COUPET is an expert in helping executive management teams looking to focus on customer relations to differentiate themselves in the market and in helping corporations develop customer relations cultures: from measuring mobilization toward customer relations to aligning the organization and its functions with the customer relations culture.
Professional Designations and Education
André holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Paris as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Sherbrooke.
Over the last 15 years, Philippe CRUELLAS has designed and developed social psychological practices and approaches dedicated to guiding change in large international firms and in European business schools.
Areas of expertise
Philippe usually works on site within company teams or sectors: helping a director work on the coherence of his actions; helping a management team build and share its vision; enabling strategic departments that are having difficulties co-operating in reaching a close working relationship and creating value. He guides the activities such that the players decide what to do to change their organizations from within. His role is more that of a facilitator than that of a consultant. Any action stems from listening in-depth to what the players have to say about the situation to understand the energy dynamics of the social system involve in the change. He believes that first you have to “look after the systems” so that those working in them can fully develop their skills.
Carole Deniger has over 15 years' experience
carrying out strategic analyses for major clients in the culture,
communications, media and entertainment industries. She works
closely with top executives of several majors firms, primarily
identifying major strategic issues and developing
growth-enhancing and value-creating business models.
She is the author of various studies such as An
alyse de positionnement de l'industrie du jeu interactif au
Québec,(analysis of the interactive games industry
positioning in Quebec)
Le marché de la communication au Québec : chiffres
clés et enjeux (the communications market in Quebec:
key figures and issues);
The Emergence of the TV Portal and others.
Daniel Denis is an expert in economic and sectoral studies, as well as in strategic planning and analysis.
Mr. Denis’ 21 years in consulting have given him a solid experience in identifying strategic issues facing organizations and developing suitable strategies for them. His expertise ranges from competitive analysis and positioning strategies for public and private organizations to performance assessments of competitor or benchmark company strategies. A specialist in economic and industrial analysis as well as in regional development, Daniel Denis has developed significant expertise in the fields of finance, life sciences, IT sectors and energy. He is frequently called upon to provide expert analytical advice to various government bodies, associations and the media on economic or industrial issues.
Before joining SECOR, he worked for and important financial institution.
From 2000 to 2005 he worked for SECOR Europe in their Paris office, where he developed the strategic leadership practice. In the course of his duties he helped a large number of companies deal with transformational and leadership issues. Claude is an experienced facilitator, conference speaker and consultant. Keenly interested in the development potential of human dynamics, Claude has centred his professional practice on people, culture and strategy. He has developed a real knack for guiding executive teams through complex transformation issues.
Areas of expertise
Leadership
Change management
Organizational change
Professional Designations and Education
He has a master’s degree in education management and a graduate diploma in education.
David likes to define himself as a values seeker! He coaches companies looking to create balanced and consistent values that all of the company’s stakeholders can identify with: shareholders, clients, employees and suppliers
He is quite convinced that "value added" and “warmth added" are two major and inseparable ingredients needed to make a difference and continue to perform over the long term.
Holder of a master’s in management from ESC Lille and a master’s in business management, David started his career in operations at MANUTAN and then SAFIC-ALCAN where he was responsible for quality control and organization. He then turned to consulting, joining INergie, then moving to SECOR Consulting in 2001.
Since joining SECOR, David regularly assists clients and management teams, both as a consultant and facilitator in the following areas: articulation of company strategy and vision, development of strong client strategy and culture, organizational development, HR mobilization and alignment, management development and implementation of collaborative innovation / corporate university
Areas of expertise
David’s methods are sectoral based (banking, insurance, distribution, engineering and logistics) and the techniques expertise that he developed are embedded in the various approaches he uses on his mandates to:
Advise executive teams and key managers make strategic decisions and follow through on their project: strategic alignment
Accelerate change projects and mobilize staff by implementing required change initiatives and developing a client-centric culture
Foster the integration and deployment of a consistent, value-creating approach regarding financial, client, organizational and human dimensions
Help deploy the alignment and mobilization processes and mechanisms: strategic forum, open forum, corporate university, workshop
Share corporate strategy issues with doctoral students (Courses at the IAE de Paris I – the Sorbonne)
Some references: Groupe Caisse des dépôts et consignation (and competing subsidiaries – Icade, Egis, Transdev…), CNP Assurances, Kuehne+Nagel (Logistics), Groupe Caisse d'Epargne (Caisses d’Epargne and subsidiaries), Natixis, Groupe Carrefour & Logidis, Pfizer, Sanef, Groupama…
Professional Designations and Education
1993–1994 : Master’s in industrial and services management - Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Lille
1989–1993 : Deug, Licence and Master’s “Business management" - Faculté des Sciences Economiques, Rennes I
Member of the ADETEM (national marketing association)
Work and research group participant under the “Bank management and governance group" - Université Montesquieu Bordeaux 4
Educator to doctoral students on corporate strategy issues, in particular concerning banking (Course at the IAE de Paris I – the Sorbonne)
Articles and Publications
“Réflexion sur le management des idées et l’innovation participative” (thoughts on ideas management and participatory innovation, 2007 (Secor)
“Un monde bancaire en mouvement” (the changing world of banking), 2006 (Paris-I)
“La création de valeur en entreprise” (creating value in business), 2004 (Cahier de l’université GCE)
“Mesurer les impacts d’une université d’entreprise” (measuring the impact of a corporate university), 2003 (Hays)
Over the last 18 years, Louis J. Duhamel has garnered considerable expertise in consulting, notably in strategy advisement, business planning, corporate governance, and international development.
Mr. Duhamel’s broad experience working with mid-size companies and institutions gives him a strong edge in advising them on their strategic direction, development and financing. He is a recognized strategic-workshop facilitator and a seasoned trainer. He also helps businesses take steps to counter Chinese competition, from developing a diagnosis to formulating business strategies. He is in charge of the TAKTIK-CHINA division of SECOR-TAKTIK.
He is the author of Les 10 e-commandements des affaires électroniques published by the Éditions Transcontinentales in 2004, and he has written several articles on various business topics over the years.
Areas of expertise
Strategic planning
Corporate governance
International development
Professional Designations and Education
Education
Master of Business Administration in international business management, Schiller International University (London and Heidelberg Campuses)
Bachelor of Marketing and Communications, Concordia University in Montreal
Certificates in advertising management and e-business
Diploma from the ICD Corporate Governance College of the Institute of Corporate Directors which gives him the professional designation of ICD.D
Professional Affiliations
Director of Alphinat, a public corporation in the software sector
Director of Institute of Corporate Directors
Director of the Quebec Special Olympics
Chair of the Board at Aciflex Industries Inc. (Plumbing)
Chair of the Lindsay Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation
President of the Advisory Board of the White Cross (apparel sector)
Outgoing member of the BDC's board of directors where he chaired the human resources remuneration and retirement fund committees.
Ho Chi Minh City
21 Yen The - Tan Binh District
Ho Chi Minh City - VIETNAM
+84 (0)1 228 039 991 info@secorgroup.com
Bio
Alain Dumas is an expert in business strategy and business plan development and follow-up. He is SECOR-Taktik’s managing partner and is in charge of finance and administration for SECOR as well as being on its board of directors.
Alain Dumas has more than 15 years of experience in business accounting, auditing, consultation and administration. This experience has given him a solid background in various fields such as diagnostic analyses, business strategies, turnaround and business plans, scorecards, financial modeling and budgetary processes.
He regularly advises top corporate and institutional executives on major issues, business processes, and implementation of their action plans at both the organizational and financial level.
Before joining SECOR-Taktik, Alain Dumas distinguished himself as audit manager at KPMG where he was involved in several mandates to turn companies around and handle their public share offerings while dealing with other major auditing mandates at the same time. He was also director and comptroller of the Montreal Stock Exchange.
Areas of expertise
Diagnosis
Business strategy
Assisting top management
Business processes
Professional Designations and Education
MBA, University of Sherbrooke
Chartered Accountant (CA)
Member of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec
555, René-Lévesque blvd. West, 9th floor
Montreal (Quebec) H2Z 1B1
Bio
Joel Finlayson
is a Partner in the Toronto Office.
Joel brings over 10 years of consulting and
operational experience in the media and communications sectors to
SECOR. Joel has worked closely with a number of market leaders to
grow their existing businesses and explore new opportunities in
both Europe and North America.
Joel's work centers on helping clients
capitalise on the shifting boundaries between the media,
communications and technology sectors. He helps cable and telcos
compete with traditional players and new unregulated web-based
pure-plays that operate and innovate on a global scale.
Similarly, his work in media involves helping companies adapt to,
and profit from, the power shift that is occurring from
aggregators/distributors of content to the consumers of content.
His teams address a number of strategic challenges relating to:
customer experiences, customer control, and the impact of new
technologies (e.g. 'place shifting', 'time shifting',
interoperability and mobility among other opportunities). The
common theme in much of this work is to help clients maximize the
value of their assets in a digital environment.
The project work Joel leads often begins by
helping clients identify and define growth opportunities and
continues through to the launch of a new offering complete with
the key leadership, partnerships, organizational structures and
governance model.
Areas of expertise
Defining digital media and communications offerings and new business models (Eg. VOD or unified communications)
Technology and service enabled growth (Eg. data services)
Exploiting new technologies and consumer behaviours to grow strong brands into adjacent verticals (Eg. Online listings and mobile directories)
Developing interactive properties to establish (or protect) direct relationships with consumers (Eg. Studios and content owners)
Exploiting new technologies and models to aggressively reduce operating costs (Eg. Self-service wireless)
Defining customer segmentation strategies to enhance core operating metrics (Eg. churn, ARPU and COA)
Incubating disruptive innovation, new business models and new technologies
Professional Designations and Education
Dalhousie University: Dean’s List graduate
University of Cambridge: MBA
US Series 7, UK FSA & Canadian Securities & Futures
Address
390 Bay Street
Suite 2400
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y2
Bio
David Griller is an expert in technology and innovation and has a passion for life sciences. His clients range from major pharmaceutical companies to small biotechnology firms involved in drug discovery and diagnostics. David works with them on broad strategic issues as well as operational challenges. He also works with the public sector providing advice on policy and technology trends.
David has a Ph.D. in Chemistry from University College London and is a fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and the Canadian Institute of Chemistry. David spent half his career as a research chemist at the National Research Council of Canada and the other half in business. He has worked in management, strategic planning, and consulting with Plastic Constructions Inc. Deloitte Haskins and Sells, and KPMG.
Areas of expertise
Strategic planning
Innovation strategy
Market analysis
Professional Designations and Education
Doctorate in organometallic chemistry from the University College London.
Kathy brings over ten years of consulting and industry experience. She is a senior strategy consultant specializing in business strategy, transformation, customer experience and new market entry strategy. Kathy has worked with clients across multiple sectors in developing growth strategies and capitalizing on new business opportunities. She has also worked closely with organizations in planning and implementing major transformational programs that have resulted in significant improvement in business results.
Kathy has extensive experience in program management, leadership and communications. She brings a collaborative approach in working with clients, demonstrated through her work in facilitating strategic sessions with Board of Directors, Senior Management, and Project Teams. In designing and implementing transformation, Kathy integrates people, process and technology methodologies, combining both strong quantitative analysis with qualitative facilitation techniques to achieve outstanding delivery and results.
Prior to joining SECOR, Kathy was the Strategy and Transformation Consulting Leader at Capgemini Consulting, formerly Ernst & Young Consulting. In addition to Strategy and Transformation, Kathy is known for her ground-breaking work on customer experience, where she assisted clients in designing new business models to differentiate themselves in the marketplace.
Areas of expertise
Strategic planning, design and execution
Growth strategies for both core and new business launch
Customer strategy and customer experience design and implementation
Business strategy development including post-merger integration
Transformation, strategic restructuring and change management
Organization design, leadership alignment and culture
Performance improvement and cost reduction
Large and small group facilitation for visioning and strategy development
Program management of major transformational initiatives
Professional Designations and Education
BASc from University of Toronto
MBA from Ivey Business School
Project Management Professionals Designation
Professional Engineers of Ontario Designation
Articles and Publications
Co-author of the Canadian Wealth Management Market Report
Contributor to the World Wealth Report
Contributor to the World Retail Banking Report
Co-author of the Canadian Wireless Competitiveness Study
Address
390 Bay Street
Suite 2400
Toronto, ON M5H 2Y2
Bio
Nancy Kaplan focuses on advising executives at domestic and global companies on issues related to business strategy. She has worked extensively in the areas of Post Merger Integration, innovation and commercialization, strategic and tactical marketing, customer-centricity, and enterprise-wide transformation. She has particular expertise in communications and media, including mobility, fixed line, and satellite.
Ms. Kaplan has led numerous engagements. As examples, she led the PMI work for the integration of the Enterprise businesses in the recent merger of two global telecommunications companies. She recently directed the strategy development and execution for the Small-Medium Business segment for a major telco. Changes to segmentation, product, channel and on-line strategies and capabilities were targeted to drive a minimum of $500M in revenue lift annually. Ms. Kapaln also led the go-to-market strategy and business model definition for a $1B integrated satellite-terrestrial start-up. The results helped to drive follow-on funding of $300M and save over $600M in capital expenditures.
Ms. Kaplan earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Yale University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Areas of expertise
Strategy Development and Implementation
Portfolio rationalization and enterprise transformation
Growth and innovation
M&A and Post Merger Integration (PMI)
Professional Designations and Education
MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business
BA from Yale University
Nancy is a frequent keynote speaker at industry events
Articles and Publications
Select Publications and Presentations
Live BBC-TV Analysis of SBC acquisition of AT&T (2005)
“VoIP and BPL – They’re Here! But are They Enough? (UTC Journal, 2005)
“Surviving and Thriving When Your Customers Contract” (Journal of Business Strategy, 2003)
“Realizing the Promise of Partnerships” (Journal of Business Strategy, 2002)
“Assimilate, Integrate, or Leave Alone” (Journal of Business Strategy, 2001)
Jocelyn brings 20 years experience with business transformation. He guides and supports executive teams when they must transform their organizational model and their processes, where executive alignment and strategic change management are typically critical to the success of the transformation.
He has led transformation initiatives in support to different business strategies: adapting organization structure and governance to improve effectiveness, ensuring organizational and cultural integration following an acquisition, aligning foreign operations to support rapid expansion, reducing costs at support functions and implementing new technology enabled processes and organization.
Jocelyn's main industries of expertise are aerospace, energy and financial services.
Areas of expertise
Developing the business case and designing the organization of a corporate shared services for a large Canadian financial institution
Reshaping of the IT division and the IT governance mechanisms for a Canadian insurer
Guiding a new executive team in positioning a post merger integration, in the aerospace sector
Benchmarking of best practices of electricity distributors global leaders in operational excellence
Supporting the design and alignment of multiple customer serving departments in the implementation of an integrated Customer Care Center, in the aerospace industry
Advise executive team and managed the organization transformation stream of large ERP implementation projects, in the aerospace and in the electricity sectors
Managed leadership alignment on off shore strategy for a global aerospace manufacturer
Business Transformation - Organization design and corporate governance - Strategic change management - Business planning and organization performance management
- Project management
Professional Designations and Education
McGill University : « Executive Development Course » and « Advanced Management Course » , 2004-2005
Miles brings over fourteen years of management consulting experience to SECOR. Miles is a highly regarded consultant to the telecommunications and related industries, with extensive international experience, having advised senior executives in North America, Asia and Europe. His clients are leading wireless operators, fixed-line operators, handset manufacturers, wireless platform providers, multinational corporations and government.
Miles was previously a Vice President at CSMG ADVENTIS, a leading provider of strategy consulting services focused on the communications, media and entertainment industries. In addition, Miles was a Vice President in A.T. Kearney's Communications and High Technology Practice in U.S. and Asia, where he focused on serving leading companies in the wireless and related sectors.
Miles also served as a communications subject matter expert to finance, investment companies and start-ups. Miles has been quoted by major US newspapers and trade magazines such as Wall Street Journal, New York Times.
Areas of expertise
Growth Strategy
New Market Entry Strategy
Marketing and Customer Management
Corporate Turnaround
Professional Designations and Education
MBA from Kellogg School of Management at the Northwestern University.
Bachelor of Science degree with Distinction in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University.
Certified by American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS)
Address
Continental Tower
1370 Avenue of the Americas, 14th floor
New York, NY 10019
Bio
Ms. L’Heureux has been working as a consultant in strategic business alignment since 1994, both for the public and private sectors, in Quebec and the rest of Canada.
Since joining SECOR Consulting in 1997, she has been actively involved with many organizations wishing to plan and implement transformations in order to better answer their strategic issues: post-merger integration, customer experience re-invention (internal and external), organization design, and performance management.
Areas of expertise
High level implementation planning and organizational change process
Organizational evaluation, issue definition and strategic alignment
Performance improvement and monitoring; balanced scorecard development
Benoit Marcoux is an expert in the information, telecommunications energy and aerospace sectors.
After starting out as an engineer in 1981, Benoît Marcoux has been a consultant to businesses and investors for the last 12 years. Creative, pragmatic and sensitive to organizational realities, Mr. Marcoux is able to identify real-world financial and operational imperatives and integrate them into practical, international, high-technology business strategies. His main fields of expertise are strategic analysis, technology management, marketing, and financial modeling.
In addition to his experience in consulting, Benoît Marcoux has distinguished himself in several prominent management positions, including: Vice-President, Finance for ObjectWorld Technologies Ltd, Vice-President of Marketing for Systèmes Proxima ltée, and Vice-President of Systems and Network Operations for AlphaNet Telecom Inc. He was also Director of Finance for Teleglobe Canada, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Director of Marketing Management for Optinet Telecommunications, Director of Product Management and project Leader for Memotec, scientific programmer for Sperry Defense Systems, as well as an engineer for Canadair Inc.
A professional in human resources management, Richard Blain has extensive experience in operations management and finance as well. In his more than 20 years of business, he developed and implemented human resource strategies that increased the efficiency of the firms that he worked for. Mr. Blain has worked in various industries, in particular in the retail trade, the mining sector and public transport. He is known for his ability to identify challenges that companies need to face and for implementing management practices designed to increase organizational efficiency and profitability within a growing and changing environment. 
Daniel Denis is an expert in economic and sectoral studies, as well as in strategic planning and analysis. 
Over the last 18 years, Louis J. Duhamel has garnered considerable expertise in consulting, notably in strategy advisement, business planning, corporate governance, and international development. 
Alain Dumas is an expert in business strategy and business plan development and follow-up. He is SECOR-Taktik’s managing partner and is in charge of finance and administration for SECOR as well as being on its board of directors. 
David Griller is an expert in technology and innovation and has a passion for life sciences. His clients range from major pharmaceutical companies to small biotechnology firms involved in drug discovery and diagnostics. David works with them on broad strategic issues as well as operational challenges. He also works with the public sector providing advice on policy and technology trends. 
With more than ten years experience as a consultant, Mélanie Kfoury is an expert in strategy and business planning, market analysis, and sectoral and economic studies. 
Benoit Marcoux is an expert in the information, telecommunications energy and aerospace sectors. 
Claude Marier is an expert in human resources strategy. 
Jean-Yves Ménard is an expert in M&A, strategy, marketing and international sales. 
Christian Roy is an expert in innovation studies and strategies. 
Yves Roy is the
President and Chief Executive Office of SECOR.
Oona Stock is in charge of SECOR Events and specializes in client strategy. She supervises SECOR’s corporate communications. 
Jim Aber is a consulting partner in the Toronto office. 
Trilingual, James BAER has 25 years experience in management, strategy and consulting.
James brings 20 years of consulting experience to SECOR, having held senior roles with several leading global strategy consulting firms. James has advised clients through pre-deal strategy issues, and post-merger integration management. His clients are Canadian and global leaders of capital intensive sectors such as the resources, telecommunications and transportation industries, as well as service sectors such as information services and consumer products.
Philippe CASTILLA is passionate about human dynamics in organizations, teaching and the art of leadership.
Madeleine joined
SECOR as a consultant in 1994, became a partner in September 2000
and headed the Montreal office from 2003 to 2005. Since 2001, she
has led the Strategic Leadership and Organizational
Transformation Practices team for our Canadian offices.
Marcel
Côté is a senior partner and a co-founder of Secor. Up
to this year, when he resigned as CEO of the firm, he was
instrumental in building up Secor. He is now retired from
management, but remains active as a consultant.
Joel Finlayson
is a Partner in the Toronto Office.
Kathy brings over ten years of consulting and industry experience. She is a senior strategy consultant specializing in business strategy, transformation, customer experience and new market entry strategy. Kathy has worked with clients across multiple sectors in developing growth strategies and capitalizing on new business opportunities. She has also worked closely with organizations in planning and implementing major transformational programs that have resulted in significant improvement in business results. 
Nancy Kaplan focuses on advising executives at domestic and global companies on issues related to business strategy. She has worked extensively in the areas of Post Merger Integration, innovation and commercialization, strategic and tactical marketing, customer-centricity, and enterprise-wide transformation. She has particular expertise in communications and media, including mobility, fixed line, and satellite.
Jocelyn brings 20 years experience with business transformation. He guides and supports executive teams when they must transform their organizational model and their processes, where executive alignment and strategic change management are typically critical to the success of the transformation. 
Miles brings over fourteen years of management consulting experience to SECOR. Miles is a highly regarded consultant to the telecommunications and related industries, with extensive international experience, having advised senior executives in North America, Asia and Europe. His clients are leading wireless operators, fixed-line operators, handset manufacturers, wireless platform providers, multinational corporations and government.
Ms. L’Heureux has been working as a consultant in strategic business alignment since 1994, both for the public and private sectors, in Quebec and the rest of Canada.