Annual Report 2006 - BTS

Strategic acquisitionsDuring 2006, the BTSGroup acquired thetwo US companies, theAdvantage PerformanceGroup (APG) and The RealLearning Company (RLC),both highly-respectedtraining and consultingorganizations.Broad US presenceIn 2006, BTS acquired two well-known companies on the strategically important US market, TheAdvantage Performance Group, (APG) and The Real Learning Company (RLC). The two companieshave also been successful partners to BTS for several years – which has led to some of thelargest accounts the Group has in the US.The acquisition of APG and RLC brings to the BTS Group some of the most experiencedbusiness-training professionals in the US as well as a customer base including many Fortune500 companies. The sales and delivery processes of the two acquired companies primarily targetorganizations’ middle and first-line management and sales force. This represents a strategiccomplement to and a widening of BTS’ focus on top management.A doubling of the existing client base in the US creates mutually beneficial synergies, and asignificant opportunity to increase market share by helping customers leverage “new” capabilitiesadded to the BTS solution portfolio. Examples of important customers that APG and RLChave brought to BTS include: Toyota, UPS, Bristol-Myers Squibb, American Express, Wells Fargo,Ingersoll-Rand, Daimler-Chrysler, Catholic Health and Insight.The Advantage Performance GroupThe Advantage Performance Group (APG)is a leading, human-performance consultingnetwork consisting of 40 fulltime franchisepartners and affiliates and over 100 independentfacilitators, which adds a strong marketforce for the US market.Network and franchise modelThe APG network is based on a franchisemodel. The franchise partners work exclusivelywith pre-selected product offerings from someof the worlds leading developers of training.APG collaborates with developers of trainingsolutions (such as BTS and RLC) and thenapplies its training-effectiveness methodology– The Advantage Way System – to helporganizations maximize their training Return ofInvestment (ROI).APG has supported hundreds of top organizationsto help achieve their business objectives.The company provides leading trainingsolutions in the areas of:• Sales & Service Excellence• Leadership & Organizational Development• Team & Individual Performance DevelopmentThe system is a high-impact conceptualframework for building training and businessimpact throughout organizations. It creates aclear linkage between training interventionsand business objectives.The Advantage Way System also incorporatesAPG’s proprietary Success CaseEvaluation Method , a practical way to measureand demonstrate both behavioral and bottomlineresults. Also, APG clients can be certifiedin the system which includes licensed “rightsto use” interactive programs and tools forhuman-resources development professionalsand managers, aimed at the goal of deliveringbetter business results from training.The Advantage Way SystemThe Advantage Way System is APG’s owntraining-effectiveness methodology that ensuresthat corporate training creates measurablebusiness impact. The system is based onmore than 30 years of research and practiceby Dr. Robert Brinkerhoff, and has been provenwith organizations that include AmericanExpress, Motorola, Boeing, Anheuser-Busch,Hewlett-Packard, EDS, QUALCOMM andmany others.28BTS Annual report 2006