RONALD J. RECARDO, CMC

Ronald Recardo is the founder and Managing Partner of The Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC.  He has over thirty years of experience as both a corporate executive and management consultant.  Mr. Recardo has worked with over 130 global clients in the manufacturing, high tech, financial services, life sciences, healthcare, and services industries. Ronald provides the following services to clients:

  • M&A, strategic planning, and growth
  • Change management/transformation, HR, and OE
  • Performance improvement

Listed below are examples of projects he has successfully completed:

M&A:

  • BI-LO: Provided due diligence and integration planning support for their acquisition of Winn-Dixie
  • Faurecia: Completed an integration plan for their acquisition of a 5,000 employee SBU of the Ford Motor Company
  • General Electric, JNJ, Quintiles, SCA: Developed M&A playbooks with over 100 supporting tools that spanned due diligence, integration planning, and acquisition integration
  • Medical Device Company: Developed and executed the HR due diligence process and organization work stream. Focused on talent identification, talent retention, HR practices alignment, and culture alignment.
  • Off Shore Tool & Energy: Engaged by the Group Chairperson of this global oil drilling equipment manufacturer.  Provided consulting support from acquisition planning through to the realization of targeted synergies.
  • Private Equity company: Led an acquisition integration project for a 1,600 employee operating company which provided party equipment to major events (Grammy Awards, Oscars, etc.)  across the US.
  • Johnson & Johnson: Overall acquisition integration leader for their acquisition of Animas an insulin pump manufacturer. 

Strategic Planning:

  • Baxter Healthcare: Facilitated their strategic planning process including the creation of their vision and mission statements.
  • Hexagon: Developed their strategic planning process and used it to create their enterprise wide strategic plan for North America
  • J&J Health Care Systems (HCS): Developed the strategic planning process, business plan, vision/mission statement, and aligned the business model.
  • J&J McNeil Nutritionals: Facilitated project team to complete SWOT analysis and identify/implement a new business model.
  • Centocor: Developed a process for crafting their organization strategy and facilitated the development of their organizational strategy
  • J&J MD&D Latin America: Part of a team to develop the strategic planning process and supporting tools for the entire business sector.
  • Schick Wilkinson Sword: Developed the Human Resources strategic plan including a balanced scorecard of metrics
  • Video Monitoring Systems: Developed and executed their enterprise wide business plan and corporate scorecard. 

Human Resources/OD

  • Fidelity: Member of the Design Team to develop a Human Capital Planning process, supporting tools, and enterprise-wide plan.
  • Bayer: Led a transformation project that included assessment, change management, and reengineering for the Finance group
  • J&J PSGA: (Global R&D function) Developed the framework and supporting tools, coached senior management, and facilitated several teams that were charged with restructuring and streamlining several R&D functions around the world.
  • J&J Ethicon: Provided assessment, change management and organization design support for an enterprise-wide project to “rethink” and execute a new growth strategy for this $3BB+ business.
  • J&J Corporate: Developed an organization design methodology and supporting toolkit that is used by line executives, intact project teams, internal consultants, and HR Business Partners to lead organization design projects.   Addressed the entire project lifecycle from readiness assessment through to full implementation that included over 75 tools
  • J&J Global Clinical R&D: Worked with a project team to assess the current state, create a new operating model, consolidate global locations, and provide change management support through implementation.
  • J&J McNeil Consumer: Worked with the Operations Group to assess, design and implement a new organization structure.  Also designed and implemented a PMO process and tools to support the project.
  • J&J Global Operating Committee: Completed a team assessment to identify opportunities to improve their performance.

Information Technology:

  • New York Housing Authority: Change management lead for Oracle implementation.  Responsible for process redesign of manual processes that integrated into Oracle, stakeholder engagement, communications, culture alignment, aligning HR practices, training, leadership coaching, and organization/job redesign
  • Private Equity Operating Company: Led change management workstream for MES project for $300MM high tech company
  • 5 different clients: Led 5 Workday HR and Finance change projects for clients in the manufacturing, publishing, and media industries.  Work addressed all facets of the change process
  • $800MM manufacturer of PCB: Led change management workstream for J D Edwards ERP installation.  Scope of work included all change management activities. 

Performance Improvement:

  • Chemtura: Designed self directed work teams and reengineered their core processes. Was asked to contribute a chapter in Linkage Inc’s best practices book detailing the case.
  • Nielsen: Completed an HR transformation project. Collected data on a variety of HR dimensions (e.g., strategic alignment, HR process efficiency, HR management effectiveness) to identify strengths and weaknesses.  An HR strategy and scorecard were developed and key HR processes (Performance Management, Recruiting, and Succession Planning) were redesigned, reducing costs and cycle times.
  • Pennsylvania Power & Light: Led a change management/reengineering engagement of their Construction and Maintenance process. Results included a 50% reduction in cycle times, a 35% reduction in operating costs, and 15% reduction in F.T.E.
  • Pfizer: Led an HR transformation project.  Also created their global strategy and balanced scorecard.  Overall customer satisfaction improved by 38% and operating costs were reduced by 17%.
  • Schick Wilkinson Sword: Completed an assessment of the Research, Development, and Engineering (new product development) function for this consumer packaged goods company.
  • Vichay: Designed and implemented skill based pay reward system & self directed teams for this electronics manufacturer.  This plant became the highest performing plant within NA.

Prior to founding Catalyst, Mr. Recardo was a Director at Johnson & Johnson, a Vice President at Fidelity Investments, and worked for Arthur Anderson & Company completing  Strategy and Change Management projects.  

Mr. Recardo is the author of over 60+ articles and 8 books.  His second book entitled “Teams, Who Needs Them and Why” was selected by the prestigious Institute of Management Studies as their Book of the Month selection.  His third book is entitled “Corporate Performance Management” and discusses business strategy, performance measurement, and organization alignment.  Ronald also authored a book entitled “Organization Design; A Practical Methodology and Toolkit”  that includes a fast cycle approach for restructuring an organization.  His latest book entitled “Strategic Planning Unleashed” includes a fast cycle planning methodology with over 60 supporting tools.

In addition to his writing, he has spoken to such groups as Inc. Magazine, American Management Association, The Association for Quality and Participation, The Association for Manufacturing Excellence, The Conference Board, American Production and Inventory Control Society, and the OD Network. He has been interviewed/quoted by a number of prestigious publications such as “Associated Press”, “Harvard Business Review”, “US News & World Report”, “MSNBC” and “CBS News” and has been a guest on several television shows like the Big Biz Show” and “Business Talk with Jim Campbell”.  He is a member of American Mensa Ltd and is one of only 3,000 certified management consultants (CMC) in the world which is the highest accreditation awarded in the management consulting profession. 

Ronald has served on the Board of Directors for Easter Seals and Cystic Fibrosis where he has provided growth, M&A, performance improvement, and business transformation expertise to enhance organizational performance.

Ronald’s education includes completing the “Managing Human Capital” Executive Education Program at Harvard University and the “Organization Design” Executive Education Program at the University of Southern California.

Mr. Recardo received his formal education at Southern Connecticut State University where he earned a B.S. degree in biochemistry, the University of Maine where he earned an MA degree, and at the University of Hartford where he earned an M.S. degree in Organization Behavior.


DONALD SHAY

Don Shay is a Managing Director with The Catalyst Consulting Group, LLC.  He has over thirty years experience as management consultant.  Mr. Shay has led over 200 projects for clients ranging in size from start-ups and mid-caps to the Fortune 10.  During his career he has completed projects for a wide range industries from pharmaceuticals and chemical manufacturing to airlines and hospitality. Don provides the following services to clients:

  • Strategic development and execution
  • M&A advisory services
  • Performance improvement

Listed below are examples of several projects he has recently completed: 

  • Conducted a two day workshop for a Texas-based oil services company to prepare them for the integration of a newly acquired international business
  • Advised an international automobile parts manufacturer on the process for integrating a newly acquired US based manufacturing plant
  • Advised two bio-pharmaceutical companies seeking to create a joint venture.  Evaluated existing relationships and corporate strategies, degree of compatibility, developed alternative structures for the joint venture, helped both management teams assess the degree to which various structures met their corporate goals
  • Assisted a specialty paper company under new ownership to develop a strategic plan to move the company from a manufacturing focus to one more market driven. 

Prior to joining Catalyst, Mr. Shay was a Partner for Price Waterhouse Coopers, a Partner for Coopers & Lybrand, and a Vice President with The Mac Group.  He specialized in business strategy, mergers & acquisitions, and growth. 

Don is the author of several thought leadership pieces of work.  Examples are as follows:

  • The Acquisition Peril, Why is Post merger Integration So Difficult? with Sandra Burnis, Government Services Insider
  • Competitive Best Practices: Post merger Integration, Government Services Insider
  • Speed Makes a Difference, A Survey of Firms Undergoing Mergers and Acquisitions, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Contributor to: Five Frogs on a Log; A CEO’s Field Guide to Accelerating the Transition in Mergers, Acquisition and Gut Wrenching Change by Mark Feldman and Michael Spratt, Harper Business

Mr. Shay was awarded a BA in Economics at Lake Forest College and an MPA degree from the University of Virginia.  Additionally, he completed the Stanford Executive Program at Stanford Business School.


GREGORY B. WALDRON

Greg Waldron is a Managing Director with The Catalyst Consulting Group LLC and brings over 30 years of significant human resources management experience with leading, global companies to the clients he serves. His industry experience spans public relations, advertising/marketing communications, consumer services, travel and hospitality, financial services and logistics and supply chain management.  Greg provides the following services to clients:

  • Leadership assessment and development;
  • HR strategic planning, HR transformation, and HR systems design;
  • Change management planning, implementation, and evaluation assistance;
  • Human capital management assistance.

As a Chief Human Resources Officer, Greg has been an Executive Committee member, an advisor to the CEO and Board, an author of corporate organization studies, and a global leader of the human resources function.  He has created and implemented talent management and succession planning programs, executive selection, performance management/assessment approaches and total compensation and reward programs.  He has significant experience in helping leadership groups address major business change including acquisitions, divestitures, management transitions and initial public offerings.

Greg’s early career experiences exposed him to all the human resources disciplines as part of high potential development programs.  Following a stint at Salomon Brothers as Vice President – Staffing, he moved to Chase Manhattan Corporation where he was a Sector Human Resources Executive for several of Chase’s strategically core business units including International Individual Banking and Institutional Investments.  Chase assigned him to Japan as the first foreign Human Resources Director for the Chase Group of Companies, a role in which he negotiated new work rules with the Japanese labor union and instituted broad workforce re-alignments.

Greg also worked within the marketing communications industry at Young & Rubicam, where he was SVP Global Human Resources.  He then joined Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and led the Global Staffing and Compensation and Benefits function for a workforce of 130,000.  Greg was also HR head for Starwood Technology and Revenue Systems (STARS), and led the building of the corporation’s capability in new technology, channel development and marketing approaches.  Most recently, Greg has been Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at APL Logistics, a global technology and integrated supply chain solutions provider.  His consulting experience includes assignments with Genzyme, Sandoz, Genentech, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Northrop Grumman, Southern Company, Southern California Edison as well as a number of marketing services and communications firms.

Greg is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Michigan’s Strategic Human Resource Management Program.