Hank Conrad is managing partner at CounterPoint, a management consulting firm, which has provided executive management services to a wide variety of large organizations. He’s also a partner at Drummers Five, a business development services firm providing executive leadership and services to growing businesses. Prior to consulting, he held IT leadership as well as line business roles at McDonald’s Corporation.
➠ Well versed at identifying potential revenue generators, planning new revenue initiatives, and implementing organizational changes to increase revenue.
➠ 18 years of business operations, supply chain, and technology experience at McDonald’s Corporation with extensive executive management experience leading franchisees, suppliers, distributors, and corporate employees on global initiatives. During that time, the McDonald’s System grew from about $4.5 to over $33 billion in system wide sales and over 10,000 stores employing over 1 million people worldwide.
➠ Corporate entrepreneur, starting several new corporate operations including business intelligence, automated drafting, supply chain management systems, and call centers.
➠ Strong background building and managing new teams, managing large projects and organizations, and helping organizations overcome obstacles to fast growth.
➠ Creative in identifying potential cost savings, planning cost reduction changes, and implementing organizational changes to reduce costs.
➠ Broad industry background including Quick Service Restaurants, Big Box Retail, Distribution, Retail Intelligence, Steel Manufacturing, Steel Services, Oil Services, the Federal Government, and Supply Chain Management.
➠ Extensive international business and technology experience promoting new product growth and implementing global initiatives.
➠ 18 years serving as a member of the Executive Council on Information Management and Technology at the General Accountability Office in Washington, DC.
➠ Creative, amateur photographer focused at landscape, wildlife, and aviation images, who posts a daily blog, Hank’s Blog.
Roles
Management Consultant
Senior Executive
Executive Coach
Skills
Restaurant Operations
Strategic Planning
IT Business Alignment
Change Management
Program Management
Relationship Management
Process Improvement
Supply Chain Management
24×7 Operations
Help Desk Management
Global Implementation
Organizational Change
Industry Experience
Quick Service Restaurant
Food Distribution
Big & Small Box Retail
Retail Intelligence
Office Product Distribution
Steel Service & Distribution
Steel Manufacturing
Heavy Manufacturing
Wire & Cable Distribution
Oil Services
Federal Government
Non-profit Organizations
Partial Client List
Anixter
BP/Amoco
Castle Metals
Copperweld/LTV
Corporate Express
Department of Defense
General Accountability Office
Mustang Engineering
Shelfbucks
Shopko Stores
ShopperTrak
Major Projects/Rescues
ERP Project Rescue
Oracle ERP Project Rescue
People Counter Global Deployment
Store Ordering System
Distribution Center ERP Systems
Ronald McDonald House Systems
Cad/Cam Systems
Business Intelligence Systems
Representative Consulting Engagements
Interim VP Operations | Smart Display & Promotion Technology Firm
- Developed all the company’s operational and deployment processes.
- Deployed the technology to a large national retailer; the company’s first large customer.
- Managed the company’s vendor relationship with equipment suppliers and negotiated contracts.
Fractional CIO | Heavy Equipment Manufacturer
- Drove call center changes to provide up selling capabilities and improve customer response time.
- Directed the development of a comprehensive eCommerce capability.
- Improved overall responsiveness of the IT organization. Built metrics to drive business growth.
Strategic Business Plan | Retail Business Intelligence Firm
- Acted as Advisor to CEO and helped develop board level strategies and action plans.
- Helped CEO introduce new management practices into an entrepreneurial management team.
- Managed the company’s first global implementation.
- Conducted an Accuracy Assessment of the company’s major products for its largest customers.
Interim VP of Operations | Retail Business Intelligence Firm
- Acted as advisor to the management team, then acted as interim VP of Operations.
- Came to the firm six months after an acquisition that doubled the company’s size. Helped merge several operational processes including the call center, improved customer service, installed new call center ERP system, and helped hire a new VP of Operations.
ERP Project Rescue | Oil Services Company
- Acted as Executive Program Manager reporting to the executive team.
- Rescued a badly behind schedule, over budget Oracle EBS, ERP project.
- Completed Phase 1 on budget, only slightly behind schedule.
IT Strategic Plan & Enterprise Architecture | Steel Services Company
- Developed the company’s first IT Strategic Plan. Linked the IT Strategic Plan to the company’s new strategic plan. Developed a planning review process driven by an IT Balanced Scorecard.
- Also, developed an IT Change Management process and an IT Due Diligence Methodology.
- Acted as advisor to the CIO and coach to the IT management team.
Global Footprint ERP Project Rescue | Steel Services Company
- Acted as Executive Program Manager reporting to the CEO, CIO, and the executive team.
- Implemented stakeholder communication process and change management procedures.
- Rescued a behind schedule ERP project. Implemented Financials on schedule.
- Developed a plan to implement remaining modules and began implementation.
Enterprise Architecture & IT Alignment | U.S. Government Agencies
- Acted as Management Advisor to the Agency Head and to the Agency’s CIO.
- The focus was on Strategic Planning as well as IT Alignment to the Strategic Plan.
- Completed an assessment of the Enterprise Architecture and the architectural processes at a large U.S. government agency and made recommendations for improvements.
ERP Systems Integration | Department Store Retailer
- Acted as Management Consultant for the CIO.
- Developed an integration plan for the integration of a back office ERP system from a newly acquired division into the corporate ERP system. Developed a RFP to outsource the implementation and selected outsource vendor after an extensive review of multiple vendors.
Acquisition IT Evaluation | Department Store Retailer
Evaluated IT organization and functionality for a proposed acquisition as part of the due diligence team. The IT organization was evaluated for their ability to complete major ERP projects underway, on schedule, on budget. The acquisition was approved and has gone quite well.
Hank’s Bio in Prose
On a site tour during my first day as an employee at McDonald’s, we were passing by the CEO’s office. A wave machine on his desk caught my eye. Just then, he came back into his office. After an introduction, he told me to make waves at McDonalds; if I really wanted to rise above the tide.
Hank Conrad is a partner at Drummers Five, www.drummersfive.com, a business development consortium providing executive leadership and equity funding to growing businesses. Drummers Five is dedicated to helping companies stand out from their competition and achieve enduring business success. At Drummers Five, we focus on helping our clients build their sales, strengthen their sales pipelines, implement their products and services, and build public relations to build awareness of their product and services as well as providing equity funding when appropriate. The partners at Drummers Five are experts in the retail industry with more than 120 years of collective experience in sales, implementation, large scale program management, public relations and communications.
Hank also acts as a leadership consultant through his firm, CounterPoint, which provides management consulting and interim executive services to a wide variety of large organizations. In his consulting career, he broadened his industry knowledge in Big Box Retail, Distribution, Retail Intelligence, Steel Manufacturing/Steel Service, and the Federal Government. In these organizations, he led IT strategic planning efforts, implemented global footprint ERP systems, and process improvement efforts. Hank also provided assessment services for organizations in merger and acquisition restructuring, has led the turnaround of poorly performing IT organizations, and has provided interim CIO and COO leadership services as well as CIO coaching services.
Prior to consulting, Hank held IT leadership as well as line business roles at McDonald’s Corporation. As the senior IT executive for McDonald’s Supply Chain, he focused on aligning and developing IT functions of strategic impact to McDonald’s through its suppliers and distributors. Hank introduced a new store ordering and delivery system, several logistics systems, and numerous process improvement efforts. He standardized worldwide distribution center systems with a common ERP system, standardized raw item numbers throughout the supply chain, linked the supplier/distributor network with global EDI, and provided worldwide 24/7-365 operations and help desk support.
Hank’s corporate roles have included Application Development Department Head, where he managed 300+ staff and hundreds of projects including the deployment of several ERP systems. He headed the IT Planning Team and was a member of the corporate strategic planning team. Hank championed and directed the worldwide implementation of a Business Intelligence system, a CAD/CAM system for paperless kitchen equipment design and manufacturing, and franchisee back office systems. He also managed restaurant operations for an east coast McDonald’s region. Early in his career, he held several technical and managerial IT positions in several Fortune 500 manufacturing companies.
Hank holds a B.S. in Mathematics and a M.S. in Information Technology & Business. He is a member of the Executive Council on Information Management and Technology at the General Accounting Office in Washington, DC. He served as a Product Advisor for the State of the USA indicator initiative. Hank has also been an adjunct faculty member at Aurora University.