We embed with your team to turn strategy into execution,
aligning the people, structures, and priorities that make it real.
Execution
A great plan deserves
great execution.
Our Capabilities
Where we can help.
Our Execution practice is built around the common challenges business leaders face, helping organizations build the capabilities they need to turn strategy into results.
Click a capability to explore.
Execution
M&A Integration Support
The success of a deal depends on the success of the integration.
Integration is where value is won or lost, and many organizations miscalculate when it should begin and underestimate what it really requires. We help organizations design the integration approach far in advance of deal close, stand up the right management structure, and manage the people, process, and technology work required to realize deal value and synergies.
Common Challenges
- No structure or leadership in place to manage the integration once the deal closes.
- No IMO, governance structure, or standard process for running the integration across the business.
- Day-to-day operations are eating the resources we need to run the integration.
Operations & Process Improvement
Every inefficient process has a business cost.
Operational problems are often hiding in plain sight. They show up as workarounds, repeated mistakes, and work that takes longer than it should. We help organizations find where the friction is coming from and redesign processes with customers and business outcomes at the center.
Common Challenges
- Inefficient processes with no capacity to step back and fix them.
- Rapid growth that operations haven't kept up with.
- Operational problems are hurting customers and performance, but haven't been a priority to fix.
Business Operating Model Design
A good operating model aligns your organization to deliver on your strategy.
We help organizations design operating models that support their strategy, their customers, and their long-term health as a business. That means getting clear on how work flows and where decisions get made. It also means identifying the structures, processes, and technology the organization needs to operate the way it’s supposed to.
Common Challenges
- The organization has grown, but the way it operates hasn't kept up with where it's trying to go.
- Leadership knows the business outcome they want, but they don’t know how to structure the organization to achieve it.
- The way the organization operates no longer serves customers effectively.
Enterprise PMO & Portfolio Management
The best PMOs turn projects into business outcomes.
We help organizations design and strengthen PMO and portfolio management functions that do more than track status and enforce process. That means improving how initiatives get prioritized and resourced, giving leadership the visibility it needs to make good decisions and building the discipline to ensure the most important investments deliver the outcomes they were meant to.
Common Challenges
- The PMO isn't delivering the value it was built for.
- Limited capacity to make progress across the portfolio of initiatives.
- Resources invested in programs and projects aren't leading to the outcomes expected.
Initiative Recovery & Stabilization
Effective recovery starts with understanding why an initiative went off track.
When an initiative is in trouble, the reasons are not always obvious from the inside. We step in to diagnose the real problem, fix what’s broken, and get the initiative moving again.
Common Challenges
- An initiative is off track, and the organization doesn't know how to get it back on course.
- There's been heavy investment in a project that isn't delivering what it was supposed to.
- A deadline is approaching, and the work isn't where it needs to be.
Product Management
Product management is building the right thing, the right way.
Many product management challenges come from unclear prioritization, a roadmap disconnected from what customers need, and not enough internal capability to close the gap. We help organizations bring structure to how products get prioritized and delivered and build the capability they need to move their ideas forward.
Common Challenges
- Limited capacity or capability to bring products to market effectively.
- No clear way to deliver customer value, and uncertainty about whether a product model is right.
- Unable to make meaningful progress on the product roadmap.
Program & Project Delivery
Successful delivery takes more than effort.
Delivery problems often come down to the same few things: unclear accountability across the project, a plan that is not set up to succeed, and a lack of senior ownership to drive the work forward. We help organizations deliver programs and projects with the structure, discipline, and attention required to finish what they start.
Common Challenges
- Programs and projects consistently run over scope, schedule, and budget.
- Limited capacity or expertise to deliver the work plan.
- Projects struggle to cross the finish line and deliver their intended outcomes.
Strategic Initiative Leadership
Your most critical initiatives are not a side-of-desk job.
The initiatives that are most critical to your business touch nearly every part of it. That kind of complexity requires someone who is fully immersed in the work, not just overseeing it. We provide the senior leadership capacity needed to own the initiative, maintain momentum, and make sure the right decisions are getting made at the right time.
Common Challenges
- A critical initiative is losing momentum, with no clear reason why.
- Important work falls second to whatever is most urgent at the moment.
- We lack the internal leadership capacity or expertise to drive our biggest initiatives forward.
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The Gunter Group's project planning and delivery framework was critical to the successful deployment of our enterprise ERP system."– VP/Controller National Insurance & Financial Services Organization
Sound strategy sets the direction. Great execution gets you there.
70%
of transformation efforts fail to achieve their stated goals, most often because of execution challenges rather than strategy.
11.4%
of every dollar invested in projects is wasted because of poor project performance.
79%
of organizations that complete transformations using a rigorous, action-oriented approach report successful outcomes, compared to fewer than one-third overall.
Our impact and perspectives
Execution Insights
Resource
Building a PMO that creates strategic value.
Read more
Resource
A practical framework for M&A integration, from signing to value realization.
Read more
Podcast
Process optimization starts with leadership.
Read more
Our Leaders
Meet the people leading this work.
Our execution engagements are led by practitioners with real experience driving complex initiatives forward. They understand the pressures, know what good execution looks like, and stay invested in the outcome until the work is done.
Jim Calko
Principal,
Execution Practice Leader
Jim has led some of The Gunter Group’s largest retail and footwear engagements, including multi-year programs for global sportswear brands across digital, ad tech, content planning, and contact center transformation. He understands how fast retail moves and how quickly disciplined execution becomes the difference between a launch that lands and one that doesn’t. Retail clients rely on him when the business pressure won’t wait.
Matt Bader
Managing Partner
Matt has spent nearly two decades helping organizations solve complex business challenges by bringing together strategy, leadership, and execution. His experience spans a wide range of industries, with particular depth in education and retail, where he has helped organizations navigate transformation and deliver lasting results. As Managing Partner, he builds trusted partnerships with clients, develops high performing teams, and helps leaders turn ambitious goals into practical action. His collaborative style creates the alignment and momentum needed to move important work forward.
Work With Us
The firms that move fastest don’t wait for clarity. They create it.
We help leadership teams cut their ambiguity, align around what matters, and build the momentum to transform their business.