Following is Arthur Anderson's summary of work they did for Gold Fields:
Gold Fields of South Africa
Prior to the merger with Gencor in 1Q98, Gold Fields of South Africa was the world's third leading producer, mining more than 144,000 kilograms of gold a year. The company employed 88,000 people and had major interests in gold, platinum, coal and various base metals with operations and initiatives in both South Africa and Ghana.
Falling gold prices, the changing political environment, poor productivity and the desire to become a global player challenged Gold Fields to reposition its business strategy and reengineer its organization to achieve and sustain acceptable profit levels. In July, 1996, the company launched a widespread change initiative called Vulindlela - which means "open the way" - and selected Andersen Consulting as its business partner to assist in the planning and management of this critical effort.
The initiatives, which focused on growing the business, included definition of a new strategic intent, new business development process, and organization structure. A revised role and organization was defined for Head Office. Reengineering initiatives developed a new operating model for the mines. One initiative, STOPE (short term ore production excellence), introduced improved practices in planning, production, supervision, project management and communication. This initiative resulted in additional revenue R63 million (US$12M) in the first six months alone.
Having concluded the merger with Gencor to create Gold Fields Limited, the second largest global gold mining group, and experiencing the benefits of a number of the new initiatives, new CEO Richard Robinson described the value of the relationship: "Andersen Consulting was a key player in facilitating acceptance of new methods of operating and change. This resulted in it being considerably easier for Gold Fields Limited to get where it is today."
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