ABOUT
David W. Ball Consulting was founded in 1990 to help firms in consumer industries achieve uncommon results.
We assemble and deploy superbly qualified client service teams with significant, hands-on industry experience, highly developed functional and analytic skills, focused intellectual curiosity, broad creativity, and a bias to collaborative action.
Tangible, sustained performance improvement is the hallmark of the client relationship. Improvement is qualitatively and quantitatively measured along the dimensions of financial performance, strategic position, and heightened organizational capability.
While the firm’s involvement is typically initiated by an organization’s top officers, work proceeds closely with both operating and senior management. This cross-sectional involvement is vital to successful implementation of change. Recommendations are fact-based and result from a creative process where they are refined and tested through rigorous research, analysis, and reflection, as well as through continuous interactions with the client.
The primary points of differentiation in David W. Ball Consulting's approach to the business are these:
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Focus on profitable growth strategies
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Focus on results
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Rigorous analysis as the foundation for creative insights
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Collaborative relationships throughout client organizations
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Speed. Competitive advantage can be time-based, and the competitive environment is dynamic
The Company’s overriding values are professionalism, quality, and results.
OUR FOUNDER
David W. Ball
Founder and Principal
An honors graduate of the Cox School of Business Administration at Southern Methodist University, where he earned both BBA and MBA degrees, was selected to Beta Gamma Sigma national scholastic honor society, and completed his MBA at age 19. Conducted research toward the Ph.D. at the University of Virginia before leaving for industry.
Began his career as an Industrial Engineer with Frito-Lay, engaged in commodity price analysis and manufacturing productivity improvement initiatives.
Joined Neiman-Marcus Company in the Executive Development Program. Rapidly progressed through the ranks of Assistant Buyer, Department Manager, Buyer, Manager of Merchandise Systems Development, Director of Merchandise Information, Director of Direct Response Marketing and Director, Divisional Merchandise Manager. Led the company’s development of a far-reaching ERP system to support NM’s extraordinary growth rate, including its integration with the Company’s first National Distribution Center. Developed the industry’s first interactive planning system, and was an early adoptor of econometric techniques and scoring models to data-based marketing and customer segmentation. Led creative, merchandising, and marketing functions for the world-famous Neiman-Marcus catalogs.
As Corporate Vice President, Marketing, Strategic Planning, and Direct Response at Marshall Field & Company, applied quantitative and qualitative market research to study closely the Company’s customers and competitors, aligning the Executive Committee to revitalize the brand in a winning competitive strategy that saw Field’s return on net asset performance double in four years, while achieving high rates of sales growth. Led a major, transformative ERP development project. In the additional operating responsibility for direct response commerce, the division significantly outperformed the company in growth of both revenue and return.
Joined McKinsey and Company to develop a new practice in technology-enabled strategy and marketing, from which McKinsey launched their renowned global Business Technology Offices.
Founded David W. Ball Consulting to focus on developing and implementing innovative strategies for consumer businesses to achieve growth.
