"We expected these projects to ultimately yield a set of repeatable, standardized processes that would allow us to be more nimble and efficient, but we never realised how fast we would start to see a noticeable, positive effect," says Mike Croucher, head of software engineering at British Airways. "The effect on the speed at which benefits can be realised has made a profound difference in the way we now approach projects, and beyond that we see emergn's approach to lean enablement as a scalable way for every part of our IT landscape to become more efficient. The foundation they've laid is helping us to become a self-sustaining agile enterprise."

emergn will continue to support British Airways with agile coaching and mentoring as the company seeks to bring earlier benefit realisation through agile methodologies across the enterprise. With the larger scale nature of the initiative, emergn will help British Airways reshape the processes and behaviours that are crucial for aligning the efforts of IT and business leaders alike to operate effectively in an agile environment.

"British Airways' agile adoption is a great example of how these principles, when implemented prudently, can drive the business and IT sides of an organization to collaborate more effectively and foster mutual responsibility for meeting business goals," said Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of emergn. "As British Airways has proven, the benefits of instilling agile principles are numerous. But what is just as important to realise is that adoption of lean principles is best achieved when it is done as an iterative exercise itself. Creating a blueprint for broader rollout based on practical knowledge and planning is critical for understanding how to bring its benefits to the entire organization's landscape. British Airways is on track to build a faster, nimbler more accurate business with its agile program."

For more information about emergn and the company's other agile enablement programs, visit www.emergn.com.

About emergn Corporation

emergn Corporation is a specialized consultancy enabling organizations to apply lean and agile principles for continuous improvement across the value chain. By providing advisory, consultancy, and delivery expertise, emergn enables organizations to address the challenges of ad hoc project delivery, as well as the misalignment that exists between business, IT, and service providers. The emergn enablement framework puts best practices into place so that valuable skills and lean and agile principles are transferred into the foundation of the organization, enabling future project delivery. emergn was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York with offices in London and Guangzhou, China.

CONTACT: emergn WWW: http://www.emergn.com Kate Hyslop / Emma Bridgeman, Rocket Communications Tel: +44 (0)8453 707 024 e-mail: kate.h@rocketcomms.net e-mail: emma@rocketcomms.net

((M2 Communications disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data supplied by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com.

How the unspoken relationship between seller and buyer impacts close rates The most important reasons prospects or clients MUST see you in person How to improve sales expense ROI through business travel savings "I can think of 10 compelling reasons you need to get out of the office now," said Solomon. "In an economy where travel expenses are tough to justify, studies show that, from establishing and nurturing relationships, to building trust and confidence, nothing can replace face-to-face meetings for closing sales (http://www.bulldogsolutions.net/Hoovers/HVR11192009/frmRegistration.aspx?bdls=22289)."

Webinar Details: Title: Sales, Prospects, And Clients: Getting Back To Face-To-Face Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009 Time: 12:00 p.m. Eastern

About Hoover's, Inc. Hoover's, a D&B company, provides its customers with insight and actionable information about companies, industries and key decision makers, along with the powerful tools to find and connect to the right people to get business done. Hoover's provides this information for sales, marketing, business development, and other professionals who need intelligence on U.S. and global companies, industries, and the people who lead them. Hoover's unique combination of editorial expertise and one-of-a-kind data collection with user-generated and company-supplied content gives customers a 360-degree view and competitive edge. This information, along with powerful tools to search, sort, download and integrate the content, is available through Hoover's (http://www.hoovers.com), the company's premier online service. Hoover's is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

About British Airways British Airways (www.britishairways.com) is one the world's largest international airlines, carrying approximately 33 million passengers to over 157 destinations around the world. Also, one of the world's longest established airlines, it has always been regarded as an industry-leader. British Airways recently launched "Face to Face", a multi-phased program that aims to keep entrepreneurship alive and kick up fresh potential for economic growth in the U.S. by focusing on tangible, human connections as a crucial driver of business growth. The airline's two main operating bases are London's two main airports, Heathrow (the world's biggest international airport) and Gatwick. The airline operates the majority of its domestic UK, international and intercontinental flights from its home at Terminal 5, Heathrow. Whether customers are in the air or on the ground, British Airways takes pride in providing a full service experience.

# # #

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/closing_sales/close-more-sales/prweb3216274.htm.

PRWeb.com

"In the midst of a challenging time for business worldwide we aim to highlight the prospect of opportunity," said Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President, Americas, British Airways. "We have now sent close to 1,000 U.S. entrepreneurs out into the world to conduct face-to-face meetings and generate leads that will ultimately revitalize the global economy. Our past winners who have returned from their trips have shared terrific updates on their successes and we expect to hear more of these stories in the months to come. Business will indeed make a comeback, today's travelers from Chicago can attest to that, and British Airways wants to be a part of this."

Michael Charlton, Chief Executive of Think London, the official foreign direct investment for London added: "London is the largest recipient of North American investment, and during the economic downturn we have seen North American companies take advantage of London's deeper and wider talent pool, lower commercial property costs, and the depreciation of sterling against the dollar. However this window of opportunity may be closing, so our advice to companies is that they should act now rather than wait and risk missing out."

AN UNRELENTING COMMITMENT TO HELPING U.S. BUSINESSES GROW

In August of this year, British Airways launched the second phase of the "Face-to-Face" campaign. Business Opportunity Grants further underscore the airline's commitment to helping U.S. businesses grow by giving 100 companies free travel for one year to anywhere in the world that British Airways flies, to attend crucial meetings.* The call for entries for this portion of the campaign has closed and winners will be announced the week of November 30. In addition to transport provided by British Airways, sponsors of the program include: The Regus Group, British Airways World Cargo, Canon USA, Inc. and Courtyard by Marriott.

*Flights are to anywhere in the world that British Airways flies to.

About the "Face-to-Face" Campaign

The "Face-to-Face," campaign was in the form of a competition created by British Airways that invited U.S. business people to make their case for an unmet business travel need and win free travel to London, or anywhere in the world that British Airways flies, to attend a crucial meeting. Competition winners not only receive a trip overseas, they also receive the opportunity to connect with other business people traveling on special British Airways flights and forge relationships that can further their own business objectives. With nearly 1,000 passengers from all over the U.S. on board planes leaving from New York, Los Angles and Chicago, it is only fitting to call this experience a networking, or salon, event at 38,000 feet. Events surrounding the departure and arrival of these special flights will also serve to underscore the importance of relationships in business. Business leaders and senior government officials in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London will address winners at "power networking" events.

To help reinforce the idea that in-person meetings do drive business, British Airways commissioned a survey of Harvard Business Review readers to gauge perceptions within the international business community about the importance of face-to-face meetings. In a time when business travel has been severely cut, the study aimed to uncover the impact that virtual meetings have had on business growth and relationship building. Results from the survey of over 2,300 Harvard Business Review readers concluded that 95 percent of businesspeople said they believe that face-to-face meetings are key to success in building long term relationships, and 89 percent agree face-to-face meetings are essential for "sealing the deal."

About British Airways

British Airways is one the world's largest international airlines, carrying approximately 33 million passengers to over 157 destinations around the world. Also, one of the world's longest established airlines, it has always been regarded as an industry-leader.

The airline's two main operating bases are London's two main airports, Heathrow (the world's biggest international airport) and Gatwick. The airline operates the majority of its domestic UK, international and intercontinental flights from its home at Terminal 5, Heathrow.

Whether customers are in the air or on the ground, British Airways takes pride in providing a full service experience.

About Think London:

Think London is the official foreign direct investment agency for London. We are a not-for-profit private-public partnership and the experts on doing business in the capital. We connect international businesses to London, helping them set up, succeed and grow. Our experts work with government and the business community to provide access to the best people, places and opportunities in the city. Think London's principal funding partners are the London Development Agency and our network of commercial partners. Other key partners are the City of London Corporation, which also provides funding, UK Trade & Investment and the business community through London First. www.thinklondon.com

                                                     CONTACT:
                                                   John Lampl, British Airways
                                                              347-418-4100 (O)
                                                              646-321-7809 (M)
                                                             John.lampl@ba.com
                                                                          -OR-
                                                     Matthew Frappier, Edelman
                                                              212-819-4802 (O)
                                                              203-982-9171 (M)
                                                  matthew.frappier@edelman.com

SOURCE British Airways

http://www.thinklondon.com

"We expected these projects to ultimately yield a set of repeatable, standardized processes that would allow us to be more nimble and efficient, but we never realized how fast we would start to see a noticeable, positive effect," says Mike Croucher, head of software engineering at British Airways. "The effect on the speed at which benefits can be realized has made a profound difference in the way we now approach projects, and beyond that we see emergn's approach to lean enablement as a scalable way for every part of our IT landscape to become more efficient. The foundation they've laid is helping us to become a self-sustaining agile enterprise."

emergn will continue to support British Airways with agile coaching and mentoring as the company seeks to bring earlier benefit realization through agile methodologies across the enterprise. With the larger scale nature of the initiative, emergn will help British Airways reshape the processes and behaviors that are crucial for aligning the efforts of IT and business leaders alike to operate effectively in an agile environment.

"British Airways' agile adoption is a great example of how these principles, when implemented prudently, can drive the business and IT sides of an organization to collaborate more effectively and foster mutual responsibility for meeting business goals," said Alex Adamopoulos, CEO of emergn. "As British Airways has proven, the benefits of instilling agile principles are numerous. But what is just as important to realize is that adoption of lean principles is best achieved when it is done as an iterative exercise itself. Creating a blueprint for broader rollout based on practical knowledge and planning is critical for understanding how to bring its benefits to the entire organization's landscape. British Airways is on track to build a faster, nimbler more accurate business with its agile program."

For more information about emergn and the company's other agile enablement programs, visit www.emergn.com. If you are a member of the press or analyst community interested in speaking with an emergn executive, please contact Meredith Eaton at emergn@marchpr.com to set up a briefing.

About emergn Corporation emergn Corporation is a specialized consultancy enabling organizations to apply lean and agile principles for continuous improvement across the value chain. By providing advisory, consultancy, and delivery expertise, emergn enables organizations to address the challenges of ad hoc project delivery, as well as the misalignment that exists between business, IT, and service providers. The emergn enablement framework puts best practices into place so that valuable skills and lean and agile principles are transferred into the foundation of the organization, enabling future project delivery. emergn was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in New York with offices in London and Guangzhou, China. For more, visit www.emergn.com.

Press Contacts
Meredith L. Eaton/Nate Hubbell
March Communications
+1 617 960 9877
emergn@marchpr.com

SOURCE: emergn

mailto:emergn@marchpr.com