Services Offered

Pipal Ltd has a long track record of working with leaders and international cross-cultural teams. Sue Canney Davison PhD has been a pioneer in the area of multicultural, global and virtual teams since the 1990’s. She is an active member of the International Organizational Network, ION, a group of professors and researchers intent on keeping a true international focus to management research.

While able to design team training courses for groups of individuals, Pipal Ltd has a strong preference to work with whole intact teams and leaders.

In this instance, Pipal will:-

• Make an in-depth assessment of the purpose, goals, internal and external dynamics of the team.
• Design specific processes to elicit these dynamics in a neutral safe ‘playing field’ and create fun interactive in-depth processes to bring hidden patterns the surface and regenerate the team’s processes.
• Develop an understanding of and use problem solving, conflict resolution and intercultural communication tools techniques and practices.

During Pipal’s interventions, team member and leaders will usually work on real work problems, and use practical tools to recognize, acknowledge and appreciate their differences ad different approaches and viewpoints. Pipal will design processes that allow the team to work to resolve their own dysfunctional patterns by first recognizing them and their impacts, often laughing, and then designing their own new different ways of doing things.

As a result of working with Pipal, teams can expect to be able to:

• Be much more effective, sometimes shredding months off previous time lines
• Understand each other much better,
• Structure and self manage their internal processes to meet their goals much more effectively and
• Spend much more time assuming good intent and Embody mutual respect.
• 9.5 times out of 10, have real fun doing it.

For 2-4 day or longer intense workshops, Pipal Ltd often partners with organisations such as the D.E.P.O.T. to include a rhythm of progressively challenging fun outdoor team building exercises interspersed with resolving sometimes difficult and thorny issues. While elements of this work come into facilitating strategic change, examples of these types of interventions include:

• Designing and facilitating a pilot 'Leading Excellent Project Teams" programme for the pan-African International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) based in Ibadan Nigeria- Feb 2008
• Designing and facilitating a half time review workshop for the World Bank/GEF funded Western Kenya Integrated Ecosystems Management Project (WKIEMP project) with KARI and ICRAF; March 2007
• One year senior leadership management consultancy for (WAC) World Agroforestry Centre. This included designing and implementing an Organisational/Leadership Performance Improvement plan Jan - September 2006
• Designing and facilitating processes and workshops to improving the productivity of key research teams in ILRI, Kenya, and ICRISAT Zimbabwe. (2004/5)
• Between 2001-2007 Facilitating strategic planning, organisational renewal and top team coaching and leadership and team training workshops for Kickstart Tanzania. Strategic Leadership Centre, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA Dubai), Harvest Plus Uganda, ILRI, East African Seeds, ICRAF U ganda, ICRISAT (International Center for Research in Semi-Arid Tropics), ASARECA/CIP, DFID, International School of Kenya, Stanbic Bank Kenya, SwiftGlobal, UNCHR, Redland Roses, IFPRI, ApproTEC, the Heart and Soul project for all UN agencies, UNCHS/ GUO, IPA/ UNEP, UNIFEM, UNON, Ismaili Youth, Aga Khan Foundation East Africa, Catholic Seminary, ICIPE, Treadsetters
• Prior to 1996, Programme development, surveys, consulting and facilitation with own company, Pipal International, on international teams and strategic international leadership has been conducted for British Gas, British Petroleum, Citibank NY, DaimlerChrysler, Electrolux, Eurocopter, Exxon Chemicals, Fiat, Fiskars, Ford Motor Company, Grand Metropolitan, Hong Kong Shanghai Bank, ICI, Jardines, Kone Oy, Morgan Stanley, Nokia, Paulig Oy, Neste, Management Centre Europe, Statoil, Unilever, The World Bank, Zeneca; Cambridge University MBA, City University Business School, Cranfield Institute of Technology, Hong Kong Polytechnic, London Business School MBA, The University of British Columbia,
• Designed and facilitated e-conferences (2001, 2006) for the system wide, Gender and Diversity program of the CGIAR (Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research). Designed and facilitated on-line virtual teams training for three global network teams. Developed materials for working with diversity, cultural orientation programmes.
• From September 1997 –September 1998 Pipal Ltd acted as a consultant to the United Nations Offices at Nairobi, setting up a Management Learning Resource Centre for on-line and off-line learning, Sue Canney Davison wrote and edited a performance management review newsletter, designed and facilitated numerous training courses and a campus- wide week long learning festival and facilitated and designed many different departmental team building workshops up to 2000.

• July 1995 – July 1997- Visiting Research Fellow of London Business School.UK
  Pipal Ltd has also gained a reputation for resolving or working through difficult team and organisational situations. While usually very successful, in certain cases, there have been factors beyond Pipal Ltd’s control or sphere of influence. While mostly we can bring all issues into the open in a neutral way, when we cannot, or are unable to work with them constructively, we will say so and alert the relevant people. If necessary, we can then creatively renegotiate our terms of reference to everyone’s satisfaction. This can, very occasionally, mean a graceful withdrawal after finding a different, much better solution.