Richard Eichen

I'm Richard Eichen, Founder and Managing Principal, Return on Efficiency, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing on turnarounds, project rescue and operational improvements for companies who use technology to deliver value to their customers.

  Richard Eichen specializes in turnaround, project rescue and performance improvements in companies and operating units heavily dependent on delivery via technology such as Insurers, banks, Asset Managers and SaaS, BPO and technology vendors.   Richard Eichen is highly experienced in organizational diagnostics, reformulating culture and organizational structures, as well as Company and Product Roadmapping. He then executes on this new vision.   Richard Eichen is brought into fluid situations to restore health and momentum, often having to ‘tell truth to power’ to achieve results. Leveraging his Customer Experience focused process analysis experience, as well as his hands-on operating management experience, Richard Eichen is highly experienced in executing dynamic transformative strategies, culture change, finding new revenue sources and creating sustainable operational improvements, often as part of reversing over-budget project trajectories and restoring Top Line Revenue and EBIDTA growth. Richard Eichen also renegotiates license and maintenance agreements to reflect the new reality. He has also been highly effective acting as a Trusted 3rd Party, operating a business during negotiations for a change in ownership.   Richard Eichen is a published Program/Project Management thought leader, including a bylined chapter in a graduate level textbook, Business Driven PMO Setup, published by J. Ross, 2009. Richard Eichen has also been interviewed on multiple project management podcasts and webinars. He also writes RoE's blog, www.growroe.wordpress.com.   In his varied global experiences, Richard Eichen as operated within the context of regional wars, revolution, general strikes, hyperinflation, differing customer service expectations and political/economic uncertainty.  A 9/11 WTC survivor, Richard Eichen recently donated his personal belongings from that day to the National September 1 Memorial Museum.   Richard Eichen’s clients include JH Cohn, LLP (AIG/AIU, Fairfax Holdings, MFXchange, CV Starr, Barclay’s Wealth Management, Gerson Lehrman Group), Guardian Life Insurance, MetLife, Zurich Re (CA), Christiana Re (US, SE), Royal Bank of Canada (CA), Deutche Bank (DE), Mizuho Securities (JP), State Street Bank, IBT, Tandem Computers (US, DE, UK, IL), Citibank (US, AR,BR), Prudential, leading Private Equity firms, GenRe, Castrol, AT&T, Bristol Myers Squibb, Warnaco, Grumman Aerospace, IBM (US, FR, DE, UK), DeloitteConsulting, Warnaco, Capital Asset Management, T. Rowe Price, Western Asset Management, Wells Fargo, Kmart, Wal-Mart, INTTRA and Home Décor-Stanley (UK), among others.   Richard Eichen has a BSBA, Magna cum Laude, in Accounting and an MBA in Management with a focus on systems and strategy.

General Manager (Restart/restore profitability)- Professional Services at SmartStream Technologies

2004 - 2005

Engaged to turnaround commodity staffing arm into value add premium priced consulting unit. Increased profitability, increased backlog, reduced turnover. Created SmartSigma, a cost cutting and process improvement offering. P/L, all post-sales customer facing roles in N. America. Managed joint development of a Corporate Actions product with a major AM.

Managing Director (Restart/restore profitability) - Global Fin Svs Consulting at Vitria Technologies

2002 - 2004

Engaged as part of turnaround team, led, sold and delivered implementation services around Businessware BPM and related Vitria products. Took last place Professional Services unit to 1st place in revenues, growth and profitability. Represented Office of the President in managing joint venture based creation and roll-out of industry leading STP product from inception to first sale to implementation.

Interim COO and EVP (Co-founder, startup team) at Return On Efficiency, LLC - Portal Partners, Inc.

September 1999 - May 2001

Under Return on Efficiency, LLC, was co-founder of employment job board featuring artificial intelligence for matching candidates to positions.

Managing Director at Return on Efficiency, LLC

1995 - 2001

Interim COO/Partner services to major firms such as Deloitte and JPMorganChase on the technology-centric clients and investments such as software, Cloud processing and services. Also led the Board level alignment of a major Private and Retail Bank to increase lead sharing and sales processes. Multiple turnarounds of troubled operating units, including refocusing, divesting underperforming assets, rebuilding Sales and Marketing momentum,,product strategy and implementations.

Interim General Manager (Turnaround) - DRT Unit at Deloitte - contract

1998 - 2000

Engaged to turnaround this unprofitable, unfocused and unstable national IT and process improvement consulting unit. Refocused staff supplementation business into discrete practices, each with own P/L, created new HR Model, substantially upgraded employee DNA. Created sales force, increased revenues 250%, restored profitability and improved synchronization with other DeloitteConsulting units.

National Account Manager - Grumman at ISSCO

June 1985 - December 1987

Revitalized and managed Grumman from dormant to National Site License/ELA.

Wall Street Sales, Israel Country Manager at Tandem Computers

1979 - 1985

Participated in opening Wall Street office, led sales campaign landing 2 major new banking customers in NY. Helped establish Tandem in Israel, including adapting culture, adapting hardware, designing sales process, improving support process, dealing with hyper-inflation and economic turmoil, hiring employees both business and technical. Sold 1 major bank and 1 Gov't agency, managed relationship with another Gov't agency. Sourced application software in Europe and US for export to Israel and resale by Tandem Israel.

Founder and Managing Principal at Return on Efficiency, LLC

1995

Managing Principal of consultancy specializing in interim leadership, turnarounds, restarts, large initiative management, operational improvements/Bullet Train cost cutting and IT alignment. Projects include: Turnaround management of multiple software and services organizations (acting as Interim Practice Leader, Partner, President, COO and General Manager), Interim CIO, Product Roadmapping/Investment, IT Re-org, project restarts, turnarounds and M&A. Right-scoped Enterprise SAP FI project. Led closing of Insurance company, returning of Excess Capital to parent. Led next-gen IT architecture study, aligned to business goals, for fast growing P&C insurer, including creating acquisition friendly architecture and selecting new Claims, Policy Admin, AR and STAT reporting systems, IFRS migration planning, analysis of end to end closing cycle (Global), highlighting $ swing and bottlenecks for a leading insurer. Created disentanglement plan and process.

Saint John's University

1975 – 1977

MBA

Western New England College

1968 – 1972

BSBA

Concentration: Accounting, Liberal Arts

Crew - Men's 4+, mixed 8 Friends of Firefighters, volunteer, Board Member, Chairman, 2002-2004 Pencil, NYC Principal for a Day volunteer