Case study: The original Ask the Expert project

The challenge...
A large US independent oil company operating in multiple jurisdictions wanted a flexible and confidential consultancy and early warning system whereby, at very short notice, they could talk on the telephone to a leading expert on a specific country, without the expert knowing which company they were talking to.

The Menas solution...
We devised a mechanism with the client whereby Menas retained leading experts on between 15 and 35 countries who:
a). were available at a pre-arranged time to have a 30-60 minute telephone call with an anonymous oil company executive about their specific country; and
b). would provide Menas with early warnings about anything which was about to happen which could have an impact on the staff or operations of a US oil company.
These early warnings often, although not always, resulted in a consultancy call the same day which would enable the client and the expert to discuss the specific threat or event.

The result....
The initial six-month contract was extended at the end of each period, with the list of countries being amended each time as the client's portfolio changed, and it eventually lasted twelve years until our contact left the company. The same consultancy mechanism was then duplicated for some of our other oil company clients.

Regions covered

East and Southeast Asia

Latin America

Services provided

Ask the expert