Jim Regan on the secret to a 40 percent win rate

All of Jim Regan’s basic leadership skills were honed in the Navy, and that’s something he’s carried into his role as CEO of Dynamics Research Corporation. A mid-sized company, DRC brings its A-game to every new business item on its hit list. In 2007, it booked $135 million in new business, and continued its win rate of 40 percent. Regan shares some of the secrets to DRC’s proven management support and logistics expertise, and what it takes for a small business to partner with his team.

Briefly tell us your background and what is going on now.

Jim Regan: I began my career in the technology management business with the United States Navy — I am a retired Naval Officer. I entered the industry in the mid-1980s during a pretty exciting time. A great deal of development was happening with technology during this time in the Department of Defense.

What does your company, Dynamics Research Corporation, look like today?

Jim Regan: DRC is a mid-sized, dynamic company, with about 1,400 employees; we’ve been a prominent player in the market for over 50 years. Headquartered in Massachusetts, our major customers are the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and other federal civilian agencies as well as state and local governments. We provide mission-critical technology management services to federal civilian, defense and state government agencies whether the technology is in development, acquisition or maintenance.

Companies are very competitive in the federal market, what is your approach to differentiate the company?

Jim Regan: The key is to understand what you do and do it well and then be able to take that to your customers. We bring our A-game to every new business item on our new business hit list; this in turn has enabled DRC to achieve a 40 percent win rate for new business. We are very strategic in the opportunities we go after; we are not going to chase everything, but rather pursue what fits our solutions and capabilities.

We also focus on process and have been successful in developing business processes that reflect industry best practices — equal to those that many much larger companies have. However, in executing a project, we try to remain responsive to our customers. We can respond quicker than many of the larger competitors.

What are some hot trends you are tracking that will attract your customers this year?

Jim Regan: Information assurance, Net-centricity, and cyber warfare are three trends that have come out on top in importance to our customers. We continue to see training, logistics and engineering services as priorities; these areas are continuing to merge with new, higher-end service such as business intelligence. DRC has always positioned itself as a leader in business transformation so we are well equipped to help our government customers deal with changes and the increasing need to provide services more efficiently.

What are your views on what is going with DHS and the new security initiatives?

Jim Regan: This development is in-line with the overall cyber security imperative. DHS fully understands their security challenges and has the funding to solve these challenges — now they just need to apply those resources. DRC holds an EAGLE contract and is available once DHS solicits the services they need.

What is the biggest challenge for you today?

Jim Regan: The biggest challenge for me today is to keep our folks agile and responsive to the changes in the market. You have to move quickly — there is no standing still. I visit our people and customers out in the field to ensure I understand their evolving needs. Then I make sure our people stay focused on these needs and execute accordingly. We also continuously upgrade the skills sets in our staff to meet these evolving needs.

How has your Navy background helped you in business?

Jim Regan: All of my basic leadership skills were honed in the Navy. Because of the Navy I had the opportunity to lead organizations at a very early age. I have been able to carry these basic leadership skills into industry. The Navy prepared me well.

How would you describe the company’s culture?

Jim Regan: DRC is best described as a meritocracy: Here we challenge people to perform to their maximum potential and reward them for their performance. Our culture is built around values like integrity, teamwork, leadership, commitment and dedication. Folks in our company are empowered to succeed and drive their own future.

What will the company look like in two years?

Jim Regan: We will continue to provide high quality services to our customers. We’ll be larger. We’ll be more profitable. And we will be focused on the same mission-critical markets we are focused on today. We have seen growth in the past couple of years, the leading indicators we use to assess this are positive. We booked $135 million in new business in 2007, our 2007 funded bookings were 10 percent above our annual revenues, we had a 40 percent increase in large prime contract bids and our new business win rate has continued at the 40 percent level.

How big of a part does acquisition play in your overall strategy?

Jim Regan: It is a component. When we think about acquisitions, we don’t think about adding revenue. Rather, we think about access to new customers, we think about gaining people with new skills and we think about getting scale. It is part of the growth strategy.

Tell us about the BRAC situation.

Jim Regan: The BRAC, which dates back to 1995, gave us a wake-up call in 2005 when the Electronics Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base and the Soldiers System Center at Natick, both in Massachusetts, were on the chopping block for the last round of BRAC closures. When the numbers came in, the bases represented 30,000 to 40,000 jobs and over $3 billion in payroll. The economic impact on the state would have been devastating. Once we realized this would happen, the group I was associated with, called the Mass High Technology Council, began to campaign to save the bases from closure.

In the end, it was decided by the commission that Hanscom would remain and the base’s role was even expanded to have a greater mission. But what also came out of it was a significant public-private partnership involving government, state legislature, academia, industry, and laboratories. The entire situation represented how a company can work in a community and with other members of industry to overcome monumental challenges and achieve an objective. The entire initiative was critical to our whole community and industry, so we set aside our company’s specific needs and worked as a team.

Teamwork is a very important part of DRC’s culture and industry and community teamwork were an important part in saving Hanscom.

Big sports fan?

Jim Regan: I’m a die-hard Red Sox fan, yes!

Patriots Fan too?

Jim Regan: Yea, but baseball is my game.

What else should our readers know about?

Jim Regan: We have won a number of new federal contracts here recently where we were selected for our proven management support and logistics expertise. We’re one of the very few mid-tier prime contractors on the DHS EAGLE ID/IQ where we have already begun management support and earned value management work. In March, we were awarded a prime contract on the $5 billion TRICARE Evaluation, Analysis, Management and Support services ID/IQ, known as TEAMS. Under this contract, we’ll lend our program management expertise to Military Health Affairs. The Defense Department’s Logistics, Maintenance and Supply Support (LMSS) contract was just recently announced. DRC is one of only six companies to provide lifecycle maintenance management services across DoD.

These contracts are only a few on a long list of programs. With years of successful past performance, we continue to be a very strong and reliable partner to the federal government. There is tremendous opportunity in Washington and we plan to leverage our arsenal of contract vehicles and success as a top, mid-tier integrator to go after them.

What advice would you give a small business owner potentially wanting to partner?

Jim Regan: Give me a call!

Interview with Jim Regan conducted by Lisa Singh

Read more interviews here: http://blog.executivebiz.com/category/interviews/

Posted by Lisa Singh on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008. Filed under Executive Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry