For Immediate Release

Morningstar Consulting Group Announces Business Philosophy™ Practice

Rochester Hills, MI - October 7, 2003 - Morningstar Consulting Group today announced its Business Philosophy™ practice, which will focus on helping clients discover and leverage the deepest foundations upon which business strategy and effective leadership are built.

"Business Philosophy™ is comprised of a strong sense of Passion, Purpose, Values, and Vision, all considered in the context of environmental Reality," said Joe Morrow, Morningstar's Managing Director. "Our experience and our research have shown that by understanding and cultivating these elements, companies can realize significant value in the areas of executive leverage and organizational buy-in."

Executive leverage is the notion that the higher up a leader is in an organization, the greater the impact his or her actions have throughout the organization. Therefore improving the effectiveness of an executive-level leader by, say, 10% could result in an organizational improvement of as much as 100%.

"The primary tool we use to increase executive leverage is the Leadership Diamond®, which was developed by business consultant and philosopher Peter Koestenbaum," said Morningstar Partner John Strelecky. "We chose this tool because of the direct impact it can have in helping companies get beyond major 'stuck points' that inhibit individual and organizational progress. Stuck points equate to lost opportunities, which businesses can't afford in this economic environment. The Leadership Diamond® has conclusively proven its value in work done by our partner firm, Quantum Leadership Solutions, with numerous Fortune 500 companies."

The value of organizational buy-in derives from illuminating and leveraging the components of Morningstar's Strategic Foundations™ framework: Passion, Purpose, Vision, Values, and Reality.

Explained Morningstar Partner Vince Cavasin: "We use the Strategic Foundations™ framework to help our clients discover how individual employee Passion can be harnessed in pursuit of corporate Purpose, or the corporation's reason for existence. The pursuit of Purpose is guided by corporate Values, on which all employees must be aligned, and the journey toward Purpose is mapped out by Vision, which consists of long-term goals that drive strategy. Finally, executives must share a common understanding of Reality, which includes traditional elements such as economic, industry, and market considerations."

"Once the Strategic Foundations™ are identified, the next step is aligning the entire organization behind them," continued Cavasin. "This precipitates formation of what we call a 'Culture of Passion', in which employees understand the meaning of their contribution to corporate progress, and are driven by this understanding to new levels of performance and cooperation."

Ahmed Yehia, a Morningstar Advisor and the Chairman and CEO of L.A.-based Quantum Leadership Solutions, has been instrumental in guiding the formation of the Business Philosophy™ practice. "It's inspiring to see how passionate Morningstar's partners are about building this new practice," said Yehia, whose firm is a strategic business partner of Morningstar's. "They are living proof of the value of Business Philosophy™, because they live what they preach every day."

For those interested in learning more about the Leadership Diamond® or Strategic Foundations™ methodologies, Morningstar is conducting two seminars in cooperation with Oakland University: Greatness: The Leadership Calling™, November 3 and 4, 2003, and Strategic Alignment: Driving Business Results™, November 13 and 14, 2003. For more information, please visit www.mscgi.net/workshops.

Morningstar Consulting Group, LLC is a management consulting firm that brings together Business Strategy and Business Philosophy™ to create lasting value for its Fortune 1000 and middle-market clients. Morningstar is comprised of a group of seasoned management consultants and executives with experience at several top consulting firms and Fortune 500 companies, including McKinsey & Co., A. T. Kearney, DiamondCluster International, Hewlett Packard, and Walt Disney. Morningstar's partners are certified by PiB, Peter Koestenbaum's organization, as practitioners of the Leadership Diamond®.