Strategic Planning

A leadership development institute was experiencing declining revenues and membership. The Board of Directors engaged the OCC to develop a new mission, vision and strategy for the organization. The consultants interviewed each board member, a sample of the managers who had attended one of more of the institute’s leadership events, representatives of the organizations that provided funding to keep the institute solvent and leaders who had been asked to attend institute training but had declined. The competitors for the institute’s services and the growth potential were also studied. The consultant’s report with recommendations and alternative strategies were presented during two board meetings. The board decided to make a radical change in their direction and objectives as a result of the intervention.

An art services organization that provides casting support to theatre and movie producers in the southern California region had long enjoyed the enthusiastic support of actors and its clients. After a move to more elegant facilities its slow decline in operating revenues was viewed as something more ominous than a usual cyclical dip. The consultants conducted interviews with staff and some of the Board members and then met with the full Board and the CEO for a two day off site meeting to review revenue and operating issues. In additional to some re-organization decisions, a new strategy was developed with a focus on re-marketing and revenue enhancement plans.

A sailing services organization had been earning sufficient revenues to allow it to provide sailing instruction for inner city youth. The Board fully supported this move but noted a lack of clarity or analysis in the resource requirements for this shift in focus. The consultants interviewed the Board members, the staff and the CEO of the organization as well as the key donors. An organizational diagnosis, recommendations and a strategic plan were presented to a subcommittee of the Board. An implementation committee was formed and the consultants conferred with the committee on details of implementing the plan.

Charter school 1 had a management team of educators that had taken over the management of the school that has been funded by private investors and was not meeting the needs of the community. The new management team recognized that as they began to quickly grow they need to make decisions about a re-organization and a strategic plan that would take them into the future. The consultants conducted an organizational review and made recommendations that involved moving immediately into a strategic planning process. Using the balanced scorecard approach, we worked with the management team and the board to produce and implement a five-year plan. Then as the first five year plan expired we were called back into the organization to develop a second five-year plan. The organization continues to grow and to acquire other charter schools.