Organization Development & Design Case Studies
Organization Development & Design has assisted countless clients in a variety of fields increase productivity and maximize their ROI. Browse our organization development case studies below to learn more about our services and some of our success stories.
Health Care | High Tech Manufacturing | Financial Industry | Utilites
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Organization Development and Design provides organizational effectiveness consulting and simple, cost effective web-based tools for healthcare organizations and private practices. These tools will help you assess needs, hire right, set goals, align teams, deliver performance reviews and provide development resources - all on demand 24x7. Tools include ThinkBox: hundreds of Interactive Learning resources for physical therapy practices.
We have experience working with a wide range of large and small healthcare related organizations, academic practice and private practice groups; hospitals, pharmaceutical laboratories and independent specialty group practices. Our healthcare related clients have included: University of MN Hospitals, Dermatology Specialists, Abbott Laboratories, Roche Laboratories, Cardinal Health, Paddock Laboratories, Caremark and Cappella University Faculty. In addition to industry experience we bring very cost effective best practices and tools to support the design and development of small to midsize hospitals, clinics and private practices (Dental, Medical, Orthopedic and Physical Therapy).
Our core competence in building partnerships, strategic planning and change management is supported by an integrated set of resources to sustain measurable improvements in service delivery and business performance. Our cost effective, web based performance management tools are designed to support small to midsized healthcare organizations leaders and managers efficiently implement their business objectives.
Health Care / Pharmaceutical Clients
- Caremark
- University of Minnesota Hospitals
- Paddock Laboratories
- Abbott laboratories
- Roche Laboratories
- Cardinal health
- Healthcare Professional Organizations
Our partners have healthcare experience and are members of healthcare professional organizations.
Minnesota Medical Group Management Association/
American Physical Therapy Association
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home
HEALTHCARE CULTURE CHANGE AND ENGAGEMENT
High Tech Manufacturing: Electronics
Building Profitable Partnerships
Business Issue:
A leading international manufacturer of consumer electronics wanted to increase the effectiveness of its distribution channel. More specifically, leadership desired a more profitable relationship with a national chain that retailed their products. A proposal was made to align business strategies and reduce the cost of doing business by jointly committing to a more formal channel partnership.
Performance Issue:
The challenge was reaching an agreement that would bring mutual gain among all key stakeholders.
Actions:
To get started, Organization Development and Design conducted an opportunity assessment to determine whether products, pricing, and operational results warranted a committed channel partnership. Once confirmed, we engaged the presidents of both companies as well as their top leadership in a series of working sessions.
The company's partners reviewed key business drivers, cultural differences, and business processes to understand the reasons behind their current problems. This discovery process forged mutual trust. The assessment gave both companies the impetus and confidence to create a long-term agreement outlining their new relationship. Based on the redefined business relationship, joint teams were chartered to address key pricing, process, and profitability issues.
Results:
Joint teams executed a number of changes that included the selection and training process, a new method for 12-month rolling forecasts, a 1-1 communication strategy, and cost adjustments to position partner products in optimum commission brackets.
The measurable results of their joint efforts included:
- Moved up to #3 share position in category after being a long standing #4
- GMROI improved 20.6% over annual baseline
- 100% commitments on forecasts
- Inventory turns moved from 3.8 to 4.3x
Equally valuable for the future, the two companies established direct lines of communication and a mutually profitable working partnership.
High Tech Manufacturing: Electronics
Initiating Strategic Change
Business Issue:
A major software developer was experiencing rapid growth and geographic expansion. Leadership had helped the company achieve rapid growth and taken the company in new directions, creating a loss in "cultural identity." At this point, leadership wanted to manage their growth and maintain the values that had helped them become a worldwide market leader within their industry.
Performance Issue:
Get business unit leaders to play an active role in the stewardship of a culture to support the company's growth and a new direction.
Solution:
We aligned the senior management team around a new vision. We helped the organization effectively communicate their new direction by designing a series of highly interactive meetings across domestic and international locations.
Results:
The process created a solid foundation for the company's new direction and organization-wide initiatives by:
- Creating the Business Case for Change
- Establishing a Team to Lead Process
- Defining a New Strategic Direction and Engaging All Employees
- Integrating the Strategic Priorities into Business Unit Annual Plans
- Developed scorecard to track results
Manufacturing
Getting Partner Mind Share
Business Issue:
An international manufacturer was competing for the mindshare of distributors and resellers who sold multiple brands. The manufacturer wanted to differentiate their company from their competitors. This major electrical manufacturer wanted to partner with their distributors to help them increase market share in a previously untapped residential market.
Performance Issue:
Get partners to execute a marketing strategy to increase market share and both retain and attract high performing partners across all regions.
Actions:
Identified the contractors' product and service issues, sharing best practices, and assessing what was needed to improve their business performance. The manufacturer responded to the needs identified by providing contractors with targeted programs, training, cooperative marketing and advertising, best practices, and additional specific sales support.
Results:
Five years later, the contractors are continuing to meet quarterly in self-managed councils. The manufacturer now regularly tests new product and promotional ideas with these councils. As a result, sales and profit margins steadily and significantly increased 5% annually, along with significant growth in distributor loyalty to the manufacturer.
Manufacturing
Partnering with Suppliers
Business Issue:
A major food processor's Procurement Department asked us to help them build on their longstanding relationships with its suppliers. The company has a large number of suppliers in total; however, 80% of the "spend" is concentrated on approximately 65 of those suppliers and the company expects continued growth and acquisitions over the next few years.
The Procurement Department's challenge was to identify the best ways to support their internal Business Units in the cost-effective development of new products from a materials handling and a sourcing standpoint.
Performance Issue:
Strengthen their supplier relationships by getting their preferred suppliers to help them identify strategies for saving costs, expanding revenue, and increasing satisfaction with both their internal and external customers.
Actions:
Conducted an assessment that determined where to leverage the value of their suppliers and determine what actions and behaviors Purchasing Agents must develop to identify ongoing improvement opportunities.
Results:
Aligned business representatives from their supplier organizations and their internal business units around a set of initiatives to reduce costs and improve the performance of Procurement representatives and supplier organizations.
Manufacturing
Implementing A Partner Program
Business Issue:
Market research had pointed out an acute need for a major automotive manufacturer to increase customer satisfaction levels to maintain or increase sales. Leadership saw a clear need for a common management philosophy among partners across their nationwide distribution channel. They felt a culture change must be initiated and a clear connection be made between customer-focused behaviors and positive business outcomes.
Performance Issue:
Develop a program to create new management behaviors in partners across the distribution channel, driving changes in customer satisfaction and sales for dealerships nationwide.
Solution:
First, we provided dealership management teams the results of an Organizational Assessment. The results clearly showed which cultural values, as defined by management and employee behaviors, provided the greatest gains in customer satisfaction and sales.
Second, a series of follow-up dealership sessions highlighted areas in which managers must focus to impact dealership performance positively. Competency model data was collected and combined with actual customer satisfaction information to monitor customers and compensate dealerships.
Finally, the dealerships' current performance (cultural values and individual managers' behaviors) was combined with key business measures, creating a single number that accurately showed what the dealership or manager could do to have the largest impact on satisfaction and sales.
Results:
Results to date have shown significant improvements in customer satisfaction and sales numbers. Customer satisfaction increased over 20% in the six months following the program. The program has also received enthusiastic support from dealers and has become a major component of the dealership certification process.
Financial Industry
Competency Analysis and Business Case Development
Business Issue:
We worked closely with a financial institution that wanted to refocus how they delivered their financial services products. The financial institution had partnerships with a nationwide network of businesses that sold financial products and services through advisors.
To meet competitive and marketplace demands, the financial institution and their partners wanted to address three business goals;
- Increase the number of clients served.
- Increase number of products provided to each client.
- Increase the level of client satisfaction.
Performance Issue:
Strengthen partner capabilities and start making progress on their common and agreed upon goals.
Solution:
We supported the financial services advisory team in carrying out their mission by defining the appropriate set of partner capabilities to meet agreed business goals. Once the competencies were identified, an assessment was conducted across a sample of advisors. Based on the results of the assessment we reduced 13 broad competencies to a targeted set of behaviors that would produce the desired outcomes.
Our analysis statistically verified the specific partner behaviors that were critical to acquire clients, retain clients, and deliver products.
Result:
We recommended a set of behaviors and defined how programs could be established to change behaviors and improve the performance of financial advisors. We also supported the development of tools for:
- Tracking the improvements the developmental programs were making in partner capabilities.
- Demonstrating how these improvements were leading to more successful business outcomes.
Established a clear business case for that investing in the development of talent and partners' specific competencies to significantly improve the overall performance of the business partnership.
Utilities
Organization Design and Change Management
Background:
One the largest utilities in the U.S. in concert with major utilities across the Midwest created an alliance to support the deployment of next generation of high power transmission lines in to meet future energy demands. $1.2 billion was raised to fund five major projects across 11 participating utilities, each with different project dependent interests and accountabilities.
Business Issue:
Translate the Vision for the alliance and create a structure that spans across 11 participating utilities into a formal organization design.
Development of a Virtual Organization Design to efficiently manager resources and accommodate geographic dispersion of member utilities.
Performance Issue:
Gain agreement and common understanding across participating utilities about future roles, responsibilities, and interrelationships between the Executive Teams, Management Teams, and Project Teams in order to effectively execute mutual business objectives.
Business Solution:
We recommended a set of behaviors and defined how programs could be established to change behaviors and improve the performance of financial advisors. We also supported the development of tools for:
- Collaborate with CAPX 2020 alliance leadership and member utilities to redesign their virtual organization's structure, work processes and decision authority to formalize their new organization design.
- Apply effective change management practices to support the redesign and implementations in order to meet desired business results.
Results
- Common understanding of the current structural gaps and design choices.
- Leadership alignment on governance for an alliance across 11 utilities.
- Strategies to support effective communication across all key stakeholders.
- Implementation of Governance Structure.
- Methods to track progress, share information and measure results.
Utilities
Organization Design and Change Management
Background:
Major utilities business unit was in the process of redesigning key business processes and implementing new information systems to support changes.
Business Issue:
Leadership wanted to determine the most effective way to manage the change associated with the project, sustain commitment and obtain the maximum ROI.
Performance Issue:
- Increase management understanding about the real impact of change and employee accept of change.
- Develop organization capability to accommodate the change during early stages of implementation.
Solution:
Our approach is focused on the first three steps of our change management process:
1. Readiness Assessment: Determines what is needed to effectively support execution of change.
2. Leadership Alignment and Governance: Establishes clear commitments to the requirements for success.
3. Change Management Plan: Outlines a strategy to engage the organization at levels and reduce resistance.
4. Launch : Initiates and supports the strategies and actions outlined in a Change Management Plan.
5. Monitor and Sustain: Provides the tools and motivation to ensure commitment and results are ongoing.
Result:
- Identified change management risk factors and associated financial and organizational effect.
- Defined the current and required level of readiness to support change across the organization.
- Recommendations to address barriers and to increase readiness across organization.
- Developed strategies to support execution of a change management plan.
- Identified key measures to track progress and end of process results.
