• About
  • Introduction
  • Managing Directors
  • Principals
  • Consulting Staff
    • Senior Consultants
    • Consultants
    • Associates
    • Analysts
    • Interns
• Services
  • Introduction
  • Corporate Strategy
  • Technology Strategy
  • Licensing, Mergers, and Acquisitions
  • Portfolio Optimization
  • Commercialization Strategy
• Clients
• Cases
  • Introduction
  • Case Study 1
  • Case Study 2
  • Case Study 3
  • Case Study 4
  • Case Study 5
• Careers
  • Introduction
  • Benefits
  • How to Apply
• Alumni
• Contact
• Blog

Case Study 05: Organizational Alignment for a Global Trade Association

Situation

Frankel Group had supported a trade association in mapping out its long range strategic plan. As a discreet follow-up project to help implement this plan, the President and Board of Directors retained Frankel Group to reassess the organizational structure, processes, and staffing competencies to optimize organizational efficiency and effectiveness.

Complication/Opportunity

Since the client was a trade association, Frankel Group had to manage and work with both the association staffers as well as the member organization representatives at multiple levels (e.g. Board, Operating Committee – US, Operating Committee-EU, Special Topic Committees, etc.).

The current structure was too compartmentalized and did not have an integrated global perspective, despite being a global association.

The communication between the association and the breadth of the member organizations was spotty…aggravated by conflicting agendas between large and small companies, and between EU and US based member companies. The association also needed to improve its responsiveness to the changing environment and be more proactive in managing industry issues. Lastly, there were inconsistencies and poor definition of roles and responsibilities across the various functions and levels of the staff organization.

Approach and Resolution

A broad range of interviews were conducted with staffers as well as representatives from the member organizations…across multiple levels – Board level, senior management, issue management…and across multiple regions (US, EU, Japan).

Using the long range strategic plan as the backdrop, Frankel Group recommended a fundamental shift in the organizational structure and processes by which the staff organization and the member organizations approached the management of the hot topics affecting the members as well as a more structured project management approach to the proactive programs that the group was investing in to enhance the image of the industry. Consistent with the above recommendations on structure and process, resource investment prioritization and guidance was provided as well as skill set mix needs, performance management metrics and other operational process recommendations.