Case Studies

Strategy, Structure, & Staff Development:

With the recession radically altering member’s interests and requirements, professional trade associations with long standing services have had to re-examine their core strategies, structures and staff talent. Joyce Bader Consulting has partnered with several large national trade associations in a multi-stage process of examining their core strategies to determine powerful approaches to member needs, realigning organizational structure and culture to support the new strategy, and developing staff so that their talents are strengthened and applied directly to the organization’s new goals and tactics. The result—organizations that are responsive and sustainable in a world of high change and new directions.

Strategy and Innovative Structure at a Federal Agency:

Despite many years of highly regarded, innovative research and development in cutting-edge technology, a significant government agency found itself stagnating. The conflicting political and project demands that had accumulated over 10 years had resulted in an organization spread thin. There were now many individually led projects with little integration into well-conceived and powerful work. In addition, reauthorization challenges loomed, calling upon the new leader and the staff to re-examine strategies and identify compelling priorities that optimally served the nation’s interests. These strategies would have to garner political support from diverse and contending internal and external stakeholders.

The organization engaged Joyce Bader Consulting to provide a well-integrated approach to these strategic planning, organization and leadership development challenges. Joyce Bader Consulting partnered with them to develop a strategic planning process that extensively engaged stakeholders and an organization development process to create an organization capable of implementing the newly defined strategies. The new organization is now receiving ongoing support to help build new leadership capacities, team, and organizational processes that will leverage and integrate their work.

Second Generation Leadership Success:

Taking charge after the departure of a charismatic organizational founder or original business owner offers unique challenges for leaders. Joyce Bader Consulting has worked with leaders in nonprofits and corporations to successfully negotiate these challenges. Second generation leaders must sustain existing strengths and skilled people, while re-examining the efficacy of the mission, the organization’s culture, and the organization’s ability to function. Joyce Bader Consulting has helped these leaders and their teams assess the overall status of the organizational culture, strategies, structures, and relationships. We have supported restructuring when needed and developed new leadership and new teams capable of responding well to transition and ongoing challenges. Without exception, leaders who may either have faced short tenures or been unable to revitalize their organizations have gone on to lead their organizations to a new generation of success.

Developing a New Culture and Staff Capacities at an Industry Leader:

The information systems division of a large and highly successful company had grown up with the company and played a key role in its customer relations and success. Now, it faced unprecedented challenges. Relationships with internal customers were breaking down as each customer department—marketing, sales, manufacturing, product development, finance and human resources—questioned the division’s role. Were they servants there to implement the systems requested by their customers? Were they regulators there to enforce the overall technology requirements? Or were they partners there to co-create innovative solutions to customer challenges? Internal customers could now outsource work. Information systems needed to define their role, adjust their division culture, and build their employees capacities to reposition themselves for success.

Joyce Bader Consulting worked with the information systems division over a period of many years to identify and define an IT internal consulting/partnership role able to meet both company and customer needs. We designed entirely unique training and team development processes to assist the existing staff in the individual awareness and professional development required to support this role and culture change.

Many companies face the challenge of creating partnerships and internal consulting skills in their employees—skills that require insight, risk-taking, and support to nurture. This company’s unique investment brought about substantial change in the divisions internal relationships and success.

Executive Transition and Crisis Support:

A highly successful CFO found himself experiencing transition after transition—from company to company—despite his extraordinary strategic and technical abilities. The pressures these companies and he faced had exceeded his interpersonal understanding and abilities, leading to high degrees of reactivity in challenging situations. In seeking and working with a neutral third party—executive coaching with Joyce Bader Consulting—he was able to examine many challenging situations as they occurred without fear or defensiveness. Deeply held beliefs and associated behavior patterns became clear in these conversations. The CFO became increasingly able to notice subliminal thoughts before they generated automatic and unconstructive behaviors even in rapidly occurring situations. He became calmer, more present, and more judicious—less reactive at key moments. Gradually his “emotional intelligence” complemented his technical and strategy expertise. Today the rapid job transitions have ceased, allowing his organizations to enjoy greater success and putting him in charge of a creative work life and career trajectory.

Partnership Challenges in Business:

A small business, owned by two individuals with extraordinarily different backgrounds, experienced difficulty optimizing the roles of the two principals as each pursued their own interests, leaving some areas of the company over-attended and others neglected. None of their conversations had succeeded in realigning their efforts. The company was weakening and the principals were avoiding connection. After assessing the situation, Joyce Bader Consulting engaged the partners in ongoing conversations that built their communication and negotiation skills while sorting through their roles and responsibilities. The conversations deepened their understanding of each others underlying beliefs and overt behaviors while building their skill sets. This work resulted in clearly defined roles and responsibilities and a partnership capable of addressing countless future challenges. The business went on to win many awards and to thrive in its field.

Ten years later, life events and changes in the business environment led the partners to a crossroads with each having a different vision for the company’s future. Though not without difficulty, Joyce Bader Consulting enabled the partners to see the magnitude of their differences and the damage that continuing in conflict could inflict upon the company’s success. They ultimately decided to part ways.