The Challenge:
A public sector trade association with a $200M USD budget recognized new strategic challenges. With an economic development mandate, the traditional focus of the organization had been towards attracting global consumers and maximizing their spending in local markets. Management realized that a broader constituency of stakeholders needed to be addressed, including:
- government sponsors,
- industry businesses, and
- local communities.
In order to succeed, they needed to enable the organization to address all of these groups rather than just the traditional customer. An annual Global Conference brought together the top 100 managers in the organization, and it was opportunity to implement the strategy.
The Approach:
Market Edge used a diagnosis and design process to help the client's organization develop a deeper understanding of all stakeholders. Representatives from each stakeholder group were contacted and interviewed to obtain content for workshop sessions. Individual stakeholders were chosen to speak, and Market Edge worked closely with these representatives to ensure they were prepared for the conference.
During the conference, managers were invited to refine the strategy through a series of facilitated workshops. Non-traditional stakeholders and managers participated in focus group sessions to communicate and improve understanding of the strategy.
The Outcome:
Evaluations from managers attending rated the event as the organization’s most successful conference ever. Field managers developed new perspectives and direction through communication and participation. Links to stakeholders were established or strengthened, and ongoing feedback loops were established both within the organization and externally. Significant qualitative improvement resulted from re-aligning the organization with its driving constituencies.
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