THE DREAM AND THE REALITY

A RANA Case Study – A Large Non-Governmental Organization

The Story

The Biotechnology Research Foundation (BRF) was a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) specializing in coordinating the funding of research projects in biotechnology. Its mission was to help funding agencies exercise equity in the granting of research funds to researchers and research organizations. Last September, the Board of Directors and Senior Management of the company met to prepare a Strategic Plan. All 321 employees heard about the widely heralded plan, joked about the management retreat held in resort surroundings and expected to hear from their supervisors some news on future plans for the organization.

By March, the silence from “on high” was deafening. No one had said anything about the results of the planning session and no report nor any document had ever seen the light of day. Middle Management waited two months to get new directions; they then gave up and went back to doing whatever it was they doing. It was business as usual, though there was considerable restlessness across the organization.

The Intervention

The President and CEO of BRF met the Chairman of RANA at a social function and asked for help. RANA Process Leaders:

Facilitated an Issue Analysis Session of the Board and Senior Management aimed at determining the components of what appeared to be a case of FTI (Failure to Implement);
Facilitated another work session of the Board and Senior Management to clarify and confirm the contents of the September Strategic Plan and determine the points of conflict that were hindering implementation, i.e., confusion between strategic and operational objectives;
Helped the Chair and the President prepare a communication to staff and design a Town Hall meeting of the BRF staff;
Helped the President to compose a “Call Letter” to mid-managers requesting their response on how they planned to implement the BRF’s Strategic Plan;
Facilitated work sessions of mid-managers to help them with their operational response to the Strategic plan;
Set up clear principles and practices for the BRF to distinguish between Governance and Management of the organization;
Set up a Project Prioritization System to facilitate the funding process and monitored its implementation.