Achieving, Measuring and Communicating Strategic Success
SCI Ontario: Achieving, Measuring and Communicating Strategic Success- Case analysis.
In fall 2014 Gillian Lynne-Davies had just seen the 2013/14 Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (SCI Ontario) annual report finalized after a busy, but worthwhile few months. The not-for-profit organization she worked for, SCI Ontario, headquartered in Toronto, was part of a federation of organizations that served over one mil-lion people. Notable achievements from the past year included responding to 4,700 requests for information and working with the Ontario government to get $8 million infused into community-based attendant services.
In 2012, the organization, a leader in client service and community reintegration, had adopted a bold three-year strategic plan it called “Good to the Core.” (The plan was later extended to 2017.) SCI Ontario aimed to be an exemplar of not-for-profit management and to take a leadership role regarding people living with spinal cord injuries in the province.
Communications and reporting were vital elements of the strategy, which Lynne-Davies, as senior manager of marketing and communications, was tasked with delivering. Reporting helped SCI Ontario monitor its progress and let stakeholders gain a greater under-standing of the organization and, through this, an enhanced commitment to it.
Change was on the horizon: Bill Adair, the chief executive officer (CEO), had announced his decision to retire and Lynne-Davies would have to work to ensure the transition was seamless. Given the need to implement the strategy while managing the transition, she saw two major goals in the coming months:
● To further develop an internal reporting system to complement the external reporting system. A dashboard would allow the new CEO to see how SCI Ontario was performing against the strategic plan, financial targets and operational objectives.
● To refine SCI Ontario’s communications strategy to help achieve and critically measure its success in becoming the provincial expert on living with spinal cord injury. This would fulfill the organization’s leadership role and its mandate to be the “most reliable voice, advocate and leading expert on living with spinal cord injury in Ontario.”
Achieving these goals would make a huge contribution to SCI Ontario and its important mission.
The History of Spinal Cord Injury Ontario
World War II saw an influx of veterans with spinal cord injuries. These otherwise healthy veterans were scattered around hospitals where the medical staff expected little of them. In 1945, two veterans, John Counsell and Ken Langford, determined to help those living with the injuries engage more fully with the community. With the backing of prominent philanthropists, they established the Canadian Paraplegic Association. Its initial focus was on people with
affected motor function in their lower extremities, hence the use of the term paraplegic in its name. At the time, this represented the vast majority of the spinal cord injuries community as any injury severe enough to cause quadriplegia—affecting function of the legs, arms and torso—would have been fatal. Since then, advances in medical research, knowledge and support had significantly improved the prospects of those with spinal cord injuries. Thus, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the community included a far greater range of experiences and injuries. In November 2012, to demonstrate commitment to all those with spinal cord injuries, the organization was renamed Spinal Cord Injury Ontario (SCI Ontario).
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario – Our Mission
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario assists persons with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities to achieve independence, self-reliance, and full com-munity participation.
Every year, there were close to 600 people who sustained new spinal cord injuries in Ontario alone, and approximately 33,000 Ontarians lived with a spinal cord injury. The economic costs were estimated at a massive $2.67 billion in Canada as a whole. Even more important than the financial cost was the human cost. A spinal cord injury was a traumatic event significantly impacting those experiencing the injury as well as friends, family, employers, and the wider community. Such injuries could happen to anyone; indeed, the two age groups most at risk were those over 70 and those in the 20 to 29 age range. The top two causes of spinal cord injuries were accidental falls and motor crashes, every-day events that accounted for approximately 43 per cent of cases. Those experiencing a spinal cord injury were roughly twice as likely to be male than female.
Despite the stress caused by spinal cord injuries, it must be understood that people were often able to positively adjust to life afterwards, given time and the right support. On average, it took a person two to three years to gain independence, typically after critical care, rehabilitation, and transition to community living.
Experiencing a spinal cord injury was a life-changing event as Chris, who received support from SCI Ontario, said, “It’s like you’ve been given a new body. You relearn everything from scratch.” The peer support that SCI Ontario provided to those who had experienced an injury could be invaluable in helping rehabilitation.
As Christine, a disability educator, remarked, “A disability doesn’t need to be an inability. We just have to be more creative about how we do things.” SCI Ontario was there to help people achieve their goals. As Lubna said, “Sometimes just a little support gets you where you want to be.”
The Organization of SCI Ontario
SCI Ontario was incorporated under the Canadian Not-For-Profit Corporations Act as a corporation without share capital. It was a registered charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada), which meant that it did not pay taxes and was able to issue receipts for tax deduction of donations made to it.
SCI Ontario provided the following programs:
● Attendant Services (AS) in the greater Toronto area.
● Regional Services (RS) to assist clients transitioning from acute care through rehabilitation into the community.
● Employment Services (ES) to help people with disabilities in the Greater Toronto Area.
● Peer Support (PS) to provide one to-one matches with trained volunteers.
● Public Policy Program to bring awareness and education to elected officials and to work with members on advocacy initiatives that aim to create an inclusive province.
● Research and partnership: financial support of fellowships and partners.
● Communications: disseminating information and raising awareness.
● Networks and Alliance to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities in Ontario.
● Informational Services for people with disabilities.
● Knowledge Enterprise, the learning centre for SCI Ontario.
● Member Services.
● Advocacy.
SCI Ontario employed close to 170 full-and part-time staff of whom 30 per cent identified as having a disability. The organization maintained 17 branches across the province from Thunder Bay to Ottawa, with the provincial headquarters in Toronto. Further details of the organization, its mission and values are contained in Exhibit 1.
In addition to its day-to-day operations, SCI Ontario controlled the Ontario Paraplegic Foundation. This foundation, which was established in 2000, received bequests and other donations from supporters. All the resources of the foundation must ultimately be used for the benefit of SCI Ontario programs or research sup-ported by SCI Ontario. The accounts for the Ontario Paraplegic Foundation are shown in Exhibit 2.
Executive Summary
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario, also known as SCI Ontario, is a non-profit organization that helps individuals living with spinal cord injuries. SCI Ontario was established in 1945, after World War II, for veterans suffering from spinal cord injuries. It was initially known as the Canadian Paraplegic Association because it focused on people whose lower body did not function. In the fall of 2014, the organization devised a strategic plan, Great to the Core, to offer management and guidance regarding individuals who suffer from and live with spinal cord injuries in the province. Its critical goal was to be a specialist in client services. Bill Adair, the organization’s CEO, 2014 declares his retirement, and the organization must guarantee a smooth transition in planning and welcoming a new CEO. Gillian Lynne Davies, SCI Ontario’s marketing manager, reviews and inspects the organization's performance. She concludes that creating an internal reporting framework would benefit SCI Ontario. Developing a dashboard would permit the organization to supplement the external reporting framework and offer the incoming CEO an outline of the organization's structure and performance. Additionally, Gillian Lynne Davies suggests that another short objective is to improve and develop new communication methods to monitor and gauge SCI Ontario's achievements and success.
Introduction
After World War II, SCI Ontario was established in 1945 by two veterans, Ken Langford and John Counsell. Initially, it was known as the Canadian Paraplegic Association because it focused on people who had lost all motor functions in their lower body. It was a non-profit organization to help people suffering from spinal cord injuries. Spinal Cord Injury Ontario works to help its patients recover and fully integrate into the community.
Problem Statement
SCI Ontario’s main challenge is developing a proper communications strategy and maintaining a favourable eye in the community. The organization needs to come up with ways to have effective and efficient internal and external communication. SCI Ontario's new CEO needs proper analysis and functioning of the organization and the community.
Analysis
Spinal Cord Injury Ontario faces a significant challenge in offering proper internal and external communications. The organization now looks to develop a dashboard that would mirror its functions and success. With the creation of the dashboard, the new Chief Executive Officer could monitor the organization's performance regarding its tactical strategies, operational goals, and financial objectives (SCI Ontario: Achieving, Measuring and Communicating Strategic Success - Case analysis). Effective implementation of this proposed dashboard system would also be helpful as an external communication to the community, offering insights into the source of funds and their application. According to Exhibit 1, there will be provision of proper structures to enhance SCI Ontario’s communication, internally and externally. Before establishing this dashboard system, the organization would release updates on its functions and financial position, all in the spirit of openness and user-friendliness. SCI Ontario provided records showing the organization’s performance indicators on particular dimensions. An effective dashboard should incorporate visually appealing elements, focus on critical goals for the organization, and should focus on things that the manager getting the information could expect to influence and have control over. The dashboard ought to help attempts to run effectively run the organization. Gillian Lynne Davies looked to create a good and effective dashboard for the organization and one that could assist the new CEO with managing the organization.
With proper communication, SCI Ontario would have, maintain, and enhance its leadership roles in the community, which aligns with its mission statement (See Exhibit 2). SCI Ontario’s goal is to be the facility of choice for clients suffering from spinal cord injuries. To achieve this goal, Gillian Lynne Davies, SCI Ontario's senior marketing and communications manager, would encourage the media and people in influential positions to have SCI Ontario is their speed dial when they need expert advice. With the support of the media in relaying this information, the community would have the freedom to visit or communicate with the organization in case the need arose. SCI Ontario would offer their clients the most reliable patient care, be the most trusted voice and supporter, and offer the best expertise on Spinal Cord Injury in the province. Achieving these attributes would raise awareness of Spinal Cord Injury in the community. As part of the organization's provision of a balanced scorecard, SCI Ontario monitored the media interactions and mentions, but only with proper communication on their reporting to the stakeholders would it be acknowledged to have an effective and efficient impact in implementing its leadership role in the community According to Exhibit 3, SCI Ontario devised a structured approach, process, and expectations formula.
SCI Ontario must improve on its external communication because it is only by doing so that it would woo volunteers and potential sponsors. Having well-established external communication practices would supply the community with the organization's functions, and sponsors would have insights into the scope of work the organization is doing. This measure would make it easy for Stakeholders to monitor the non-profit organization's performance and assess their strategic plans' effectiveness and efficiency. Although ranking a non-profit organization based on its missions may be challenging, having the stakeholders’ inputs is essential as it is informative and, in some cases, instructive. Additionally, there is an impressively positive stance in judgment on how to classify the functions of a non-profit organization which in turn permits administrative choices to influence the information utilized for the comparisons. Commitment to this scrutiny allows room for the stakeholders to monitor progress and gain a greater understanding of the organization.
Stakeholders need to know whether the organization is effectively using the resources and whether it can progress with its stated mission. To the stakeholders’ satisfaction, SCI Ontario gave budget reports and made these openly accessible to the community. These assertions were like the fiscal reports of for-profit organizations. They detailed the organization’s activities in the previous year and reflected the differences in net assets, cash flows, and the organization’s position toward the end of the year. In showing their sincerity and openness, Grant Thornton, a professional auditing firm, audited the organization's budget reports in 2014. The organization's statement of financial activities and financial position paralleled the revenue and expenditure statement and balance sheet as expected in organizations. Considering Spinal Cord Injury Ontario is a non-profit organization, its statements included the organization's annual excess revenue over expenditure. The organization reports its revenue and expenditure from 2008 to 2014. SCI Ontario also provides clear documentation on its resources and liabilities from March 31, 2009, to 2014. Since raising funds is a crucial element to the success of a non-profit organization, SCI Ontario also provides its financial statements, emphasizing fundraising from 2009 to 2014.
SCI Ontario needs to improv...
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