Tyco Federal Credit Union:

Strategic Planning for

Growth and Expansion

John Simmons- JKT Task 3

P a g e | 1

Table of Contents

1 Executive Summary………………………………………………………………… 3

2 Problem Statement/Business Need…………………………………………………. 4

2.1 Background…………………………………………………………………….. 4

2.2 Business Problem/Need………………………………………………………... 5

3 Functional Areas contributing to Business Need…………………………………… 7

3.1 Administration………………………………………………………………… 10

3.2 Marketing/Sales……………………………………………………………….. 11

3.3 Human Resources……………………………………………………………… 12

4 Recommendations for Needs and Issues & Resources for solving…………………. 12

4.1 Name Change…………………………………………………………………... 12

4.2 Leader Changes………………………………………………………………… 13

4.3 SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………… 13

4.4 Strategic Planning………………………………………………………………. 14

4.5 Balanced Scorecard…………………………………………………………….. 15

4.6 Situational Analysis…………………………………………………….............. 16

4.7 Risk Registers…………………………………………………………………... 17

4.8 Marketing/Sales………………………………………………………………… 17

4.9 Human Resources………………………………………………………………. 19

5 Timeline for Solution Implementation………………………………………………. 21

P a g e | 2

6 Analysis of Financial and Organizational Impact…………………………………………… 22

6.1 Administration/Leadership…………………………………………………………….... 22

6.2 Marketing/Sales…………………………………………………………………………. 24

6.3 Human Resources……………………………………………………………………….. 26

7 Five Lessons Learned that helped Resolve Business Need/Issue……………………………. 27

P a g e | 3

Executive Summary

Tyco Federal Credit Union is a closed membership credit union serving employees, family, and

relatives of its sponsor group companies including Tyco International and its many business

subsidiaries; TE Connectivity( formally Tyco Electronics), Covidien Healthcare( formally Tyco

Healthcare), and Atkore International to name a few. The credit union has a potential employee

base for membership that totals approximately 85,000, and with family and relatives increase the

total potential membership base to approximately 250,000 members. Currently, the credit union

has 7400 members, with assets of $100 million, and is considered a small boutique credit union

due to its limited and closed field of membership. The credit union has been in existence since

1970, but over the last 10 years it has seen its growth become stagnant, and due to the recent

depressed economic conditions and uncertainty that has affected Tyco International’s

manufacturing business units, its spinoff of business units a few years ago, as well as more

spinoffs occurring this year has been forced to reevaluate its business model and name so that it

does not find itself left behind as the spinoff companies spend millions to rebrand themselves

and distance themselves from the Tyco International name. In addition, TE Connectivity, who

currently administers the credit union's benefits, payroll, and human resource functions is

requiring the credit union to completely split from them and will no longer administer these

services for them. Going forward the credit union now has to stand on its own completely, and

has created a need for a new name, a new functional area, and a new strategic plan to allow for

future growth or face possible serious financial consequences both short-term and long-term.

P a g e | 4

A1. Tyco Federal Credit Union Business Problem and Need

Background:

Tyco Federal Credit Union was founded in 1970 by Raychem Corporation to serve its employees

as the Raychem Federal Credit Union. During the 1980s and 1990s Tyco International expanded

its business by acquiring many different companies to become one of the biggest corporations in

the world. One of the companies acquired was Raychem Corporation in 1999. Subsequently the

credit union was absorbed into another acquired company, Tyco Electronics, and changed its

name to Tyco Electronics Federal Credit Union. After a much-publicized scandal rocked Tyco

International, its CEO was replaced and the company began to consolidate its subsidiaries into

four business units; Electric, Healthcare, Plastics, and Fire and Safety, to which the companies

Tyco International acquired were consolidated into each business unit as a way of streamlining

and reducing expenses. At this point the credit union was still sponsored by Tyco Electronics.

In 2007 Tyco International split into three separate companies by divesting itself of its electronic

unit, and its healthcare unit, while keeping its plastics division and fire and safety division. These

companies then spent millions of dollars to rebrand by renaming themselves TE Connectivity

and Covidien Healthcare to distance them from Tyco International. Because the credit union's

charter include all these companies the divestiture did not affect its field of membership as all

employees from the newly rebranded companies and subsidiaries still owned by Tyco

International were still eligible for membership within the credit union. However, in order to

appease Tyco International, the largest of the companies, the credit union agreed to change its

name again to Tyco Federal Credit Union, satisfying one stakeholder but creating issues with

others since they wanted to distance themselves from Tyco International and were reluctant to

promote the credit union while it continued to carry the Tyco name, but would allow the credit

union to promote its services to their employees without any real corporate support. This has

caused the credit union to work harder for new members, and limits itself to marketing to

existing members and trying to attract and appeal to family members and relatives since most

employees of these companies assume they can no longer join the credit union due to the split

from Tyco International.

P a g e | 5

Now five years later Tyco international is again set to split into three separate companies; ADT

Residential Security, Flow Control, and Tyco International. Tyco International will retain fire

and safety and its subsidiaries, as well as ADT’s commercial security unit which will be

absorbed into its fire and safety division. Besides these challenges to the credit union and its

attempts and ability to grow, TE Connectivity as its main sponsor company and main corporate

supporter, provides human resource functions, and benefits and payroll services to the credit

union's employees, but as of the beginning of 2013 will no longer provide these services and is

requiring the credit union to completely split from them and administer their own benefits and

payroll, and create a Human Resource department. This situation is putting the credit union at a

crossroads; not only does it have to figure out a way to continue to expand, it must also rename

and rebrand itself to appeal not only to Tyco International, but the spinoff companies created

from the restructuring, and the tens of thousands of employees the credit union can potentially

serve; all of which creates large short-term expenses and financial challenges and long-term

needs regarding growth, revenue generation, and financial stability requiring strategic planning.

Business Problem and Need:

At no time before has the credit union faced so many challenges that has threatened its very

existence. Membership has stagnated and contracted such that at one point the credit union had

more than 11,000 members, was as low as 6000 members, and currently stands at more than

7400 members. The credit he has faced continual pushback from many of its employer groups

that have already split from Tyco International, as well as from company set to split from them

that do not want to give corporate support due to its continual use of the Tyco name. The

justification given is they have spent millions of dollars to rebrand and separate themselves from

Tyco International that they cannot support the credit union while it continues using that same

name. The companies that are set to split are taking a similar stance, plus it is obvious that the

Tyco name to all these businesses carry negative connotations due to the lack of synergy and

cultural integration between them and Tyco International that these spinoff companies are

willing to go to great lengths to distance themselves from Tyco International and are taking a

dim view of the credit union's continued use of the name, and will not provide corporate support

to the credit union. This has been a major reason why the credit union has failed to grow from

2007 to present, and is therefore an imperative business necessity that the credit union change its

P a g e | 6

name to something that will appease an appeal not only to Tyco International and its remaining

business units, but to the numerous companies that have spun off from them in 2007 and in 2012

as most of these same companies will support the credit union at the corporate level and

throughout the company once the name is changed. Until then the credit union will find it

practically impossible to grow or generate income, and can make itself a target for a takeover by

a bigger credit union or even the NCUA.

The other business issue that may also become a bigger problem if the credit union does not

solve its membership and loan growth, and interest income problem, is the fact that TE

Connectivity, the credit union's main sponsor an employer group; due to worsening economic

conditions and the need to streamline and reduce costs, will be completely severing its ties with

the credit union at the end 2012, and will no longer be providing human resource, benefits, or

payroll services for the credit union as they were in the past. The company will still provide

corporate support as one of its employer groups, with continued access to its employees, and

promotion on its Intranet. This poses issues for the credit union that are indirectly attributed to

its name and future ability to grow its membership base and generate income. First, TE

Connectivity is its main corporate supporter so a large percentage of its current membership base

is from employees within that company. The complete split from TE Connectivity will not

impede its ability to continue to market to its employees, but the credit union already has market

saturation within this employee group so its continued support will not help the credit union's

efforts to grow because of market saturation. Next, this situation will become a serious drain on

the credit union's ability to generate income since it will now bear the full expense of having a

formal human resource department; staffing the department, creating policies and procedures,

and fully funding expenses for payroll services and employee benefits. The credit union is

already seeing indicators of slow to negative loan growth, and is finding it difficult to increase

this and its membership base due to the lack of support from companies that take issue with their

name, limiting the credit unions ability to recognize and exploit opportunities within its employer

groups. These challenges the credit union will bear at the beginning of the year could pose a

fiscal cliff scenario where its name changed this late in the game will not be enough to prevent

them from experiencing losses each month, and could set up 2013 as being a very bad year for

the credit union unless the Board of Directors and Senior Management act now and become

more aggressive with trying to solve these business problems and meeting its long-term needs so

P a g e | 7

going forward they can rise and meet the challenges successfully, and move forward with

positive membership growth, loan growth, and income growth that will increase the probability

of the credit union meeting these challenges.

A2. Analysis of Three Functional Areas that may be contributing to Tyco Federal Credit

Union’s Immediate Business Needs.

What a large organization such as Tyco International or small organization like Tyco Federal

Credit Union functional areas within a business is commonplace and crucial to its smooth day-to-

day operations. Functional areas within the business streamline operations, and save money by

grouping responsibilities and tasks into departments that can then perfect and perform these

every day, increasing efficiencies and keeping costs down. In larger organizations most

functional areas include:

Administration; Its main purpose is to support the smooth operation of all other

functional areas within a business, including routine tasks such as clerical activities,

arranging of travel, staff meetings, and ensures everything runs smoothly so management

can focus on the day-to-day running of the business. This may also include activities of

senior executives, such as setting company vision, strategic planning, and budgeting.

Customer service; This functional areas main purpose is to service customers and clients

who have questions or problems regarding the products or services they have purchased.

These could be lower skilled workers trained to politely and professionally answer basic

customer inquiries to highly skilled technical specialists trained to handle more complex

inquiries.

Distribution; This functional areas responsibility includes ensuring goods are delivered to

the right place, at the right time, and in acceptable condition whether the delivery is going

to another business for resale or bought directly by a consumer. This area also has an

important responsibility in controlling costs by planning routes that get goods to market

quickly to save on long-term fuel and labor costs.

Finance; This areas main responsibilities include keeping track of all income earned and

spent so management always knows how much profit or loss is being generated by each

product they sell along with how much money the business is currently holding. This

enables decisions to be made quickly and accurately and could mean a business’s long-

P a g e | 8

term success or failure. This department usually employs management accountants who

monitor budgets, sales, and prepare and analyze cash flow. Financial accountants prepare

required statutory statement such as balance sheets, and profit and loss statements and

credit and collection personnel charged with expanding business credit and recovering

unpaid debts.

Human resources; This areas main function is to serve the business by serving its

employees. This includes hiring of staff, learning and growth through training across all

departments, setting policies such as conduct, dress, and disciplinarian actions, as well as

monitoring work conditions’, ensuring the company is adhering to state and federal labor

laws, maintaining staff records, and mediating grievances between staff. This department

also assists in facilitating open communication between areas and helps senior

management guide planning and cultural and organizational change.

IT; This area’s main function is to maintain the company's computer network, servers,

workstations, and in many cases its telephone systems. This department is also

responsible for software system upgrades, website administration, and overall security of

its systems to prevent theft or destruction by external forces. This is typically a critical

component of a company’s success, as all companies rely almost exclusively on

computers for its efficient operations. This can also be a crucial income generator for

many organizations that sell goods through Internet retail sites.

Marketing and sales; For most organizations these two areas are typically combined and

are responsible for marketing and selling its products or services to consumer segments

and markets it serves. This functional area for most organizations is the most important

area since the department is the main income and profit generator for the company.

Marketing functions by promoting its products, identifying who its customers are, what

their needs are, what products they will most likely buy, and how these products will

sustain consistent growth. Marketing also prices products based on each segments wants,

needs, and their perceived price tolerances, as well as their willingness to pay for certain

designs and features of the products. Marketing also is charged with deciding where a

product will be sold, whether in its own retail stores, through a third party, online, or all

three. Sales on the other hand is charged with the actual selling of the product, driving

and peaking customer interest by uncovering needs and wants so they can effectively sell

P a g e | 9

products and services that best suits their market and customer needs. This department

also acts as experts and advisers by answering consumer questions about all aspects of

the product, and provide excellent service and follow-up to help ensure repeat and

referral business. Experienced and highly skilled sales personnel also may be in charge

of preparing contract quotations or cost estimates for clients, as well as negotiating

discounts and financial terms of these contracts for its clients.

Production; This functional area’s primary responsibility is to manufacture products that

the company will promote and sell. This department insures goods are produced on time

and are of high quality, which can be based on company policy, or direct customer

specifications. This department is also responsible for buying and storing materials for

manufacturing, as was keeping costs low and efficiency high by adopting TQM, Lean

Manufacturing, and Just in Time practices, along with the use of work cells, and a three

bin system.

Research and development; This areas primary responsibility is to develop products and

improve existing products or product lines. Improvements to existing lines are usually

done through ongoing marketing research or customer feedback of their evolving tastes

and changing needs and wants. New products may be developed due to technological

advances that open markets to new products or technological advances that are wanted or

demanded by new and existing customers. These are done so they can be manufactured

at a reasonable cost and sold at competitive prices to make profits while still being safe

and reliable for the customer.

Tyco Federal Credit Union is considered a small credit union within the credit union industry,

not only in asset size of just over $100 million and membership size of over 7400 members, but

in staff size currently at 25 employees. This includes the CEO, CFO, two Vice Presidents, Chief

Lending Officer, four managers, and 16 support staff including two IT personnel, 11 member

service representatives, two accounting staff, and one administrative assistant. One of the main

challenges of the credit union has experienced in expanding its membership base is the fact that

it has a closed membership charter which means only employees and family of the employer

groups within its charter are allowed to join. There are approximately a dozen companies within

its employer groups employing approximately 85,000 personnel. The credit union currently has

five functional areas including Administration, which includes the Board of Directors, the CEO,

P a g e | 10

its two Vice Presidents, and an administrative assistant. This is followed by Operations which

includes Branch Managers and Member Service Representatives, next is Finance which includes

the CFO and two accounting personnel, followed by IT which includes two staff members, and

Marketing and Sales which includes a Vice President and two business development staff, with

sales support coming from the operation department’s member service representative staff. After

the beginning of the year there will be a sixth functional area, Human Resources, which will be

staffed by at least one employee that will be responsible for benefits, payroll administration, and

employee policy and relations.

The credit union is quickly approaching a timeframe where decisions and actions must be made

quickly with regards to membership, loan, and income growth. The credit union is faced with

bad economic conditions not only in the regions it operates in, but also with its employer groups

which is mainly comprised of manufacturing and technology. This is causing employees within

these companies to stop borrowing due to layoffs and general uncertainty within the

manufacturing sector and the steady divestiture of companies from each other which are usually

followed by more staff reductions. The credit union also faces stagnated and possible negative

growth due to its name by previously divested and soon to be divested companies who want to

distance themselves from the Tyco name. This has resulted in a lack of support by many of these

companies and is crucial for the credit union's ability to generate growth on all levels through its

marketing efforts to reach employees and family, since without corporate support most

employees in these groups do not even know they have a dedicated credit union. Lastly, the

credit union now faces the added expense of the addition of a human resource department, and

obtaining its own benefits and payroll services. This now creates a need for the credit union to

have a short-term surge in membership growth that will allow it to meet short term increase

expense increases, and long-term need for loan growth and income growth to remain liquid and

solvent.

The Administration area, specifically its Leadership, has been a contributor to some of the

challenges and issues the credit union is currently facing. Its Board of Directors and Supervisory

Committee lack experienced finance and banking members, consequently they tend to be overly

conservative to the point of being ineffectual by not moving fast enough on crucial decisions,

and relying too much on it CEO for guidance. The Board of Directors and CEO have known for

P a g e | 11

almost six years that the credit union's name has been a barrier to growth and employer group

corporate support, but has been too slow to react, leaving it till now and has made the issue

worse as multiple decisions and planning all now need to be made at one time. The CEO has

been in her position for almost 15 years. She employs a director type, command-and-control

style of leadership which contributes to the slow pace of change the credit union routinely

experiences. Just about every decision no matter how big or small, or no matter within what

functional area has to include her being a part of those decisions instead of relying on her vice

president and management staff to make decisions quickly and independently. This is a crucial

component for these positions to learn, grow, and practice successful and visionary leadership

that would have served the credit union well if it were to have been allowed to occur.

Marketing and Sales has also been a major contributor to the issues the credit union currently

faces. Its Vice President and Business Development Managers have not been able to adequately

overcome the credit union's name issue and penetrate the employer groups who have given

pushback due to its name. Instead, the department has tended to focus on the few employer

groups that do support them and do not have any issue with its name, and go after those

employees and employer groups as a way to grow its membership base. The strategies work

somewhat, but has recently become ineffectual due to saturation within these employer group

markets. The other issue marketing has not been able to overcome is the fact that the employer

group locations are spread out over multiple states making it hard for a department of three to

adequately serve and build relationships within these groups to market and attract employees to

join and become members. Marketing efforts have also been recently hampered by not having a

Vice President for the first seven months of 2012 due to the CEO not acting with a sense of

urgency to fill the position until July. This has caused there to be virtually no marketing efforts

for most of the year and has impacted the credit union with a lack of membership and loan

growth which will not bode well for the beginning of 2013 when loan and deposit income will be

crucial for meeting short-term rising expenses resulting from creating a new department and

hiring consultants to assist in the name change and strategic planning process. Sales, specifically

loan sales and growth, has been an issue as a lack of training and aggressiveness on the part of

the member service representatives approach to selling, cross selling, and identifying

opportunities for growth has produced less than stellar financial results. An example of this is an

innovative program the credit union introduced in which all members are assigned a member

P a g e | 12

service representative as their own personal banker. Most traditional banks reserve this type of

service for high net worth clients, but the credit union decided to provide the service for all of its

members. So far it has not resulted in sustained loan growth as expected as the representatives

do not adequately work in their book of business strategically enough to target and identify

members with a higher likelihood of doing business with the credit union; contacting and

creating cross selling opportunities to advance the credit union's mission and expand loan and

interest income growth. These are potentially profitable members that have done business with

the credit union in the past or have credit scores that qualify for its loan products. A lack of

cross selling along with a less aggressive approach to its member base poses ongoing issues that

affect long-term loan and income growth and seems to be primarily due to a lack of training high

turnover of key positions for extended period of time.

A lack of a functional human resource department on-site has contributed to some of these issues

the credit union currently faces. Not having a dedicated human resource department has meant a

lack of direction and support for its employees such as not being able to formulate adequate

training regimens designed to improve employee skills, specifically sales skills, which is crucial

to the credit union’s long-term success. Training is traditionally done or coordinated by the

human resource department and a lack of this has contributed to a lack of consistent long-term

loan growth. A lack human resource management has contributed to a lack of a positive culture

or cultural direction within the credit union as is reflected by the outdated command-and-control

style of leadership of its CEO. With an on-site dedicated human resource staff this may have

helped the CEO transition from this nonproductive leadership style to a more collaborative or

problem-solving approach to leading which would give other senior executives of flexibility to

make decisions without the control of the CEO all the time.

A2a. & A2b. Recommendations to solve Business Need and Issues involving the Three

Functional Areas and Implementation Resources for the Recommendations

The challenges Tyco Federal Credit Union face are barriers that can be overcome if the Board of

Directors, its CEO, and executives act immediately to address issues and needs to ensure short

and long-term sustainability of its operation. First and foremost is recommended that the credit

union change its name and roll out a marketing and advertising campaign to its membership base

and employer group base by the end of the current year. This will take cooperation from all

P a g e | 13

board members, CEO, and executive staff to choose a company that will successfully guide them

through the name change process at an approximate cost of $15,000, and will require the final

approval by the Board of Directors for all activities and tasks involved in the process. This cost

also takes into account Marketing’s responsibility with advertising and marketing campaigns for

the new brand roll-out. These associated costs regarding brochure and poster design and print,

social media premium advertising service, labor hours, and travel expense will be included in the

2013 marketing budget of $95,000, and will require the commitment of all marketing staff

including the Vice President and final approval by the CEO. This will be the first step towards

formulating a strategic plan that addresses both at short-term needs and long-term sustainability.

There also needs to be a change in direction of leadership style before the start the strategic

planning process. The CEO needs to reassess her leadership style and results over the past five

years and understand that change starts with her. She will need to give up her command-and-

control leadership style and become more flexible and collaborative in her approach to day-to-

day decision-making by allowing more independent actions by her executive and management

staff that will ultimately result in increased morale and creativity, and will reduce executive staff

turnover, while the same time providing innovative and visionary leadership at all levels. This

will require CEO and Human Resource Consultant participation in change meetings. Approval

of the Board of Directors is required for and personnel or organizational change that may occur

during or after these tasks.

Next, a SWOT analysis needs to be performed as a precursor to the actual strategic planning.

SWOT is a strategic planning method used to evaluate a company's strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities, and threats to its current and future business model. This analysis should be done

regularly even after the new strategic plan is put into action, so as the market the credit union

operates in, changes to its plan can evolve to face these situations and needs quickly and

efficiently. The information obtained during SWOT analysis are grouped into two key areas that

represent SWOT; strengths and weaknesses coming from within the organization, while external

opportunities and threats represent external factors present in the environment the credit union

operates in. All functional areas must be involved with this preplanning process leading up to

the actual strategic planning, so as much data can be gleaned from many different sources that

will assist in creating a viable strategic plan. The personnel needed for this will be the CEO, the

P a g e | 14

Vice President of Membership Development, the Vice President of Operations, IT Director,

Chief Lending Officer, one Business Development Manager, and two Member Service

Representative Supervisors. The facilitator for this will be the Human Resource Consultant and

the newly hired Vice President of Human Resources. If this position is not filled by this time

then the CEO will assist, with final approval for the SWOT analysis and data, coming from the

CEO as well. The analysis will be performed in a series of meetings designed to define all

functional areas strengths and weaknesses, and the type of external threats it faces, along with

the opportunities that are present or may present itself in the future. The cost involved is mainly

labor hours and consultant fees which are a part of the total human resource department creation

and the addition costs. This is also where a change of leadership style and buy-in from the Board

of Directors, the CEO and executives will be critical as this will set the tone for an honest and

creative flow of information and data.

Once this is completed a strategic planning session involving a consultant, the Board of

Directors, CEO and Executive staff can come together to formulate a strategic plan that

addresses its current challenges and long-term need for sustained membership, and loan and

interest income growth. This process first starts out by defining its strategy and direction which

is why it is crucial that the name change be done prior because this component will be one of the

main drivers of the direction and cultural changes that will occur. The next phase of the strategic

planning is answering simple questions as to what the credit union does, whom does the credit

union serve, and how the credit union excels. This is typically achieved through a situational

target proposal where the questions define the current situation, and how it came about; this

involves defining goals and objectives, and the path or proposal for mapping out the route

through which these goals and objections will be met. The plans key components include:

Vision; This this is an outline of what the credit union wants to be such as keeping its

current defined vision statement of helping members to get ahead financially, to adding

more to the vision statement or coming up with a completely new vision statement that is

based on the questions and proposals previously formulated, as well as being guided by

its new name.

Mission; The mission statement gives functional purpose to the credit union as it relates

to the overall credit union movement, its markets, and its differentiating factors that

P a g e | 15

separate it from a bank. This mission statement will also be used to communicate how it

will achieve its stated vision, and will be at the forefront of how its business model

moves forth to achieve growth and income.

Values; These are the beliefs that are shared by stakeholders of the credit union such as

the Board of Directors, CEO, and executive staff. These agreed-upon values are what will

drive the new culture and its priorities, and provide an avenue to which decisions will be

made going forward. Leadership style will again be crucial as it will allow for a buy-in

from all involved, and allow for positive communication top-down and bottom-up

companywide at its rollout, and encourage a free flow of innovative or critical feedback

as these values are implemented, which in turn will increase morale and employees

feelings of belonging and ownership of the success of the credit union going forward.

Strategy; This defines the ends and means of the credit union's roadmap to achieve short-

term success and long-term growth and income. This entails setting goals and

formulating the vision, mission, and values into policies that reinforce these new changes

in direction, and most importantly ensures the company is going in the right directions

towards an achievable and vision.

To successfully deploy the newly formulated strategic plan it is recommended that the credit

union obtain final approval from its Board of Directors and communicating the new strategic

plan companywide, followed by a series of meetings with staff to answer questions or concerns

and garner feedback. Regular use of SWOT analysis to monitor its current and future operating

environment, both internally and externally, is also recommended, and will be the primary

responsibility of the human resource department to coordinate the data from each functional area,

and will require the cooperation from each department head and supervisors, followed by

compiling the data for approval by the CEO and presented to the Board of Directors and

communicated companywide to staff. The cost associated with strategic planning will primarily

come from consultant fees associated with strategic planning preparation, participation, and the

final report delivery for cost of approximately $25,000.

The credit union should also utilize balanced scorecards at a companywide and departmental

level. A balance scorecard is a performance tool that will help the Board of Directors and CEO

at a macro level, and Vice Presidents and Managers at the micro level to track plan execution and

P a g e | 16

monitor results arising from plan activities. A balanced scorecard is a combination of both

financial and nonfinancial measures that are compared to target values within a single report that

articulates the interplay between the leading input processes such as human or physical elements,

with lagging outcomes resulting from these processes so they can be effectively managed to

achieve the strategic plans priorities, and is typically broken down into four categories including

financial performance, customer satisfaction, internal business processes, and learning and

growth. By focusing on these four categories and its measurements the credit union is able to

take departmental scorecards, combine them together, and obtain data as to how its vision is

translating into operational and mission success, if communication of the vision and plan has led

to heighten individual and company performance, that ongoing business planning is continuing

and is flexible to a changing environment, and learning and growth is occurring on all levels and

it strategic plan is adjusted according to internal and external feedback and data. The newly

created human resource department will be primarily responsible for facilitating the creation of

the balance scorecard along with assisting each department's need for periodic updating. The

data and measurement criteria initial approval will be from each department head, with final

approval by the CEO. Ongoing results of each department’s balanced scorecards will be shared

with the Board of Directors on a quarterly basis during its monthly meetings, and communication

of results to staff will occur at the yearly companywide staff meeting for the next year's goals,

strategic focus, and expectations.

It is also recommended that the credit union perform periodical situational analysis to assess both

the short and long-term achievements in solving its immediate business needs and its long-term

growth and income expectations. This involves an analysis of the organization and its operating

environment by focusing on external factors including customers by doing surveys on how it is

performing based on their perception of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, its competition by

comparing products, features, and technology to make sure the credit union compares well to

other banking institutions. This will also help to react ahead of time to economic changes that

could affect it either positively or negatively, and the regulatory environment so as banking and

lending rules change the credit union can change rapidly to avoid negative consequences, or

seize on newly emerging opportunities that may present it. The Human Resource department

will be responsible for working with each department for data needed, and will present finding to

P a g e | 17

the CEO for approval and shared with the Board of Directors on a yearly basis. Communication

to staff will be done if there are significant changes in the reporting year-over-year.

Risk registers are also recommended and can be used to assess current and future organizational

risk and formulate responses to a host of plausible scenarios that can quickly emerge in and

always changing banking environment. This includes describing the risk, assigning a risk based

on its probability of occurrence and impact on its business, as well as how to mitigate the risk

and have built in contingency plans if the risk becomes more serious than expected. This will

give the credit union another tool to not only assess its newly created strategic plan, but will

enable it to always have a backup plan to every risk which will help to ensure successful

achievement of plan objectives now and in the future. This project will also be the

responsibility of the newly created human resource department. The creation and

implementation will be coordinated with the Vice President of Operations, the Vice President of

Membership Development, and will be shared with managers and supervisors. The approval of

the data and final risk registers will be from each Vice President and CEO, and will be shared

with the Board of Directors initially at the next monthly meeting; with periodic updates should a

situation occur that requires deployment of risk contingency plans. Communication with staff

will occur at contingency plan deployment as well.

Marketing and sales are critical to the credit union short-term needs and long-term growth and

income requirements. This department will see immediate opportunities right away once the

name changes complete. The department will be able to rollout the new name change marketing

campaign, reach out to the employer groups and its employees to establish relationships with the

previously non-supportive companies that took issue with its previous name will open up

opportunities to market its banking products and increase its membership base by offering to

install on-site ATMs, adding the credit union to their benefits package, and give the credit union

space on their intranet site to promote the credit union services. This should give the credit

union a boost in membership growth which in turn opens opportunities for the member service

representatives to sell other banking products to these new members through direct contact, e-

mail marketing, and website promotions that will seek to increase loan penetration rates and

generate much-needed interest income, and will enable the credit union to absorb the added cost

of higher benefit expenditures, and allow the credit union to operate with positive earnings. It is

P a g e | 18

also recommended that the leadership allow departments more flexibility to be creative with

marketing campaigns, and market the credit union's financial products throughout the year, as

well as update the credit unions website so it can be seen as using advanced design and

functionality that will increase the credit unions perception of being an easy and convenient

place to bank, whether online or utilizing mobile applications, along with making it easy to find

ATM credit union network that allows for free use on in-network ATM transactions which gives

the member a less costly way to access their money when a credit union ATM or branch is

unavailable. Social media including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn can also be used to

advertise the new name and the benefits of banking with the credit union cost effectively while at

the same time reaching a larger audience to market too. Resources recommended to help support

and achieve member growth, loan growth, and income growth is to utilize a departmental

balance scorecard that measure success of others activities in terms of financial impact, customer

growth and satisfaction, business processes that identify and market what the credit union excels

at, and learning and growth that measure success through employee morale, skill improvement,

and that financial impact that results from this. This data could then be used by senior

management to assess overall performance of the credit union factoring all departments. The

departments could also utilize SWOT to assess departmental strengths and weaknesses that can

be improved upon, and external conditions that pose opportunities such as a newly opened

multichannel field of membership, or threats to growth that can result from continued erosion of

economic conditions or unexpected challenges in establishing effective relationships with

previously unsupportive employer groups. Finally, goals objectives and targets of performance

can be implemented in future marketing and growth planning by defining each goal, objective,

and targets that address desired outcomes, strategies, and tactics needed for actions to excel

performance within a certain timeframe which helps to clarify success or identify failure. To

assess short and long-term success of goals, objectives, and targets it is recommended to break

down these short-term goals with objectives and targets that can be achieved quickly, and creates

momentum to reach medium-term goals which are important objectives and targets, but need

more time to see impact of results, and once they are realized will create a higher probability of

long-term goal achievement; and the case of the credit union will involve a three year member

and loan growth plan that grows year-over-year and enables the credit union to report strong

returns. The rebranding marketing campaign will be the primary responsibility of the

P a g e | 19

department’s Vice President. This includes the creation of the campaign, and coordinating

communication between the different marketing channels such as social media, prints,

advertising, and communication to its membership base and employer groups. The credit union's

two business development managers will be responsible for introducing the marketing campaign

to the employer groups on the East Coast while the Vice President will be responsible for

introducing the marketing campaign and the new rebranded credit union to the employer groups

that previously did not support the credit union due to the Tyco name. Primary approval for the

marketing campaign concepts and materials will be done by the department Vice President and

shared with the Board of Directors and CEO prior to a full rollout, and communicated to staff

during the end of your staff meeting prior to the official rollout campaign starting at the

beginning of 2013. The cost of design and printing of marketing campaign materials will be

approximately $6000; premium service social media and Internet advertising will cost

approximately $4000 a year, and traveling expenses for both Business Development Managers

and Vice President will be included in the general marketing budget of $95,000 for the upcoming

year. The credit union currently services for ATMs at four different employer group locations at

a cost of $2000 a year, which includes leasing and servicing fees of each machine, and will

require similar cost for future ATM placement at other employer groups.

A formal human resource department has been absent from the credit union. Currently, the credit

union relies on their main corporate sponsor TE Connectivity to provide human resource

management, and benefit and payroll services; all performed off-site. As of the end of 2012, TE

Connectivity is completely divesting itself of all financial responsibility and support it gives to

the credit union, now requiring it to bear the full cost of establishing a formal on-site fully

functional human resource departments, and fully funded new employee benefit services and set

up payroll services. This creates short-term financial challenges as well as long-term

opportunities to change the existing culture by creating a more motivated and well skilled staff

through structured policy implementation, hiring and training of new and existing staff on a

regular basis, and provide supporting guidance that will foster an efficient flow of information

throughout the company so employees are fully aware of important changes and policy updates,

and can provide feedback and suggestions to solve both short-term issues and long-term

challenges. It is highly recommended that the department be set up immediately so it can ready

for the name change and marketing campaigns and corporate communication that will be needed

P a g e | 20

for a successful rebranding launch, plus be in place for benefit implementation and

administration so the transition can take place smoothly, efficiently, and within budget. This

department will also be important future cost savings facilitator and will provide critical support

for all business units which will in turn increase the probability of successful cost saving

measures, while at the same time helping to reduce overall risk by working with departments to

develop risk registers along with plans to deal with each risk, and contingency plans for

worsening conditions. This department will also be able to help develop balanced scorecards for

each functional area as well as a corporate one by assisting each department in defining each

category; its goals, objectives, targets, along with measurement requirements for each and

internal data collection that may be used for one or more categories. It is recommended that the

credit union contract the services of a human resource consultant that can assist the credit union

in the establishment of the department, its structure and policies it will need in place on the

onset, as well as assist in hiring and training new staff, and will be a valuable resource for benefit

and payroll service implementation. This will ensure the department is set up correctly and can

be running efficiently quickly. This consultant will also be able to assist with organizational

realignment the new department will eventually need, and assist in executive buy-in of new or

updated policy, and staff communication of changes being made at all phases of these projects.

The addition of the formal human resource department will take the cooperation and

coordination of just about everyone at the credit union, but especially from the Board of

Directors, CEO, and human resource consultant to determine the structure and staffing levels the

department will have initially going forward. The Board of Directors, CEO, and human resource

consultant will jointly approve the recruiting of the department Vice President, while the newly

hired Vice President will have the responsibility of approving the recruitment of the department

staff. The CEO along with the Chairman of the Board of Directors, human resource consultant,

and the human resource Vice President will all be involved in choosing health benefits, 401(k)

services, and payroll services for the credit union for the upcoming years and into the future,

with the ultimate approval of the benefit packages and services coming from the Board of

Directors and supported by the CEO and senior executive staff. The cost of hiring a human

resource consultant shall not exceed $25,000. The cost of the addition of the human resource

department including executive and staff salaries, healthcare benefits, 401(k) set up in service

fees, and payroll outsourcing is broken down in the following way:

P a g e | 21

Executive salary will be no more than $100,000 a year initially plus yearly merit

increases.

Staff salary for one initial human resource generalist will be no more than $50,000 a year,

and will increase year-over-year due to merit increase and possible future staffing

additions.

Healthcare benefits package to be approximately $256,000 a year for a staff of 25, and to

change year to year depending on fluctuations in staffing levels and yearly insurance

premiums.

Payroll services to be approximately $2000 to $3000 per year depending on the company

and services chosen.

A2bi. Timeline for Solution Implementation

Many of the business needs, issues, and recommended solutions will need to be implemented as

soon as possible while others will be measured on a longer-term basis. The name change

solution recommended should have a branding company selected and a finished product

delivered by the end of 2012 so it can be rolled out to the credit union staff, membership base,

and employer groups by no later than the beginning of 2013. This will be critical to aggressive

short-term membership and loan growth that is needed to meet short-term operating expense

increases that will result from the cost of the name change, department edition, and cost of

purchasing benefit of payroll services. The human resource department, and benefit and payroll

service addition is another need that is recommended to be implemented before the end of 2012,

and be fully functioning within three months to impact strategic plan performance. The strategic

plan is another recommended solution that should be created and functioning by the end of 2012,

communicated to the staff no later than the end of January 2013, and implemented no later than

February 2013 so the plan will be fully effective by the end of 2013, and continued to perform

for the next three years. Cultural change and leadership buy-in is recommended to be completed

by the end of the second quarter of 2013, allowing human resource time to evaluate issues and

needs, and establish a training schedule for smooth transition from a command and control

leadership style to more collaborative and flexible style that is more conducive to having a

progressive business atmospheres that employees are coming to expect as modern business

changes and evolves. SWOT analysis, risk register, and balance scorecards should be developed

P a g e | 22

and communicated to the staff no later than the end of 2013, and used and measured by the

beginning of 2014, so data can be reviewed monthly and annually to ensure all three are being

adequately used, and the measurement process is still valid or needs change to meet an evolving

banking environment. Membership and loan growth will be a longer-term solution which will

require the use of both short-term goals objectives and targets along with long-term

measurements associated with these as well. Because many of the recommended solutions will

directly benefit marketing's efforts to quickly impact member loan growth, the department will

need longer to assess the impact of obtaining corporate sponsorship from previously reluctant

employers, and then the time needed to establish those relationships and sponsorships so

marketing can gain access to employees, and will need at least to the end of 2013 to measure

financial performance and through the end of 2015 to assess the success of the name change and

its effect on membership and loan growth as it compares with strategic plan expectations. This

will enable the credit union to have enough data to use at its strategic plan review that will take

place at the end of 2015 and implemented at the beginning of 2016.

2C. Analysis of Long-term Financial and Organizational Impact of the Recommendations

Because the credit union is facing so many challenges in such a short period of time it is

imperative that these changes be implemented as soon as possible so as to avoid financial

difficulties. In order to mitigate short-term risk it will need to change its name, create a fully

functioning human resource department, fully fund a new benefits package, complete strategic

planning, and deploy the plan companywide. Should the credit union not complete these tasks

within the near future it may continue to experience negative membership growth and declining

loan and interest income that, along with unexpected worsening economic conditions, could

increase financial risk that may cause the credit union to become insolvent and seized by the

NCUA.

To avoid these potentially serious consequences the credit union must act with a sense of

urgency, and implement most of not all of the recommendations that will allow them to measure

long-term financial and organizational impact and will be the next phase in assessing the success

or failure of their efforts, and give the credit union data it can then use to make changes as time

goes on. With regards to the leadership, the current leadership structure will need to buy-in

completely to the visionary shift that needs to occur and lead the cultural and organizational

P a g e | 23

change by shifting from a command-and-control style of leadership to a more collaborative and

flexible leadership style. Since this is an organizational impact measurement, financial impact

will not be a factor in the needed leadership and cultural change. To measure the organizational

impact of these changes it is recommended that the new human resource department utilize

employee surveys and balance scorecard data, specifically in the area of learning and growth, to

assess the long-term organizational impact. Employee surveys should be structured to gain

perspectives on the cultural and leadership changes that will give the Board of Directors and

human resource data that will be valuable in assessing the changes in the leadership area. This

will allow human resources and the Board of Directors to assess employee attitudes as to

whether there is less of a top-down control approach and more decision-making being made from

the executive staff and management staff and whether collaboration in decision-making includes

key staff so suggestions and feedback can freely flow upwards, while decisions that flow

downwards are more in line with expectations at all levels. Surveys can also be used to assess

the long-term impact of the cultural and leadership styles shift as higher levels of employee

satisfaction and reduced employee turnover as an indicator of the positive direction that these

changes are seeking to address, and will encourage employees to take ownership of their areas,

and feel their efforts have a greater impact on the credit union success as their opinions and

feedback will be taken more into consideration by senior management. A balanced scorecard

both at the departmental level and corporate level will also help assess long-term impact of

leadership and cultural changes by giving both the Board of Directors and human resources data

as to not only the financial performance of the credit union, but internal data regarding

organizational change impact. Customer feedback in relation to service standard levels and

overall member satisfaction can be used as a measurement of employee morale; happy and

secure employee is more likely to perform at a higher level and provide higher levels of service

to their customers. This heightens morale, and data from the balanced scorecard can then be

used to compare employee performance before and after the changes to assess the effectiveness

of the organizational and leadership changes, and whether further changes need to occur. The

key to long-term success in this area is continual growth and the ongoing flexibility at all levels

to make and implement changes quickly so these changes can result in a higher likelihood of

success, which will then directly impact the credit union's long-term financial well-being.

Finally, a well-executed strategic plan that communicates a clear vision and mission, and

P a g e | 24

provides for specific benchmarks and goals for staff companywide, along with the full support of

the Board of Directors, CEO, and Executive staff will be vital not only to financial success, but

for organizational success as well. This plan will give specific expectations, and goals,

objectives, and targets will be attained at certain times throughout the three-year plan history,

and provide the Board of Directors and Senior Executive staff a roadmap as to how to

accomplish both micro and macro level goals and benchmarks, and the flexibility to alter the

plan of solutions are not performing as expected by providing alternate courses of actions to

continue to move forward.

Marketing and sales will be the key functional area that will determine the ultimate long-term

financial success of the credit union. Once the name change is complete, marketing should roll

out an aggressive advertising and communication campaign designed to let all employer groups

and employees, and current members and their family know of the name change, new logo, and

new vision and mission of the credit union. This should be followed up with the Vice President

of Membership Development and its two Business Development Managers performing site visits

to employer groups that have had issue with the credit unions name, and do branding

presentations and start to build relationships and gain corporate support that will lead to access to

its employees and family members, as well as new opportunities for the member service

representatives to make contact, establish relationships, and start to sell its banking products. If

done effectively and aggressively, this should lead to higher loan and interest income growth

both short-term and long-term. Social media will be utilized to broaden its reach to all potential

members. Goals, objectives, and target should be measured monthly, and then compared

semiannually and annually to the strategic plan expectations to assess performance. Long-term

analysis of its financial performance should be assessed through financial analysis at the end of

the three-year plan period to review performance over that time. Financial analysis utilizes

information from financial statements and proforma-reports to assess impact of the financial

recommendations to the credit union and its continued ability to be profitable on both a short and

long-term basis, as well as to assess the solvency of the credit union by its ability to pay its

obligations, and liquidity through maintaining positive cash flow and income generation, and the

overall stability of the credit union. This can be done by assessing return on investment,

comparing both membership growth and low growth before and after the name change during the

first three years of the plan, as well as the success of attaining corporate support from employer

P a g e | 25

groups that previously would not support due to the Tyco name, and will yield data as to interest

income this has generated after expenses incurred by these activities. Return on investment in

this case works a bit different then in traditional financial analysis, as the success of return on

investment is measured by the number of new members before and after implementation of the

strategic plan, and loan in interest income growth during the same time period. Horizontal

analysis can be used to compare the first three years of the strategic plan and its positive or

negative membership and loan and income growth to three years before the plan to establish

growth rates, followed by a comparison to plan expectations. This will also reveal trend data

over the same time period that can be reviewed as to whether member and loan interest income

growth is trending positively and meet client expectations, or if not, then changes to marketing

and sales goals and to the balanced scorecard can be made to address any negative data. Long-

term solvency and leverage ratios will be an important measurement of the financial impact of

these recommendations by measuring the credit union's ability to meet interest cost and payment

of long-term obligations. This can be done by performing debt service or interest coverage ratios

to indicate whether the credit union has earned sufficient income on interest charges. This is

crucial for the credit union to know how many times interest is covered by income needed to pay

any interest charges, and will help the credit union's Board of Directors and Senior Management

assess financial strength. Liquidity ratios can also be used to measure the financial position of

the firm and short-term capacity to meet obligations by performing yearly current ratio analysis

to measure working capital. This can then be analyzed over the strategic plan term to determine

whether positive trending exists. Sales done by the member service representatives can be

assessed over the long term to measure financial impact through analysis of goals, targets, and

objectives set by management on a monthly and annual basis by comparing monthly loan growth

data, accounts per member expectations, and the profitability of its members to its yearly

departmental business plan, and whether this meets the strategic plan goals and expectations over

the plan period. Departmental balanced scorecard can also be used to assess goal achievements

by measuring consistent financial growth, customer satisfaction, improvement in business

processes, and the amount of relevant sales training the representatives received that will help

them to effectively sell and cross sell banking products and identify profitable members through

deposits, credit scores, and business that the member has done with the credit union, so the work

P a g e | 26

they do with the membership base is done strategically, and every contact creates an opportunity

to generate future sales and income.

The newly created human resource department will be a key component to the credit union's new

direction and focus, and will have a financial and organizational impact both short-term and

long-term. The department will provide an immediate impact by performing tasks that were

previously performed by other departments so these departments and the credit union as a whole

can run more efficiently. This will allow the departments to focus on goals and objectives that

will result in membership growth and loan in interest income growth. These tasks include hiring

and on boarding of the staff, coordinating with each department to provide a training regimen

based on each department's goals and balance scorecard focuses; so training will improve

financial performance. This department will also have organizational impact by opening

efficient communication channels that allows for communication of changes in policy

implementations, and encourages feedback to management, and will act as a facilitator of the

strategic plan execution by coordinating departments and cross functional activities that will be

done to ensure the plan success. This department will also have a long-term financial

organizational impact by collecting departmental balanced scorecard data for analysis by the

Board of Directors and Senior Management during future strategic planning sessions, and will

communicate any changes to future plans that seek to improve any identified weaknesses. The

department will also strive to reduce turnover by providing clear policy, and the strategic plans

mission and vision so as time goes on the department will be able to contribute to an increase in

employee morale and satisfaction through learning and growth efforts, as well as being an

advocate for employees so the credit union's culture can evolve in a positive manner. These

activities will ultimately reduce long-term expenses and increase long-term operating income by

reducing separation costs, advertisement and pre-employment administrative costs, and training

costs associated with on boarding of new employees. The department itself is also a key tool to

the recommendations as it will be focused on facilitating and coordinating the development and

implementation of all the tools each department will use to achieve strategic plan and financial

growth.

P a g e | 27

C1. Five Lessons Learned that helped to Resolve Tyco Federal Credit Union’s Business

Needs and Issues

As previously discussed, Tyco Federal Credit Union is at a major crossroad in its 41 year history,

one that requires multiple changes to solve short-term issues and sustain long-term growth and

financial performance. The main need for the credit union is to seek ways to turn around

stagnating growth both within its membership base and loan portfolio, as well as deposit and

interest income which is crucial to maintaining long-term predictable operating income. As a

not-for-profit organization the credit union's primary concern is serving its members, generating

positive operating income through member growth, deposit growth, and loan and interest income

growth, as well as maintaining a positive financial rating with the NCUA. To achieve these

objectives the credit union must first change its name and rebrand and launch their new brand to

its membership base and employer groups it serves. Once this is completed a new strategic plan

covering the next three years will be completed defining its vision and mission, and the plan

expectations for growth moving forward. This will then be followed by the formation of a

human resource department and the establishment of benefit administration, and implementation

of business solutions and financial and organizational recommendations that seek to have an

immediate impact on growth along with a long-term impact on its financial sustainability

through leadership and cultural changes, and marketing and sales changes that will positively

impact membership growth and loan and interest income growth.

To develop and recommend the solutions and tools needed to solve Tyco Federal Credit Union’s

business issues and needs I utilized five lessons that I learned from my MBA program at Western

Governors University to touch all solutions and to impact both financial and organizational

performance. Strategic planning was an important need for the credit union to overcome the

other challenges that it faces both short-term and long-term. To meet this need solutions and

tools were recommended to solve the name change issue by utilizing lessons learned from the e-

business course that taught me about marketing analysis of the marketplace the credit union

currently operates in, segment analysis that assessed the current membership and employer base

of the credit union, and the importance of exploiting all opportunities for growth within all

employer groups and field of membership by choosing a name that would appeal to all employer

groups, particularly the ones who have been reluctant to support due to the credit union's current

P a g e | 28

name. This will also help marketing and sales efforts to reach these employees by opening up

new submarkets within its limited feel the membership and will have immediate impact on

member growth. SWOT analysis is also valuable lesson learned and incorporated into the tools

needed to help solve both short and long-term challenges, and was lessons learned from both e-

business and strategic management and was particularly useful in helping marketing and sales

continually assess its strengths and weaknesses within its functional areas, as well as be a

valuable tool in helping the department to continually identify opportunities they can exploit to

its advantage that it can market and promote. This will also allow the department to identify

threats that may be present and need attention so as not to derail its ability to consistently grow

membership base, deposits, and loans which will increase the probability of positive financial

performance. E-business also taught the importance of utilizing internet and social media to

drive sales and support membership growth by utilizing as many avenues as possible to promote

the credit union's new brand and its services to its current and potential members as well as build

relationships within its employer groups. These lessons learned gave me the knowledge to

immediately impact the credit union's financial performance so it can meet short term challenges

associated with increases in expenses for the name change, department addition, and benefit

implementation that could lead to the credit union experiencing negative growth and income.

However if these needs are met quickly the credit union should experience an increase in

membership it needs, and allow sales to impact loan growth which in turn will generate not only

interest income from more loans, but will also enable sales to seek out other opportunities with

new members through cross selling of other banking products, and utilize the data from the

various analysis to find other innovative ways to impact both short and long-term growth of

financial performance.

On a macro level lessons learned from strategic management, organizational management,

financial analysis, risk management, and the various business simulations from strategic

management and supply chain courses helped me to provide solutions and recommendations to

the credit union to overcome short-term challenges and accomplish its long-term mission of

sustained growth in the areas of membership, deposit, and loan in interest income. Strategic

management and its simulations, plus the simulation from supply chain gave me the knowledge

P a g e | 29

to run a business and how decisions affect all departments within that business, and the

importance of positive interaction between key functional areas that can affect growth and

income. In the case of the credit union and its small size, every department such as leadership,

marketing and sales, and operations become key functional areas, and were also key areas within

each simulation. Mastering the tasks and concepts helped me gain valuable experience not only

within the simulation, but in the identification of the credit union's business issues which in turn

led to recommendations to solve them, such as to utilize balanced scorecards and regular use of

SWOT to assist each department in meeting its goals, objectives, and targets. The strategic

management course taught me lessons on analyzing the credit union's current situation, its issues

and needs; both short and long-term, build a strategic plan around that data so it clearly defines

its vision and mission, evaluate its external environment, evaluate its resources and competitive

position for use within the niche market it has created. This assisted the credit union by

providing a clear roadmap to addressing its immediate financial issues, with a higher probability

of achieving adequate short-term growth, that will ensure the credit union continues to generate

operating income, as well as give the credit union long-term guidance to consistently grow its

membership base, deposits, and loan interest income that will ensure its long-term financial

liquidity and solvency, thereby adequately address the credit union's business issues. Lessons

from the financial analysis course were used to assist the credit union in measuring it strategic

plan success by teaching the credit union how to utilize various analysis tools such as trend

analysis, vertical analysis, and ratio analysis to continually measure yearly performance during

the plans term, as well as to assess overall performance after the plans three-year term. This will

enable the Board of Directors and senior management to identify what worked and should

continue, and where weaknesses are so as the strategic plan is conceptualized and written another

effective strategic plan will be created. The lessons learned from the risk management course

were also utilized by showing the credit union the importance of risk registers, the identification

and classification of different risk levels, and creating registers that outlined the type of risk, its

classification, the department ownership of the risk, and the contingency plan to address and

mitigate these various risks. This will assist the credit union being able to monitor all levels of

risk and make it easier for them to recognize new risks as they become known so that they can

quickly be identified and added to the appropriate risk register and communicated to the

department responsible for mitigating this new risk. The credit union now has another tool to

P a g e | 30

increase the probability of the strategic plan success in the short term by helping to facilitate

growth, while at the same time managing risk associated with growth. Organizational

management and leadership courses taught me lessons in identifying leadership styles of the

credit union senior management, define how the current leadership style may have contributed to

the credit union's business issues, as well as recommend a new course of action that would also

contribute to a complete cultural change from a controlling top-down management style, to a

more collaborative bottom up approach that fosters creativity and innovation that senior

management can use in decision-making and policy formulation going forward. This is also

where lessons from organizational management became important, as these lessons regarding

leading organizational change that included cultural and leadership style change, helped to

manage these changes across departments so the staff remained motivated to the idea of these

changes, as well as to increase the probability of complete staff buy-in to these changes. These

lessons also helped to establish clearly defined and quality lines of corporate communication;

both top-down and bottom-up which also increased the probability of positively moving change

into everyday reality so morale is further increased. Employees feel more connected to the

success and failures of decisions and directions they impact every day through their performance,

and increases the likelihood that this will lead to increased productivity and ultimately increase

financial growth and performance. These lessons will be a valuable asset to the Board of

Directors and Senior Management's ability to directly influence the likelihood of high-

performance by creating a more productive environment that will lead to a more positive

corporate culture with the end result being a higher motivating environment, with higher growth,

and higher financial performance.

The Human Resource department will be a key addition to the credit union's corporate structure.

The department will be intimately involved in the coordination and facilitation of many elements

of the strategic plan; as such lessons from the human resources course and organizational

management course were valuable lessons with regard to duties and responsibilities that a typical

department, for the size of the credit union, does on a daily basis. Lessons from the human

resource course included legal and regulatory requirements the credit union will need when

updating existing policies or creating new policies with regard to hiring, training, disciplining,

and terminating employees, while also ensuring workplace safety and security is being followed.

Lessons learned from human resource management regarding the duties and responsibilities that

P a g e | 31

will be performed for the size of the credit union with regards to recruitment, training and

development, employee wellness, performance appraisals, and on a macro level will play a key

role in overseeing the leadership and cultural changes that are important to the overall success of

the three year strategic plan. These lessons will help the credit union to be able to quickly, and

efficiently streamline many tasks and activities that were previously done by each of the other

functional areas and will save money over the long term, while allowing the front-line

departments including operations and marketing and sales, to focus on more important short-

term tasks such as rolling out a rebranding marketing campaign to impact deposit levels and loan

volume and interest income, as well as to ensure a higher probability of meeting short-term

expenses associated with the name change, strategic planning, and increased benefit and payroll

cost along with the creation of a new corporate department. These lessons also meet the credit

union’s long-term financial performance and membership growth expectations by assisting with

balanced scorecard formulation and implementation and the creation of risk registers, thus

streamlining these processes between departments and allowing them to focus continually on

meeting the strategic plan goals, objectives, and targets over the next three years. Lessons

learned from organizational management including developing an effective communication

structure, guiding organizational change including leadership and cultural change were important

parts of solving business issues and meeting business needs by assisting the credit union's Board

of Directors, Senior Management, and Human Resource department in analyzing the current

culture and leadership style and defining the actions that will be taken by its CEO to affect these

cultural changes. This will create flexibility, give staff on all levels greater control over

decision-making, will create positive cultural changes, motivate the staff, and create higher

performing teams that will seize opportunities to impact financial and membership growth both

short and long-term. These lessons will also improve communication throughout the credit

union by allowing human resources to efficiently manage the dissemination of important

information of upcoming corporate change, their effects in the near future, and explanation or

justification of its new strategic planning and how it will impact each employee and their

contribution to the credit unions and success, and continues to give the credit union's Board of

Directors and Senior Management tools to solve its growth and performance issues and increase

the probability of long-term strategic plan success.