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Meridian Institute's strategy assessment and planning services help organizations understand the increasingly complex, borderless, and changing world in which they operate. We employ a variety of techniques to identify emerging political, technological, and socio-economic trends, and to assess the potential impact of these trends on an organization's ability to fulfill its mission. Most importantly, our processes draw upon the experience and expertise of people outside of and within an organization to develop a plan for adapting and thriving in the face of change.
Our Approach
Unlike many firms that specialize in strategy assessment and planning, we do not use off-the-shelf frameworks. We design customized processes that recognize an organization's specific mission, structure, history, and needs. We support the efforts of internal groups or individuals tasked with strategy assessment and planning, but we typically do not write operational or implementation plans. Our contribution lies in our extensive experience in facilitation and dispute resolution. As a neutral party, we can catalyze and objectively lead the difficult discussions that every organization must face when making important choices about its future.
When the Views of External Stakeholders Matter
The views of partners, collaborators, donors, and customers are an important source of information for a strategy assessment and planning process. They can often see the organization in a broader context, and they have valuable opinions on how an organization might improve its performance. Many clients have relied on our reputation as a trusted third party to solicit confidential and frank insight from external stakeholders. In addition to the key external stakeholders identified by our clients, we also draw upon our own network to gather opinions from respected leaders at the cutting edge of emerging issues.
When Internal Consensus Matters
Meridian's participatory approach is especially useful for organizations with a strong need or mandate for internal consensus on the outcome of a strategy assessment and planning process. We employ techniques that probe the cultural and managerial dimensions of an organization, in addition to gathering from staff their opinions about specific threats and opportunities on the horizon. We create safe and confidential environments where people can provide candid opinions of their organization and its ability to meet the challenges of the future.
Our Experience
Meridian Institute has provided strategy assessment and planning services to a diverse array of government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and corporations. Our experience spans many important areas, including agriculture, sustainable development, environmental protection, homeland security, and emerging technology. We work at the local, national and international levels. Meridian also provides information technology and meeting planning services to support strategic assessment and assessment projects.
Within the area of Strategy Assessment and Planning, Meridian offers the following types of services:
- Strategy Development - We design and facilitate organization-wide strategy planning processes as well as periodic meetings to discuss how an organization should strategically manage an emerging issue.
- Issue mapping - We assess and analyze the context in which an organization operates based upon extensive interviews with both external and internal stakeholders.
- Information collection, synthesis, and dissemination - We provide a valuable suite of services designed to distribute accurate and impartial information on important trends, professional standards, and best practices to support strategic decisions.
- Scenario building - We assist with the integration of scenarios of different possible futures into strategy assessment and planning processes in order to test and help improve the assumptions behind strategic decisions.
- External advisory groups - We assist with the creation and facilitation of external advisory groups that can provide general or highly specific feedback and input on relevant issues.
Click here for examples of relevant projects.
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