Strategic Planning & Facilitation - OLD

Strategic Planning & Facilitation

Keston has undertaken a range of strategic planning assignments for various clients. Projects over recent years include:


  • Strategic business planning for Pivot Support Services.
  • Strategic Economic Development Analysis for the Great Southern Region
  • Strategic planning for the Southern Medical Group.
  • Business plan facilitation for the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre.
  • Business plan development for the Albany Motorsport Park project.
  • Operations plan for an innovation hub for Digital Innovation in the Great Southern (DIGS - now Fathom Co).
  • Development of a corporate plan for South Coast Natural Resource Management, Inc.
  • Development of a strategic plan for the GSDC.
  • A strategic plan for the University of Western Australia (UWA) Great Southern campus.
  • Review of the Business Plan of the Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM).

Pivot Support Services Strategic Business Planning (2021)


Pivot engaged Keston Economics to undertake a business plan with the purpose of assessing the viability of the NDIS funding the operations of the Community Hub and being a sustainable source of income into the future. 


The investigations were driven by two core factors: (i) the lack of available support services for persons with complex needs (e.g. released prisoners and general community members suffering from more than one critical need, such as financial, relationship, mental health, drug and alcohol, accommodation, etc.); and (ii) the potential to lose a high value contract that underpins Pivot's operational and financial performance due to government restructuring over the next three to five years. Only 27.6% of persons in the Great Southern with a significant disability are supported by the NDIS. Under moderate growth projections (Australian Department of Social Services), there is an unmet demand for Capacity Building Supports of at least 360 and up to over 1,000 people in the region.


The business planning methodology included a review of existing operations (organisational, operational and financial structure and early success of the trial Community Hub program), market identification and specification (client needs and level of complexity in the region, general context of core disadvantage in the region, and Great Southern service provision - supply vs demand), and investigations of growth opportunity (Pivot development and expansion options, organisational model options, and operational / financial model options). These foundations culminated in drawing several conclusions and recommendations, and establishing an action plan for future Pivot directions.


Following external review of the financial models from Lincolns Albany, the Pivot board unanimously agreed to adopt the recommendations made in the strategic business plan.

Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre (ALAC) Business Plan Facilitation (2019)


As City of Albany operated infrastructure, ALAC are required to prepare annual business plans that demonstrate past performances, the ability to have met previous objectives, and to define new objectives to improve recreational services to the community over the next period. Keston were approached by ALAC to assist in developing new objectives, translating stakeholder feedback into new objectives, prioritising objectives based on their importance and achievability, and developing a set of tools and user competence to apply to future business planning processes.


Facilitation included a number of individual and group workshops with the four separate business units of ALAC, identifying individual and unified goals and strategies. A scatter plot matrix tool was developed and various categories defined for the scoring of various priorities. Eight scoring categories were identified, with four each ascribed to the difficulty and impact of undertaking an objective. The resulting plot chart enabled objectives to be ranked in an order of implementation.


The work culminated in the development of a brief outcomes report which defined what work was undertaken, how results were translated and how to use the developed tools in the future, and a list of the identified objectives and priorities for the coming period for each business unit and the ALAC as a whole.

Strategic Plan for UWA, Albany (2011)


Keston Technologies completed a Strategic Plan for the University of Western Australia’s operations in Albany. The strategic planning required stakeholder consultations, community consultations and background research to define the contextual and environmental scanning information that would underpin the development of the UWA Great Southern Campus Strategic Plan.


The information was compiled by reference to the UWA Albany Strategic Planning Working Party and the UWA Steering Group, together with other stakeholders and desk-based research. 


Through the consultation process, it became very clear that the success of a regional campus, such as UWA Albany campus, relies on building education, research and community programs that reflect the strengths and needs of the region. These are different in several ways from the main UWA campus and needed to be recognised, both at the local level and by UWA as a whole.


The information collated through the consultations was brought together in order to provide an overarching vision and mission. On the basis of the vision, including a detailed clarification of what is meant within it, a number of goals and strategic for UWA Albany were developed and now form the core of the Strategic Plan.

Business Plan for the Albany Motorsport Park (2019)


The business plan aimed to define and demonstrate a viable and sustainable plan for operations that suitably mitigates financial and other asset management and operational risk to the City of Albany, as the land and infrastructure owner, and the future not-for-profit entity (Albany Motoring Venues Inc.) that will lease the site and facilities from the City of Albany following construction and commissioning of the AMP. The document included: 

 

  • An analysis of key drivers and trends and previous site feasibility work conducted by GHD.
  • Qualitative and quantitative assessment of track length options.
  • Definition of a governance and management structure to define ownership, operational governance and operational management, based on other successful venues in Australia.
  • A detailed asset and operations management plan, including plans for capital works, repair and refurbishment.
  • An extensive analysis of financial viability and sustainability, including sensitivity analysis.

 

The business plan was a  State Government requirement to release funds earmarked for the facility to be used for land purchase by the City of Albany and was successful in achieving this objective. It also preceded the development of a detailed business case which was successful in attracting remaining funds for the development through the Building Better Regions Fund (Round 5), with the development now in final planning and detailed design phases.

Operations Plan for the Design and Innovation in the Great Southern (DIGS) Hub (2018)


On behalf of Creative Albany, Keston developed an operations plan for a hub for innovation in the Great Southern. The Design and Innovation in the Great Southern (DIGS) Hub is a network to support business development and innovation across the region and builds upon the 2015 report, Create Southern Great Southern, supporting the recommendation to develop a virtual and physical creative hub structure to build connections and gain maximum leverage from resources. Since implementing the operations plan, DIGS has been rebranded to Fathom Co.


The operations plan outlined the underlying need for, and expected impacts from, the DIGS Hub project and the commitment to delivering outcomes for DIGS. In particular, the plan defined options and recommends routes to distribute and leverage $340,000 in committed funding through the recruitment and employment of a Hub Coordinator who is now establishing a long-term sustainable model for operation of the DIGS Hub beyond the three year funding period, driving the innovation agenda, and delivering a series of planned innovation activities across the region.


The overarching purpose of the operations plan was to:

 

  • establish the need and market for an innovation hub in the Great Southern;
  • review case studies for sustainable models of innovation hub operations;
  • analyse and define sustainable models of operations for the DIGS Hub; 
  • define the role and responsibilities of a Hub Coordinator to achieve the DIGS Hub vision and deliver identified outcomes;
  • define a process for selection and recruitment of a suitable Hub Coordinator;
  • provide recommendations for the distribution and leveraging of committed funds;
  • provide a baseline workplan for the first year of operations, including event programming; and
  • outline a structure for a second and third year workplan that the Hub Coordinator can adapt to develop and deliver a strong business model for sustainable operations throughout and beyond the funding period. 

Development of a Strategic Plan for South Coast Natural

Resource Management Inc.


Keston was commissioned to review and update the Corporate Plan of South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc. The development of the Corporate Plan was driven by the ideas and views, gathered in consultation workshops, of all South Coast NRM Staff and Board Members; this information was gathered via two consultation workshops and individual interviews.


The work culminated in a corporate plan that clearly articulated the organisation’s vision, mission and guiding principles and the goals, objectives and strategies to support these, including quantitative critical success factors over 1 and 3 years to measure progress.

Review of the Business Plan of the Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management (CENRM), Albany


Keston worked through the University of Western Australia (UWA) to undertake a fundamental review of the business plan for its Centre of Excellence for Natural Resource Management (CENRM), based in Albany. The review was carried out using a combination of desk-based research and analysis and interviews with key stakeholders.


Stakeholder interviews, primarily face to face, were held with 27 individuals, comprising CENRM staff and a range of stakeholders.


The business plan review examined the position of the Centre relative to its original business plan and assessed strategic options for its future sustainability.

Development of a Strategic Plan for South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc.


Keston was commissioned to review and update the Corporate Plan of South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc. The development of the Corporate Plan was driven by the ideas and views, gathered in consultation workshops, of all South Coast NRM Staff and Board Members; this information was gathered via two consultation workshops and individual interviews.


The work culminated in a corporate plan that clearly articulated the organisation’s vision, mission and guiding principles and the goals, objectives and strategies to support these, including quantitative critical success factors over 1 and 3 years to measure progress.

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