Strategic Vision Practice Case | Case Studies - Interview Preparation PDF Download

Business situation

The Agency provides financial and other forms of assistance to veterans, those with disabilities, the orphaned, the elderly, and those with financial hardships. The Agency oversees a broad variety of programs including: payment distribution, fund management, records management, claims adjudication, and benefits education.

The Agency is comprised of six departments. Each major geographic region in the U.S. is served by a regional office with subordinate state and local field offices. Each department has representatives at the regional office level, but not in all subordinate offices. Each of the Agency’s main departments fosters its own unique and long-standing organizational culture, while further sub-cultures have developed within each of the regional field offices. Lateral communication among department leaders is rare, which lessens the effectiveness of Agency-wide initiatives.

Over the next 10 years, the Agency faces a major expansion in its number of customers. To address this increased demand for services, the Agency’s Strategy Office is building a long-term 10-year vision. This 10-year vision will enable the Agency and its workforce to be well-positioned to continue providing exceptional service and to meet delivery expectations for current and future generations of customers.

Problem statement

Deloitte has been asked to help the Agency’s top leaders formulate the 10-year vision using both qualitative as well as quantitative analytics and build a strategic roadmap to achieve the Agency’s goals. Deloitte has also been asked to develop a change management strategy that helps institutionalize the goals of the 10-year vision within the Agency and its workforce culture.

Q.1. What steps should the Deloitte team take to develop a 10-year strategic roadmap for the Agency?

1. Gather input from stakeholders regarding the 10-year vision, and determine how to operationalize it.
2. Analyze the current state of the organization by engaging internal stakeholders and reviewing agency documents to understand issues and how they are addressed in agency goals.
3. Incorporate the current state analysis into initiatives to operationalize the 10-year vision.
4. Use open-source research and international benchmarks as case studies to support stakeholder findings and identify ways to operationalize agency goals.
5. Develop a change management plan to inform stakeholders about upcoming changes related to the 10-year vision and increase their enthusiasm for change by involving them in the process.

Q.2. What are the components or metrics of a business case that should be considered to justify the development of a 10-year strategic roadmap?
A: Problem definition
(deteriorating financial situation, unable to meet increasing demand, labor costs, operational inefficiency, poor customer satisfaction)

B: Performance metrics
(ROI, cost savings, decrease in workforce turnover, customer satisfaction, decrease in backlog of cases)
C: Proposed solution
(benefits of road map, plan of action to execute road map)
D: Potential risks & mitigation strategies

In order to justify the development of a 10-year strategic roadmap, the following components or metrics of a business case should be considered:

A: Problem definition - This includes addressing the deteriorating financial situation, inability to meet the increasing demand for services, rising labor costs, operational inefficiencies, and poor customer satisfaction. By identifying these issues, the Agency can better understand the need for a long-term strategic roadmap to improve its performance.

B: Performance metrics - The business case should outline the key performance indicators that will be used to measure the success of the strategic roadmap. These may include return on investment (ROI), cost savings, reduction in workforce turnover, improved customer satisfaction, and a decrease in the backlog of cases. By monitoring these metrics, the Agency can ensure that it is on track to achieve its long-term goals.

C: Proposed solution - The business case should provide a clear and detailed overview of the benefits of developing a 10-year strategic roadmap, as well as a plan of action for executing the roadmap. This should include specific initiatives, projects, and milestones that will be implemented over the course of the 10-year period to address the identified problems and improve the Agency's performance.

D: Potential risks & mitigation strategies - The business case should also identify any potential risks or challenges that may be encountered during the implementation of the strategic roadmap, as well as strategies for mitigating these risks. This may include addressing potential resistance to change within the organization, addressing potential budgetary constraints, or ensuring that the necessary resources and support are in place to execute the roadmap effectively.

By considering these components and metrics, the Agency can develop a compelling business case for the development of a 10-year strategic roadmap, ensuring that it is well-positioned to continue providing exceptional service and meeting the expectations of its current and future customers.

Q.3. Leaders in the various departments remain skeptical that the 10-year vision can positively impact their unique operations, while employees are largely unaware of the 10-year vision initiative. How might Deloitte develop an impactful change management strategy to institutionalize the goals of the 10-year vision and ensure buy-in across the Agency’s diverse workforce?

1. Develop an internal media strategy to increase Agency-wide awareness of the 10-year vision.
2. Conduct a nationwide survey to identify employee concerns specific to departments and regions.
3.Create trust-building initiatives to connect departmental leaders with customer-facing and back-office employees.
4. Establish rewards programs to incentivize performance toward achieving 10-year vision goals.
5. Align new hire and experienced employee training with the 10-year vision goals.
6. Create a campaign to highlight successful achievement of Agency-wide goals effectively.
7. Design a system to recognize innovations in individual offices and encourage local employee support for applying new best practices Agency-wide.
8. Develop a strategy to promote continued collaboration among departmental leaders and reduce stove-piped communications.
9. Establish inter-departmental and inter-regional employee conferences to encourage lateral communications among non-management Agency workforce.
10. Build and communicate an Agency ecosystem map that demonstrates how each office and employee contributes to the overall 10-year vision.