Process Improvement

Pfizer
Streamlined global change management control processes. Coached internal consultants in strategic planning and performance improvement methodologies. Pfizer is the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company.

AccessVision
Conducted a comprehensive organizational assessment for public access television center. AccessVision provides locally produced, non-commercial programming.

Kalamazoo Community Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services
Reduced turnaround time for cross-functional vendor contracting process. This was the agency's first blitz improvement project. KCMHSAS enables individuals to live more meaningful lives.

MPI Research
Reduced turnaround time, improved output quality, and streamlined internal process flows using the Process Improvement for Busy Organizations^SM approach. Projects included:

Biochemical research and support functions
Business development
Documentation and record-keeping
Vendor management
Organizational restructuring

MPI Research is considered one of the world's leading providers of comprehensive preclinical research and development services.

Battle Creek Youth Orchestra
Increased student enrollment for music education organization. As a result, the Battle Creek Youth Orchestra created additional programs in response to reduced public school arts funding.

Washtenaw County Government
Developed a Facilities Management Preventative Maintenance Work Plan that enabled Washtenaw County maintenance and operations staff to increase levels of preventative maintenance. The ultimate goal was to reduce unscheduled outages and downtime due to equipment failures and provide uninterrupted services to county residents.

Kalamazoo County Government
Line staff was blamed for high backlogs in a $2 million revenue department. Our research found, however, that wrong and missing metrics left a 52% increase in workload virtually undetected. As a result of our analysis, the department reduced backlog by 80%.

Kalamazoo Criminal Justice Council (KCJC)
Supported cost reduction and streamlining for court processing by mapping case flow across nine criminal justice agencies. Our process maps were recognized as "the first of their kind in the U.S." (KCJC Newsletter, January 1, 2001).

Back to top

Strategic Planning: Private Sector

Pfizer
Facilitated one-day planning retreat with international scientists. Various groups developed and reported strategies for a global cost-reduction initiative.

MPI Research
Conducted strategic planning retreats for two major support functions.

Strategic Planning: Public Sector

Western Michigan University
Enabled the Office of Business and Finance to meet Higher Learning Commission requirements by creating a mission for the Office of Business and Finance and strategic action plans for these business units:

Accounting Services
Auxiliary Enterprises
Business Services
Human Resources
Logistical Services
Public Safety
Staff Labor Relations
WMU Bookstore

Kalamazoo County Government
Conducted strategy review for the Kalamazoo County Board of Commissioners. Phase 2 of this project involved the mapping of county services and performance indicators against the overall strategic goals.

City of Battle Creek
Facilitated city commission planning process for developing organizational goals for the City of Battle Creek.

City of Portage - 2025 Visioning Project
Designed and facilitated a multi-session public visioning and goal setting process for the City of Portage, Michigan. Over 150 residents, council members, and staff participated in a series of fast-paced and motivating planning sessions. For this project, Dams & Associates created a comprehensive planning manual - the "Visioning Toolkit." This manual allowed participants to self-facilitate seven planning groups simultaneously.

Evaluation data showed that participants enjoyed the process and felt the process allowed them to create meaningful outcomes. For the detailed "Visioning Process Document" outcomes report and a project description visit the Portage 2025 web site.

Dams & Associates also facilitated the Renewal Event 2008 as a follow-up to the highly successful Portage 2025.

Back to top

Strategic Planning: Nonprofits

MRC Industries
Facilitated strategic planning process for multi-program organization. MRC Industries encourages and supports individuals living with a disability to achieve their fullest potential through employment, skill building, and active community involvement.

Public Media Network
Conducted strategic planning process for a public access multi-media center with five television channels. Public Media Network (formerly known as the Community Access Center) provides access to electronic media via education, technology, and distribution resources, so that a diversity of local voices can be expressed and heard in the community.

Catholic Family Services
Conducted board and staff plannning retreats to create high-level visions and goals and program-specific objectives to optimally position the nine-county service organization for Michigan's changing economic environment.

Additional Nonprofit Projects

AccessVision
Advocacy Services for Kids
Battle Creek Youth Orchestra
Battle Creek Junior Theatre
Child Care Resources
CityLinC Ministries
Leila Arboretum Society
Poverty Reduction Initiative
United Way of Greater Battle Creek

Collaboration and Integration

Departmental Integration
When Western Michigan University's Office of Business and Finance decided to create one of WMU's largest departments, we were asked to help facilitate the integration project. Through a team-based visioning workshop and a pre-workshop management survey we set the stage for a staff-centered transition. Subsequent detailed guidance and coaching for implementing the visioning strategies allowed staff to hit the ground running as they work together to shape their new organization.

Collaboration of State and Local Agencies
We facilitated a process for establishing the nation's first state-operated training and certification system for an empirically validated parent management training program (PMTO). The challenge was to get representatives from state and local agencies to agree on a system that ensures state-wide sustainable program fidelity and quality while respecting resource restraints of local agencies who were concerned about losing their autonomy.

Organizational Restructuring
In response to exceptional growth, a mid-western research organization decided to restructure key business units and move them to a prominent satellite location. We assisted the steering team in preparing this transition through planning and facilitation fact-finding sessions with researchers, operating units, and support functions.

High-Level Data Integration Planning
After almost one year of monthly meetings, jurisdictions in a Michigan county had not been able to agree on a shared mission and strategies for system-wide data integration. During the first session facilitated by Dams & Associates, agency representatives reached consensus on the benefits of system integration, drafted a mission statement, and acknowledged that system-wide change will require agencies to change how they do business now. This initial breakthrough allowed for the rapid development of short-term strategies.

System of Care – Kalamazoo Wraps
Shortly after receiving a six-year nine million dollar federal grant, Kalamazoo Wraps engaged Dams & Associates to facilitate the implementation planning of a county-wide initiative to improve the system of care for children’s mental health. We helped the management team gain a clear understanding of the current system and developed key planning documents, such as a shared vision, logic models, and a framework for key performance indicators. We also facilitated public input sessions and strategic planning workshops for the youth, parent, training, and cultural-competency workgroups.

Back to top

Research Reports

Integrating Justice Information Systems: An Overview of Online Resources
Developed an annotated multi-media resource for the Washtenaw County Criminal Justice Collaborative Council. This document provides extensive information on online resources for the integration of justice information systems.

Kalamazoo County Growth Plan
Researched and drafted Growth Plan report commissioned by the economic development corporation Southwest Michigan First. The Growth Plan outlines six public sector strategies toward regional growth. This report was instrumental in obtaining funding from private investors and local units of governmental.

Affordable Housing Data for Kalamazoo County
To support the development of the Community Housing Plan, Dams & Associates synthesized the data and findings of several existing housing studies into a single comprehensive report.

Back to top