ISM-NVA’s Strategic Plan

1. ISM-NVA’s Strategic Plan

2. Mission and Vision VisionThe Institute of Supply Management – Northern Virginia (ISM-NVA) will be a progressive, not-for-profit organization that exists to educate, develop, and advance the purchasing and supply management profession. Led by an all volunteer Board of Directors, we will provide our fellow members educational resources, professional networking opportunities, and career management tools.  Members of ISM-NVA will be recognized as world-class professionals. MissionTo educate, develop and advance the purchasing and supply management profession, by providing opportunities to network, enhance professional skills, and increase the knowledge of our membership

3. 6 Key Imperatives of the Strategic Plan As a professional organization, we must present ourselves in the manner in which we would like to be recognized. We must be consistent in our presentation, execution, and product/program delivery to our members. To that end, our strategic plan will be comprised of the following key imperatives that will establish a foundation for future success: • Develop Framework for a Successful Organization • Establish and Increase Membership Base • Maximize educational opportunities • Support networking opportunities • Improve financial stability • Leverage communication tools to maximize educational opportunities and increase membership

4. Strategic Plan Imperative #1: Develop Framework for a Successful Organization • Key imperatives for this initial year will include developing the framework that will allow for long term success. Therefore the following steps need to be accomplished: • Develop business plans including plans related to membership, marketing and communications, financial governance, etc. • File all needed documents with ISM, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Federal Government • Develop organization support structure that includes representation across corporations that will reflect the diversity of our membership

5. Strategic Plan Imperative #1: Develop Framework for a Successful Organization

6. Strategic Plan Imperative #2: Membership • Growth Plan: • ISM-NVA’s primary focus is to grow membership with a goal of an increase from current 35 confirmed members to 91 by the end of 2012 and an increase of additional 5 members per month in average for the following two years. Recruiting new members becomes extremely critical to a new formed chapter. Our target groups specifically are 1) those who currently work in the supply management field, 2) those with an interest in supply management but who may not necessarily work directly in the field, 3) those who were members in the past and let their membership lapse for various reason, 4) college students and 5) professors. During the first month of the recruiting process, we discovered that some of the companies only allow their employees to join one professional association; therefore, we believe that promoting the ISM brand as well as the benefits of the membership from ISM and local chapter is the key to attract new members. The main actions identified are as follows: • Recruit at ISM conference and other functions (such as annual IFI Procurement Forum) • Direct contact with major corporations in VA area • Outreach to local colleges and universities • Seek online recruitment options through linkedin and other social media tools • Promote solid education program content with best-in-class guest speakers and offer opportunities for involvement • Encourage board members and committee chairs to spread out, at least one to each table during monthly meeting. Have them introduce themselves and engage the conversations with new members on ISM-NVA activities and member benefits. • Provide trail membership option

7. Strategic Plan Imperative #2: Membership • Retention Plan: • ISM-NVA’s goal is to ensure that our members’ expectations are met or exceeded. At the early stage of the formation of the chapter, we determined ourselves to be a highly member-focused organization. We plan not to lose any members for the first year and following two year with no more than 2% of members during the membership renewal process. We determine to map out our strategies based on concentrating on the following areas to achieve our objective: • Initiate and develop a new member welcome program, such as buddy program • Issue certificates of membership to all new members • Proactively communicate to members of upcoming local events and opportunities • Survey members for feedback on the current program offerings, future potential speaker topics, and thoughts on how to better meet their professional development requirements. • Host prize for members who can bring in the most new members • Provide free trainings to members who are interested in pursuing supply management certifications • Initiate and develop member recognition programs. For example, offer as many volunteer opportunities as possible and recognize their efforts at the end of fiscal year and service award

8. Strategic Plan Imperative #2: Membership

9. Strategic Plan Imperative #2: Membership

10. Strategic Plan Imperative #3: Maximize educational opportunities • One of ISM-NVA’s most important imperatives is to maximize the education opportunities provided to our membership. • We will take a multi-faceted approach to this that includes the following: • Support educational opportunities that fit the needs of our members by actively soliciting their input for training requirements, including offering customer training to corporate groups. • Promote ISM certification training • Increase the awareness of other ISM forum group with available certification • Canvas hiring organizations to see what skills are needed for future advancement in their corporations • Compile certification study materials for member use • Conduct training through conferencing services in addition to traditional formats.

11. Strategic Plan Imperative #3: Maximize educational opportunities

12. Strategic Plan Imperative #4: Support networking opportunities • Supporting our members by providing networking opportunities that are both professionally beneficial and fun is one of the pillars of what ISM-NVA wants to accomplish. Specifically we want to: • Increase the communications among professionals and students to promote to profession • Provide opportunities for “birds of a feather” groups to discuss current supply chain issues • Promote opportunities for members to be more accessible to hiring organizations • Set up mentoring programs for more junior members

13. Strategic Plan Imperative #5: Improve Financial Stability • We will not be able to accomplish our goals unless we establish financial stability. As a young organization, this can be challenging. Our efforts will include: • Maintain sufficient revenue stream to support educations programs • Maintain fiscal responsibility in managing our expenses • Maintain available funds for speakers, presenters, instructors

14. Strategic Plan Imperative #6: Leverage communication tools • Communications and especially reaching younger professionals will be important to maintain the levels of interest of members. To do this we will examine the following opportunities and avenues for effective communications: • Website • Social Media • Flyers – Dinner Meetings, Special Events, Seminars, Training • Newsletters – Presidential Quarterly Letter • Electronic notifications • Conferencing services

15. SWOT ANALYSIS