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The following case studies provide a look at Don’s work over the past thirty
years. We hope you enjoy them.
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At
a mid-sized manufacturing facility, the awkward communication
style of a well-meaning General Manager was alienating
staff, causing high turnover and financial doldrums.
Once team building began, the GM became aware of her many strengths,
and the ways her style changed for the worse under pressure
and distress. Since then,
she learned how to adapt to become more effective. Through a series of
workshops, the entire management team learned the concepts
and tools they needed to match
her new, higher level of teambased performance.
Postscript:
The company just experienced the three most successful
years in its history. The GM attributes the improvements
in herself
and her company to the
team building workshops facilitated by Don Murray.
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Facilitated
Strategic Planning
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The
General Manager of a construction company wanted to set a
torrid pace for growth. He began by testing the water with
a strategic planning workshop for
his senior managers, and hired Don Murray to facilitate. The results
of their collaboration were astounding. Over the next five
years, the company averaged
annual growth rates of 18% to 45% and decided to expand into three states.
The GM proudly attributes this growth directly to the consultation and
training services of Don Murray.
Postscript: In 2006, the company once again placed among the five fastest
growing companies in the state.
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Board
of Directors Team Building-Strategic Planning
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The
Chairman of a Seattle-based manufacturing company was less
than satisfied with the efforts of his board. He invited
Don to conduct a workshop in team development
and consensus decision making prior to the annual strategic planning retreat.
As part of their Sarbanes-Oxley plan, they decided to conduct 360 assessments
on each board member. They used the RealTime Performance 360 to trigger
interpersonal feedback and team building, creating a new
set of working agreements along the
way. The board formed a Governance Committee to attend to ongoing needs
for team development and boardsmanship expertise.
Postscript: The company now conducts an annual joint Board–Management
Strategic Planning workshop and their bottom line has improved
every year since.
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Management
Development Training
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At
an insurance company in the South, the VP of Human Resources
reported that his managers all rated high on performance
evaluations, yet the company ranked
closer to the 50th percentile on national standards. The VP contacted
Don to design a management development process. It was pre-tested
by the senior management
team and then provided to all managers and supervisors in the 2000+ company.
As a result, sales-per-employee doubled, and the company won the “Winners
Circle” award from the American Society for Training and
Development as the top insurance
company in ROI from training dollars invested.
Postscript: The company’s decision to brand their employment practices
as an “Employer of Choice” reduced turnover, producing
a $2.3 million annual savings.
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A
VP of Human Resources contacted Don and his strategic partner,
Sean Murray, to design a technology to integrate the capability
and skills of managers during
a merger. Using RealTime 360 technology, Don and Sean conducted a 360
based teambuilding process with mixed groups from both entities,
for over 700 managers
in nine regions across the country.
Postscript:
The results were so positive that management converted
their 360 based training into an ongoing two week Management
Development
program required
of all new managers called “CORE”.
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Don
Murray served as the premier consultant to NIKE as they
grew from $1.6 to $9.0 billion in sales from
1989-2002. He helped plan and facilitate
their annual
Strategic Planning with senior management, implement NIKE’s Business
Process Improvement Program, and conduct two Summit conferences
with up to 400 participants.
Don pretested a training program with CEO Phil Knight and senior managers,
and then implemented the successful program known as LITE (Leadership,
Innovation, Teamwork, & Excellence).
Postscript:
CEO Phil Knight identifies Don as one of his three valued
confidants in the book “Just Do It!”
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Don
began his study of quality process improvement with a site
visit to the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers in
Tokyo in 1981. He worked with Dr. Michael
Inoue, Assistant to the President of Kyocera Corporation in San Diego,
and they coauthored a text on Quality Circles in 1983. Don
later studied “Kaizen”,
known in the US as Rapid Process Improvement (RPI), at the GE Crotonville
campus. Since then he has installed various forms of Total
Quality and Rapid Process
Improvement with over twenty-five companies. The customized RPI program
he helped install at Nike was called ADAIR: Assess, Define,
Analyze, Improve,
and Reengineer.
Postscript: Don has written a complete set of training materials including
a soon-to-be published book on tools for small group
problem solving titled “STP
for You and Me.”
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The
medical and administrative directors of a regional medical
center were seriously locked in conflict, both floating resumes
as well as threatening lawsuits.
During a one year program, Don and his associate Dr. Terri Bennink helped
the two leaders patch up old differences and become a model
for co-leadership,
bringing the laboratory corporate culture up to the highest level of
performance in its history.
Postscript:
The leadership recently embarked on a new initiative of
Rapid Process Improvement and Lean processes throughout
the lab
and potentially other hospital
departments
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Don
was invited by the Holding Company Chair of a regional bank
to help facilitate the bank’s annual strategic planning workshops.
Over a period of ten years,
the bank’s stock grew from $1 to $21 per share.
Postscript: In 2005 the CEO was nominated as Entrepreneur of the year
by McKinsey and the bank was recently chosen as the No.
1 Best
Place to work in Oregon.
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Don
was selected as part of a nationwide search as instructor
with three of America’s premier Leadership Development
programs: AT&T Executive Development
Program, USC’s Center for Telecommunications Management, and Weyerhaeuser
Co. Leadership
Institute. Don’s unique program on learning styles was the kick-off presentation
in all three institutes.
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Consultants
from Don Murray & Associates
were selected to help with the turnaround of a workers
compensation insurance
company. They conducted top-down
team building
and reengineered the organization by closing twelve offices and centralizing
services at corporate headquarters.
Postscript:
The company instituted a Change Management Organization
Development program, resulting in a $100 million turnaround
during 1990-91.
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Family
Owned Business Transitioning
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Don
conducts Family Transitioning workshops with family owned
business of all sizes, helping to complete succession plans,
create family councils, and design
a family Charter for smoother operations. At a regional newspaper, the
founder-dad was ready to step down and let his well prepared
son take over the reins, but
the process became stalled for several years. Don was invited to facilitate
a meeting with the family, attended by the father and children plus a
few financial and legal advisors. The group support and encouragement
helped implement a
successful father-to-son transition.
Postscript: The following year, dad kept an office on site and watched
as his son led the company to its best year in history.
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Don
successfully conducted team building with the USA Men's Volleyball
team in preparation for their Gold Medal performance at the
Los Angeles Olympics in
1984, so the former team coach, now executive director of the USA Volleyball
Association, invited his ongoing involvement.
Postscript: Don Murray continues to design and facilitate annual strategic
planning at the USAV Olympic training center in Colorado
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