Beulah Trey, PhD, Center for Applied Research, 4 Penn Center, 16th Street & JFK Boulevard, Suite 600, Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-320-3200, trey@cfar.com and Mary Frankel, MPA, CRA, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3400 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

The rapidly growing pediatric research and advocacy center is being crushed by its lack of structure. Despite the organization’s success, the third senior administrator has quit, staff are dissatisfied, morale and productivity are decreasing. Clearly the organization is in crisis. What is the problem?

Crises are destabilizing. At the same time, crises can be opportunities for organizations to resolve long-standing issues. This presentation describes a developmental model for intervening in organizations in crisis. We then present a case exploring the crises that successful organizations experience as they move from the start- up phase -- powered by creativity, to the stable growth phase -- lead by direction and delegation (Churchill and Lewis, 1983). We describe how, over six months, one presenter worked as interim administrator and the other as external consultant to assist the organization in moving out of crisis mode and into a stable organization, ready to grow strategically.

We will outline the specific interventions of the outsider (consultant) and the insider (interim administrator), including:

Outside - telling the story with numbers - providing an organizational development framework - coaching of leadership - assessing the organization - normalizing organization’s crisis atmosphere - defining roles & responsibilities - creating the vision/mission/guiding principles/infrastructure.

Inside - providing immediate operational support - interviewing staff and normalizing - hiring staff - implementing procedures - modeling constructive support with leadership - advocating with the central administration on behalf of the unit.

Question and Answer period will allow participants to apply the principles more broadly.

Churchill and Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business Review, 1983

Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, participants will

• Learn tools for managing levels of participation in decision making and clarity about roles and responsibilities.
• Recognize the typical stresses encountered by organizations moving from a start up to a growth phase.
• Understand how to build an organizational infrastructure to support growth.

Keywords: Organizational Change, Leadership

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), Center for Applied Research (CFAR)
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Consultant to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Employee of Center for Applied Research (CFAR).