Road to Relevance: 5 Strategies for
Competitive Associations
Presented by Mary Byers, CAE
Time famine
Challenges:
Time famine
Return on Investment
Challenges:
Time famine
Return on Investment
Specialization/consolidation
Challenges:
Time famine
Return on Investment
Specialization/consolidation
Generational differences
Challenges:
Time famine
Return on Investment
Specialization/consolidation
Generational differences
Technology
Challenges:
Time famine
Return on Investment
Specialization/consolidation
Generational differences
Technology
For-profit competition
Challenges:
New Normal
Increased
Competition
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Association
Media companies
Association members
Buying groups
Internet
Social media
vs.
Association
Over 1 Billion!
175 Million!
Build on
Strengths
Can’t compete effectively
from a position of weakness
Add member value
Do more with less
Why?
Assets
Resources
Capabilities
Intangibles
Strengths
Education
Standard setting
Certification
Data mining
Optimum Strength
…matched with opportunities
Concentrate
Resources
How many
businesses can
you be in?
“Wherever we find a business that is
outstandingly successful,
we will find that it has thought
through the concentration
alternatives,
and has made a concentration
decision.”
Peter Drucker, Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices
Strategic Planning!
Strategic Planning!
Technology
Concentration8%
Fit
“Great strategies are like complex
systems in which all of the parts fit
together seamlessly. Each thing you’ve
chosen to do amplifies the value of
other things you do…”
That’s how ‘fit’ improves the bottom line.
It also enhances sustainability.
Joan Magretta
Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness
Short Flights
No Meals
One Type of Aircraft
Leadership
DevelopmentHealthcare
Businesswomen’s
Association
Lean
Processes
Complacent
Lack of cost reduction
Value stream
mapping
Redundancies &
Duplication
Abandonment
NO!
“The art of leadership is saying no, not yes…
It is very easy to say yes!”
Steve Jobs eliminated
of the
product line70%
Fueled turn-around from
$1.04 billion loss in 1997 to
$309 million profit in 1998!
Aston Martin
Volvo
Jaguar
Land Rover
Saab
Pontiac
Oldsmobile
Hummer
Successful
Associations
More Disciplined
More Entrepreneurial
Business-like
Technology Driven
If you always do what
you’ve always done…
If you always do what
you’ve always done…
you’ll always
get what you’ve
always gotten!
AENC Road to Relevance

AENC Road to Relevance