• current, clear and positive mission statement.
• A sound, reasoned, and focussed, yet flexible and responsive, strategic business plan which addresses both the short and long term planning horizons.
• A strategic planning process which involves all levels of the organisation so as to achieve a strong consensus as to the appropriate business focus for the association.

The association should have clear objectives and strategies in the following five areas:

• Business advisory services - what information and advice can K offer its members?
• Policy advocacy - what issues are important to members and require advocacy by the association?
• Camaraderie - how does the association go about ensuring there are opportunities for members to mix and mingle in an informal social environment?
• Industry Standards - does the association have a role in setting and monitoring standards that relate to the industry represented?
• Promotion and Marketing - what role should the association play in marketing the industry represented?

The association's business plan should direct resources to these five areas in line with the relative importance and weighting attributed to each area.

The association should consider preparing an industry strategy which helps provide industry cohesion, focus, and direction.

In particular, the association should have:

• A system for maintaining membership records.
• Made some analysis of its potential membership gains over the next few years.
• An up-to-date listing of potential members.
• A follow-up procedure to determine why members leave the organization.
• Adequate funding set aside for membership recruitment and retention.
• A mechanism of seeking from members input into the work of the association so that members have some ownership of the work being undertaken.
• Appropriate communication of association programmes and services to members so that there is continued awareness of the benefits of membership.
• A culture which emphasizes the importance of membership service and relations.
• Established procedures for the proper and timely handling of routine membership inquiries and requests.
• Considered the diversity of needs within its membership and how it would/should respond to these.

As many of these elements as possible should be captured in the planning process for the association, either in a separate Marketing Plan or within the main Business Plan.

In particular, the association should consider having:

• Mechanisms for establishing whether Board members are satisfied with the performance of the Board (e.g. six monthly survey).
• A process for inducting new Board members into the workings of the Board and the association in general, including training in such areas as problem-solving, conflict recognition, decision making, and their role in governance of the association.
• Written job descriptions for board members covering such issues as meeting attendance, meeting preparation, participation during meetings, and representation of the association outside of board meetings.
• Mechanisms for ensuring the Board, the President/Chairperson and Chief Executive establish productive working relationships.
• Regular reviews of the Boards work to ensure that it has completed the following items:
• Establishment of policy
• Providing leadership
• Providing direction through strategic planning
• Ensuring the financial integrity of the association
• Responsible participation
• General Board satisfaction.

Regardless of whether it has adopted a formal governance/management model or not, the association should have clear policies covering such matters as: Role and function of the Board Role and function of the CEO Financial management Personnel management Administration management Public relations Service expectations.

Associations should regularly conduct a bottom-up review of their structure, in particular considering:

• Membership expectations as regards appropriate delivery of services, communications, and direct contact from the association.
• The role technological advances can play in terms of delivering those aspects more efficiently and effectively.
• How information moves through and between parts of the organization, and how that information flow is best facilitated through the structure of the association.

Further, the association must have a framework which provides clarity, ensures open communication, and delivers a culture of national office/branch interdependence, especially within the association's constitution and business plan.

• All staff on suitable contract terms - in-house on employment contracts, and out-sourced on clear, tight contract terms.
• All contracts should have a clear set of performance parameters.
• There should be a clear mechanism for evaluating and reviewing performance against the contract parameters. The associations should consider the best mechanisms for rewarding and motivating staff performance, appropriate to the association's resources and structure (e.g. salary, bonuses, advancement, status).
• The association's culture should be one of staff empowerment.
• Training should be used as both a reward for performance as well as a means of developing the core competencies of staff.
• The out-sourcing of work/staff should only occur where there is a cost/benefit advantage, and where the work to be outsourced is not a critical area of expertise that should dictate it being kept in-house.

The association must demonstrate that is has in place a cohesive association technology plan, taking into account current as well as anticipated future needs. Such a plan should cover database management, word processing, accounting, telecommunications, and web-based commerce activities, all appropriate to the size and scope of the association's business.

In particular, the technology plan should:

• Identify how the association's use of technology supports the mission-critical elements of its business plan.
• Include cost benefit analyses where the association is considering a shift from old to new technology, so that the merits of any change are well supported, particularly if the new technology involves some measure of risk (cost, implementation, maintenance, delivery).
• Include a clear set of performance parameters for the adoption of any new technology, so that the process can be evaluated and measured in terms of its success.
• Include provisions for regular review and updating.

Financial planning for the association must relate directly to the association's strategic plan. The association must have realistic plans for developing both the association's subscription revenues as well as its non-subscription revenues. The association should carefully consider its reliance, if any, on sources of non-subscription revenue, especially where the revenue source is not necessarily secure. And the association must have appropriate fiscal controls. a full disclosure reporting system, and an annual audit.

• An appropriate set of formal Board reporting procedures covering at least three key matters - progress against the association's business plan; progress against the association's financial budgets and forecasts; and any general reporting required on other industry or association issues.
• A suite of informal Board reporting mechanisms, as considered appropriate by the Board members.
• A similar suite of formal and informal communication mechanisms as considered appropriate to the membership. This could include such matters as an industry magazine, membership newsletter, website and email facilities, freephone number(s), faxes and normal correspondence.
• A strategy for maximising the association's leverage from its conference, to enhance the outcomes for members/delegates, sponsors, and the association, particularly in terms of having members attend the conference to leave better informed, motivated, and networked.
• Mechanisms for evaluating the success or otherwise of the association's media against the expected communication outcomes.
• A section in its business plan dealing with communications so that the full organization is aware of the association's objectives in communicating with its members and publics.

The association must consider what activities and programmes it should undertake that promote the industry and the association to both internal and external stakeholders, to both improve the image/perception of the industry and to portray the association as a good corporate citizen. In particular, the association should consider such activities and programmes as: Industry exhibitions. Industry scholarships. Community projects. Industry Awards/Competitions. Public and membership seminars.

The association must also include within the communication's section of its Business Plan sections on both media and Government relations. The association should cover:

• How the association handles its PR issues, including who is to have prime responsibility for management of the media when issues arise, the development of sound relationships with appropriate media contacts, and the development of a media plan against a particular issue as the need arises.
• The association's strategy for dealing with the Government on issues requiring management at that level, in particular which parliamentarians need to be influenced, the approach to be taken, and the resources to be used for that part of the policy process.
• How it will monitor the success of its media and Government relations activities and programmes.

The CEO should work under a performance management system that appropriately measures and rewards CEO and organizational performance, particularly in three key areas:

• Overall association management
• Association Projects and Programmes
• Executive Management.

The association should carefully consider its place in the market - how agile is it, how well does it respond to change, and how good it is in terms of managing the core association management disciplines.

Finally, the organization must evaluate how accountable it is to its membership, and the CEO must have a formal process for measuring his/her stewardship role within the organization.

As associations' participation in the market place increases, there will be increased focus on their efficiency and effectiveness - both from their memberships seeking to ensure value for subscriptions paid, and from their external funders (if any), seeking greater performance and accountability.

There is little effective material available in New Zealand to help associations and the CE0s of those associations assess their performance and work to improve it.

The New Zealand Society of Association Executives will have an increasingly important part to play in helping that performance improvement within their member associations.

Associations would benefit immeasurably from participating in a regular process of performance evaluation and review, so that systematic efforts can be made to improve that performance.

It is hoped that this study report will be one small effort towards starting that process of associations understanding and evaluating the performance parameters that apply to this business we call "association management".

Given the originally wide study brief set at the beginning of the research, this report was only able to skim over many technical and highly important areas of association work - K would be useful for others to follow up this work with further in-depth study in the areas required.

This document forms part of the FIDIC document archive. Reproduction, with acknowledgement, is authorised. For further information, please contact: FIDIC, Fédération Internationale des Ingenieurs-Conseils, BP 86, CH-1000 Lausannne 12 (tel.: +41 21 654 44 11; fax: +41-21-653 5432; fidic@pobox.com)