Strategic Design MBA &
Client Report February 22, 2016
Special Thanks to... ...Natalie Treat, Director of Membership Support & Volunteer Recruitment, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania: for her generosity and patience in answering our endless questions. ...Professors Natalie W. Nixon, PhD, Abby Wilson, and Yamilca Rodriguez: for their guidance, without which this report would not be possible. ...Our classmates in Cohort 4, SDMBA Class of 2017: for their insights, feedback and support in everything from connecting us with local Troops to technical assistance in our presentations.
Table of Contents About PhilaU’s SDMBA Program
4
About the Project Team
5
Summary of Key Findings
6
Introduction
7
Journey One: The Placement Manager 8 Journey Two: The Troop Leader
13
Journey Three: The Scouts
21
Journey Four: The Future
24
References Consulted
27
Appendix
28
About Philadelphia University’s Strategic Design MBA Program The Strategic Design MBA combines the best of business school with the best of design thinking to prepare graduates to better solve problems in today’s volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous business world. At PhilaU design thinking is already a major tenet in our graduate and undergraduate curricula. The main features of the Strategic Design MBA build on our existing framework of industry inspired collaborative learning and are tailored for accomplished professionals looking to enhance their skills. Business thinkers have been trained to approach every challenge by asking, “What is the solution?” Design thinkers have been trained to ask, “What is the problem?” Hybrid thinkers ask both, and in the process ask and answer, “What is the opportunity?” This MBA is a low-residency program with intensive industry application. It features a cohort of seasoned professionals from diverse industries and faculty who blend state-of-the art practitioner experience with excellence in the classroom. Graduates exit the program with a network in place that is capable of bringing long-term value to themselves and their organizations that extends well beyond the formal material covered. This Project was the focus of Business Models Development, Course Three in the SDMBA curriculum.
In this course, students explore a customer-centric approach to business models. They apply tools and skills in research methods and design thinking learned earlier in the program, to analyze and evaluate existing commercial and noncommercial business models, including both successes and failures. Discussion of the business model ecosystem (environmental context; the business model canvas; the value-proposition canvas) and patterns emphasizes the radically changing role of service platforms and experience design in organizations. Students explore and evaluate alternative business models to identify innovative business solutions for strategy, and apply their learning to various organizations.
About the Project Team Bianca Grosso is a Production Assistant at Urban Outfitters and lives in Philadelphia, PA. “When I first heard about the SDMBA program I remember thinking how intriguing the program sounded, and that it seemed like it had been customized for my needs: an artistic predilection combined with operational interests.”
Jennifer McLennan is Director of Design at Marriott International and lives in Boyds, MD. “I am interested in the mindset of design thinking and how it can solve real issues. The SDMBA will permit me the ability to put this mindset to practice as it relates to the world of business strategy, design, and social innovation. It's exciting to apply what I am learning directly back to my role and push the limits on creativity, innovation and product/service development.”
Eric Braxton has over a decade of experience producing, scoping, strategizing, nurturing, shepherding and sometimes just willing digital projects to completion. Mobile apps, console and mobile games, desktop and mobile retail sites, in-store experiences and live events are all worlds he has called home. Described by colleagues as everything from “a joy to collaborate with” to “the last sane man in an insane world,” Eric prides himself on adaptability and empathy, and his least favorite words are, “That’s not my job.” Eric holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts, and is a Certified Scrum Product Owner. He’s also a twisted animator.
Summary of Key Findings The Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) was founded in 2007, when the Greater Lehigh Valley, Freedom Valley, and Girl Scouts of Southeast Pennsylvania were merged to create greater efficiencies. GSEP serves girls in grades K-12 in nine counties; year-end membership for 2015 was approximately 38,000 Girl Scouts and 14,500 adult volunteers. It is the 10th largest council in the nation. Within the council are 106 Service Units, spread across the 9 counties. Each Service Unit manages 10 to 30 Troops, for a total of roughly 3,000 Troops. Nation-wide membership in Girls Scouts has been in decline for the last decade. GSEP is no exception, although its rate of decline is below the national average. As of end of September 30, 2015, GSEP membership was down 3.5% overall from 2014.1 However, this is not the GSEP’s Leadership Council’s most immediate concern. GSEP currently has a waiting list of nearly 1,700 girls who are interested in joining the Council, but have not been able to find a troop. The hybrid thinkers from Philadelphia University’s Strategic Design MBA program were asked to develop strategies to allow the GSEP Placement Team to efficiently get these potential Scouts registered and placed among troops. The Council would then be able to focus on growing membership without compounding existing problems. Over the course of eight weeks, the SDMBA team analyzed internal documents, visited troop meetings, conducted surveys, and consulted with thought leaders on gender and technology. The team’s findings were threefold: 1. Technology challenges make placing the girls harder than it needs to be. We will present quick and inexpensive recommendations for improving the experience for Placement Managers, parents and the girls. 2. The existing value proposition for Adult Volunteers results in substantial Troop Leader turnover. We will present a blueprint for redefining the Troop Leader role in order to improve retention rates. 3. Outside of the organization, the Girl Scouts are universally known for one thing: cookies. We will present a case for de-emphasizing the Cookie Program’s prominence, with the goal of making membership more attractive to the general public.
1
GSEP Annual Year-To-Date Membership Summary, Membership Year 2015
Introduction “The problem isn’t attracting interested girls. It’s placing them.”- Kim Fraites-Dow, Acting CEO, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Spoken in our initial meeting with Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania on January 9th, 2016, these words have been our guiding light in the ensuing weeks. Our work in that time has led to the identification of three journeys, each with it’s own hero, which we recommend must be completed before the Council can achieve its full potential. We believe that, by eliminating drudgery for Placement Managers, expanding the profile of an Adult Volunteer, and opening up additional options for Scouts and their families, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania can increase troop leader enrollment and participation. This will allow the organization to continue to be a dynamic and sought after group for the mentoring and development of women of all ages. We also will look to the future and present some ideas we feel deserve further exploration, once Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania has moved beyond issues of troop capacity and member placement, and can redirect their focus on further growth and expansion.
FIRST JOURNEY THE PLACEMENT MANAGER “If you’re a 2nd grade boy and want to join Cub Scouts, you know where and when the local troop meets. You show up with a parent and permission slip and you're in.” - Natalie Treat, Director of Membership Support & Volunteer Recruitment, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania
1,677. As of February 3, 2016, there were 1,677 girls on the waiting list to join Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. Nearly 1,700 girls who have been waiting anywhere from one day to two years to join an organization that prides itself on inclusiveness. It is a situation that is demoralizing not only to the girls, but to the dedicated staff members that serve them. It is a situation that GSEP leadership has deemed unacceptable, and has resolved to overcome. The first and most pressing challenge is the matter of simply identifying a suitable troop for each wait-listed girl (whom we nicknamed “Wendy”). Traditionally, volunteers called Service Unit Registrars had responsibility for assigning Wendys to troops, a task with which these volunteers have been increasingly unsuccessful. It has gotten to the point that the GSEP Operational Staff has stepped in and assumed control of Scout placement. Unfortunately, there is no corresponding infrastructure in place to make this an efficient process. In Spring 2017, GSEP will migrate its existing registration database from e-Business to Salesforce. This migration will make more of the Council’s data visible to registrants, enabling them to search for, see and select troops on their own.
Waiting List Facts: ● Every Service Unit has at least 1 girl on waiting list ● 504 of the 1,677 waitlisted girls (30%) live in Philadelphia ● Very few Wendys live in the rural areas ● Waiting list is groomed monthly by: ○ Membership manager ○ Service Unit ○ School ○ Grade
Screenshot from Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital website (http://www.gscnc.org/en/about-girl-scouts/join.html)
Currently, the GSEP placement managers work the wait list by asking existing troops if they will accept new members. Natalie Treat has found some success with this method, stating that troop leaders are often responsive to these personal requests. However, it’s very time consuming to place one girl at a time like this. Waiting a full year for a backend upgrade is not an acceptable course of action for either the Wendys or the shorthanded placement managers, so we concentrated our analysis and recommendations on tactical steps that can be implemented now. As an initial recommendation, we strongly feel that GSEP should reach out to a sister Council that has already launched the Salesforce registration system (e.g. Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital (GSCNC), referenced above) for an informational visit. The objective of this visit would be to learn firsthand how the upgrade process went, where the pain points were and whether any
manipulations of the existing databases were needed. In addition, GSEP should discern what has worked well for that Council post-rollout, and where there are still rough edges with the system. For example, the GSCNC registration site allows users to search for Troops located around specific schools or grades, but only after providing personal information. In addition, the results that are returned contain information around troop grades, school districts and meeting times that is unclear and sometimes inaccurate. This undoubtedly results in confusion and additional administrative work when users contact the Council for clarification. Gathering this information in advance of its own update allows GSEP to plan to learn from other Councils’ missteps, rather than repeat them. In the short term, there are software solutions that can automate the most tedious parts of the Placement Managers’ current workflow. Depending on the Council’s IT resources at hand, the data currently exported in separate “Placement List”, “Troop Count by Service Unit, and “GSEP by ZIP Code” spreadsheets can be aggregated into either an Excel dashboard by a staff member with Excel proficiency, or an internally-facing website if GSEP has any SQL programmers on hand. Either option should be achievable in a matter of days. The heaviest lifting would be the gathering of any data not already centralized with the Operational Staff, and data entry for the backlog of paper registrations. But both would be one-time efforts.
If you are able to export and integrate data from the Personify membership database (privacy concerns could prevent this), it would become possible to not only identify the areas in most need of attention, but Placement Manager involvement could be reduced to simply placing phone calls from an automatically-generated list telling the Placement Manager exactly which Troop to contact for each Wendy, or group of Wendys. These inexpensive and relatively simple measures will make the Placement Managers’ responsibilities easier by streamlining the search processes and allowing them quick access to the
information they need. However, all of the technological solutions in the world won’t address the bigger issue: finding leadership.
SECOND JOURNEY THE TROOP LEADER “From the volunteer standpoint, are you creating barriers that people can’t get past? Who is that person, and once you’ve identified them, what is the cost of acquisition if you lose that leader? How many times are you losing that leader because their kid was in the troop, and now they’ve aged out?” - Tracey Welson-Rossman, Founder, Techgirlz
Having addressed the administrative end of the issue to the best extent possible, we focused on the issue of troop capacity. Looking at the hot spots on the placement list (Collingdale, PA has 42 Wendys, the most of any ZIP code in the Council), we thought we spotted a new opportunity. We asked what if, instead of adding girls to existing troops, we found more adult volunteers to create new troops where the waiting girls were clustered? But first, we’d need to know more about the Troop Leader experience. Conversations with our client, social networks, relatives with Girls Scouts experience, and online research indicated that being a Troop Leader can be an overwhelming experience. We opted to test whether or not troop leadership would be more appealing if it were made into a more collaborative effort. Jennifer attended a meeting of Troop #2071 in Washington, DC, and surveyed both the adult members and the non-member parents of the scouts. She shared with them a mock up of various online networks that could be a possible solution to attract more troop leaders and allow them to share feedback, experiences, and support with other adult members and parents (see Appendix for survey questions and visual aids). They shared their opinions regarding the platform…
“I would prefer not to have another networking site to go to. I am just too busy.” - Nicole Callahan, Co-Troop Leader, Troop #2071 Contrary to what we expected, the response to this idea was overwhelmingly negative. The adults surveyed were not interested in networking with strangers. Nor were they interested in going to a website for additional information that wasn’t specific to an activity they were participating in. In addition to this insight, they noted that there was little to no interaction with the Service Unit Volunteers which did make it difficult to get support and answers when needed. Rather than running with these results around the website concept, we recognized that this experiment not only yielded anecdotal feedback, but it came from a completely different Council than our actual customer base. Therefore, we chose to validate these findings with a troop from Girl Scouts of Eastern PA. Bianca attended a meeting of GSEP Troop #1159, led by Rayina Abdus-Salaam. We eschewed the visual aids and decided to broaden our scope, using our own version of the Wong-Baker FACES® Pain Rating Scale to determine what it was that adults were truly struggling with.
Bianca’s custom Pain Rating Scale
Unlike the Washington DC’s Troop, Rayina’s troop is closely supported by responsive and enthusiastic service unit volunteers. “I have had an excellent experience with Cathy as our service unit manager. She has always been very organized and communicative and helped to us to always feel included. With the majority of the girls in our troop being Muslim, we sometimes have special needs which Cathy has always been sensitive to.” However, the adults once again cited time constraints and busy schedules among the major factors keeping them from participating to a greater extent. Evaluating the feedback from the two experiments, we were struck by the following insight: whether they’re currently receiving it or not, the troop leaders and Scout parents aren’t looking for support; they’re looking for an easier experience - both in the enrollment process and throughout their journey with Girl Scouts. Whereas parents may find it strenuous to find a couple of hours per week to support their daughters’ participation, much more is asked of the troop leaders themselves. “Easy” is not the word that comes to mind when considering all the paperwork, preparation and ingenuity that goes into successful troop leadership.
“It sounds like a fulltime administrative job, not a volunteer role.”Kristen O’Keefe
Looking at the age demographics of Adult Volunteers, it is logical to assume that the majority of Troop Leaders are the parents of Scouts. Ethnic and income demographics for Adult Volunteers are fairly homogenous as well2. These factors, combined with the results of our experiments, led us to believe that we’d have limited success actively courting new Troop Leaders from this market. One of the hallmarks of design thinking is the ability to take lessons learned in one arena and apply them to a completely unrelated problem. In Episode 199 of his podcast, “99% Invisible”, Roman Mars talks about the nadir of the NBA’s popularity. In the mid-1970s, the game of basketball had come to be dominated by the slam dunk, a shot that favored larger, stronger players and led to increasingly aggressive and unsportsmanlike conduct on the court as players battled for position close to the basket. Interest in the league was falling, and executives were scrambling for ideas to improve the sport’s appeal. They considered banning the dunk, as the NCAA had done, but feared that would extinguish what interest still remained. Ultimately, they decided that rather than taking something away, they would add something instead: the threepoint shot. The rationale was that, while the dunk was something that required size and athleticism, anybody could hit a three point shot with enough practice. This egalitarian nature made the shot (and the game) more relatable to viewers, and interest soared. “At first it was about pleasing the fans, but they slowly came to realize something about the three-point shot.” “When you study it, if you shoot 35% on three-pointers, and you shoot 45% on two-pointers, if you just break it down, it just makes so much more sense to build a team around three-point shooting because you’re going to score more points.”3 During Jennifer’s visit to Troop #2071, the Troop leader made a novel suggestion:
“Rather than parents, have you considered the many grads that cannot find work?” - Nicole Callahan, DC GS Troop Leader What might have been just a throwaway question suddenly gained new relevance when viewed through the correct lens. In his TED Talk, author Simon Sinek introduced the concept of the Golden Circle, and hypothesizes that organizations make the strongest connections with their customers when they design their products outward, starting with the user's core motivation, their “Why.” The Girl Scouts’ “Why” is all about philanthropy and making the world a better place by nurturing the girls who will grow up to run it. The average parents’ “Why” is getting through the week with all obligations met, including shuttling their children to and from their activities. There is a true disconnect there. Indeed, why not go after current college students and graduates as Nicole Callahan suggested, those young women who are the forerunners for the Scouts themselves? Not only do they share a “Why” with GSEP, but - like the NBA’s three-point shot 2
2015 MY Complete Membership Demographics Report - Sep 30 2105, courtesy GSEP Mars, Roman (Producer). (2016, February 9). 99% Invisible [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com 3
this would open up a whole new market of Adult Volunteers, some of whom might become parents of Scouts one day. In this way, the mindset of ALL Adult Volunteers can shift into alignment over time. To evaluate if a sufficient market size exists, we looked at the female student population of the ten largest colleges and universities within GSEP’s nine counties. We then cross-referenced these populations with the number of girls on the waiting list in the ZIP codes immediately surrounding these schools. Total
Female
Wait List in
Volunteers
Participation
Enrollment
Enrollment
Surrounding ZIPs
needed
%
Univ of Pennsylvania
24,876
12,935
117*
10*
0.08%
Drexel University
26,359
12,757
117*
10*
0.08%
Villanova University
10,728
5,686
35
6
0.10%
St Joseph's University
8,629
4,642
64
11
0.23%
Lehigh University
7,033
3,144
69
12
0.37%
La Salle University
6,255
3,984
126
21
0.53%
Bucks County CC (Newtown)
6,100
3,355
59
10
0.29%
Delaware County CC
12,000
6,840
41
7
0.10%
Montgomery County Comm.College
13,122
7,086
57
10
0.13%
Northampton County Comm. College
10,666
6,293
36
6
0.10%
Comm. College of Philadelphia
19,063
12,010
14
2
0.02%
144,831
78,732
618
103
0.13%
School
TOTAL *Combined for shared ZIP
What we discovered was that 37% of the Wendys live in these surrounding areas. Even more interesting, the female populations of the colleges are such that only 0.13% market share for adult volunteers would be needed to meet this need. The current adult volunteer market share for all of GSEP is 0.69%. We’d only need to be 1/5th as successful in recruiting to place 618 girls! One or two of the vacant Placement Manager positions could be designated for College Outreach, and we would expect the smaller market share threshold to offset the early network building required to make the program sustainable. It was time to design a customer relationship likely to engage college-aged women. Eric’s experiences with military recruiters led us to look at their methods of enticing highly-qualified prospects using a high-touch one-to-one approach. Meanwhile, in Aziz Ansari’s book, “Modern Romance,” his research found that the medium of communication heavily influences how those messages are received:
In a 2012 textPlus survey, 58 percent of Americans between ages thirteen and seventeen said they’d ask someone out with a text message. It’s clear that younger people, who are growing up in a more text-heavy culture, are much more comfortable living their romantic lives via text. Second, over time, so are all of us. In 2010 only 10 percent of young adults used texts to ask someone out for the first time, compared with 32 percent in 2013. Asking out someone via text is on course to be the new norm: The phone call is quickly being phased out. While, admittedly, Ansari was looking at the dating world, we have a very similar goal of establishing long-term relationships with these outreach efforts, and this is the crucial first step. Drawing from these methods used by military recruiters and online daters, we did a 5E exercise centered around the customer journey and used this exercise to focus on the volunteer recruitment experience (refer to Appendix K). Once again, we opted not to reinvent the wheel, but to adapt GSEP’s existing volunteer onboarding process for a more personal touch. We want these potential volunteers to feel like they’re not just volunteering time, but truly becoming part of something special. This is to both ease them past some of the early sticking points (like the somewhat extensive paperwork and training), as well as to create the sense that Girl Scouts is a lifelong pursuit, even if you’re not an active member.
(Left: Mockup of targeted marketing)
A possible partnership with Mogul could lend some much needed assistance to the Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania. Mogul is an award winning online platform for women worldwide that enables them to share and exchange information. It connects women of all ages to information, education and even online markets. We interviewed Tiffany Pham, Founder and CEO of Mogul, and she expressed a high interest in partnering with GSEP. She felt that the Girls Scout organization very much fits into the programming that they are trying to create with their 18 million viewers a week. Utilizing
Mogul’s data infrastructure, GSEP would be able to target the geographic and age demographics to find potential volunteers where they are needed most. Having established that the market size existed, we set out to gather some qualitative data on market attitudes. Bianca conducted a survey of Philadelphia-area millennials, asking the following questions: 1. Have you ever been a Girl Scout? 2. If you were never a Girl Scout, was there a particular reason why? 3. What did you like the most about the Girl Scout program when you were apart of it? 4. What are some of your interests/hobbies/areas of expertise? 5. Who was your troop leader when you were in the Girl Scouts? 6. At what age did you leave/exit/quit the GS program? -‐ Kindergarten - Grade 1 -‐ Grade 2 - 3 -‐ Grade 4 - 5 -‐ Grade 6-8 -‐ Grade 9-10 -‐ Grade 11-12 7. Why did you leave the Girl Scouts program? 8. Would you consider leading a troop of girl scouts? - If yes… -‐ If no… 9. How many hours would you be willing to put in as a troop leader for a year? 10. What is your current age? The responses we got back were somewhat discouraging. Despite 68% of the respondents being former Girl Scouts, only 34% said they would consider being Troop Leaders. Over half of those willing to volunteer saw themselves donating less than half an hour a week of their time. The average Troop Leader puts in nearly 200 hours of volunteer time per year. We’d reached a demographic with the skills and values we were seeking, but it seemed like they had the same challenges as parents: not enough time. But what they also had was a natural network. We made a slight pivot, and revised our Troop Leader profile. What if Troop Leadership was spread out amongst multiple individuals? The troop could “belong” to an organization, the members of which could divide up the Troop Leader responsibilities in whatever manner suits them. To gather more data on this new direction, we reached out to 14 student groups at Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania. Five of those groups responded and agreed to phone interviews: ● Penn Graduate Women in Science & Engineering (PGWISE) ● Penn Sirens ● Society of Women Engineers (SWE) at Drexel
● Women in Computing Society (WiCS) at Drexel ● Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority (Drexel) Spokeswomen for all five groups expressed a strong interest in working with GSEP in some capacity. Drexel’s Society of Women Engineers and Chi Upsilon Sigma expressed interest specifically in the “organization as Troop Leader” model. Finally, Amy Gottsegen of the Women in Computing Society has been trying to get a new youth outreach program off the ground. Amy was a former girl scout whose troop disbanded when their Troop Leader resigned without a replacement. Amy is the basis for the “Emily” persona in our presentation.
“Because of the co-op program at Drexel, students are super focused on professional development. I’ve tried to organize social activities here, without much success. But I’d love to be a Troop Leader personally!” - Amy Gottsegen, Women in Computing Society
Contact information for these organizations can be found in Appendices V-Z. All five have been told to expect a call from GSEP for further discussion.
THIRD JOURNEY THE SCOUTS “I started my own company so that I could carry on my grandmother’s legacy as a trailblazer, and bring women of all ages together.” - Tiffany Pham, Founder, Mogul
The Girls Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania is deeply rooted in tradition, so much so that the organization has built a long standing reputation around its core business of leading girls and selling cookies. When we surveyed multiple networks and asked those being questioned to tell us the one thing that comes to mind about Girls Scouts, the overwhelming majority pointed to “Cookies!” It became apparent that the Girl Scouts were not getting the credit for the many other contributions they make within the community and the lives of their neighbors. We recognized that the Girls Scouts as an organization would have to build brand affinity by changing public perception. This led us to ask, “What if Girl Scouts de-emphasized the Cookie Program and took a more learning-centered approach to fundraising?” But how do you do this without losing the success and brand recognition? It was Tracey Welson-Rossman that drew an excellent correlation: “It’s like running a black-tie gala...you become a slave to this thing, it becomes who you are, and is that really what you want?” We began to wonder: Have the Girls Scouts become a slave to cookie sales? Which led to: Do parents enjoy participating in the Cookie Program? Through our surveys and networks, we discovered that parents don’t overly enjoy selling cookies. In fact, two scenarios end up taking place. The first starts with a parent feeling pressured to buy enough cookies so that their daughter can “keep up with the Joneses”. Scenario two occurs when a parent is in a competition with other troop leaders and/or fellow Girl Scout troops. The girls in the troop are constantly competing to sell more and the value of the actual business lesson is lost. Which led us to our next possibility: What if cookies were online sales only (to preserve revenue while decreasing unproductive time and effort) and that energy was spent to market Girl Scouts differently and/or create programming around new curriculum? To understand this better, we wanted to learn the real cost of product program. The tax forms that we analyzed listed the total revenue from the Cookie Program, as well as the cost of goods sold. But what about the salary of the Cookie Program Coordinator, which is a dedicated position? And the time of other operational staff members spent organizing the program? What about the volunteers’ time? There is a definite dollar value to all of that activity. Until it is quantified, you can’t really know how much would need to be raised to be able to replace the Cookie Program.
“Could they go out and find grant money? How much of your time do you spend getting that top-line revenue? What is the true cost of the cookie program?” - Tracey Welson-Rossman
The Cookie Program is touted as the number one girl-led business in the world. Someday it may not be… The question is: do girls want to be part of the business machine, or do they want to build and lead their own? So we considered, what if we replace the Cookie Badge with an Entrepreneurial Badge where girls at all levels are encouraged to test ideas for their own
businesses. Interestingly, there is focus around business centered in the 2 cookie badges each troop currently earns. However, taking the “cookie monster” out of the equation, and just calling them entrepreneurial badges would ultimately spark a new thought process. This would allow the girls to identify a business that they have passion for and build on it. This could be anything from raising money for a school event or community cause to applying lessons learned through another badge activity. These activities would allow the girls to learn how to accept failure and start again when an experiment doesn’t successfully work. This in turn would allow them to focus on business skills that teach them to be savvy yet creative. The new hierarchy of badges would create a completely new focus on innovation and especially entrepreneurialism. Rather than being under the “cookie” umbrella, these entrepreneurial badges would celebrate business lessons women are in desperate need of today.
FOURTH JOURNEY THE FUTURE “You’re either part of the change or just one of the people that complains about it.” - Tracey Welson-Rossman
At some point in the near future, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania will have worked out the Wendy Problem. When that time comes, GSEP will devote its resources to growing the council in both size and prominence, and maintaining its position among the nation’s leading councils. Here, we present for future exploration some of the strongest ideas that arose from our many brainstorming sessions. Scout Couture. As adolescents mature, fashion plays an increasingly important part in their lives. What if GSEP were to partner with a national apparel brand like Under Armour, Ralph Lauren, or Urban Outfitters to produce a line of clothing exclusive to Girl Scouts members? This could be something as simple as exclusive colorways for an existing clothing line, or completely unique designs. Under Armour is already the official clothing sponsor of many sports teams, and Ralph Lauren outfits the US Olympic team, as well as the event staff for the US Open and Wimbledon tennis tournaments. An update to the GSEP attire would encourage the Girl Scouts to wear their uniform with pride. Badge Bracelets. A revised take on the badge-sash concept. With charm bracelets regaining some traction and popularity, a GSEP alliance with a brand like Pandora or Alex+Ani could make mass-production possible. Or, enterprising Troops or Councils could design their own charms and produce on-demand with Etsy or Shapeways. Techgirlz Partnership. As it stands, Techgirlz and GSEP are in a “Gift of the Magi” situation. Techgirlz offers curriculum leaders who are willing to lead troop meetings, along with the space to accommodate those meetings, however they struggle to attract enough girls to teach. GSEP has a large audience of girls, but not enough troop leaders or meeting space. A partnership with Techgirlz could alleviate the need for space and qualified educators, and increase the public awareness around Girl Scouts being more than a cookie machine. Increased Fees. While speaking with several parents over the course of our research, a common point of appreciation did center around the cost to join Girl Scouts. Many parents cited that other activities cost a considerable amount more and they felt that their child didn’t get the same social responsibilities or learnings from, say, a dance class. With that being said, many anecdotally mentioned that they would and could pay as much as $250 a year for the program. With this in mind, GSEP could still leave their much-needed financial aid program in place for girls that need it, and use the outstanding funds to increase marketing and internal related efforts.
References Consulted Osterwalder, Alexander, and Pigneur, Yves. Business Model Generation. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2010 TED. (2010, May 4). Simon Sinek: How great leaders inspire action [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4 Hock, Dee. One From Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005 Ansari, Aziz and Klinenberg, Eric. Modern Romance. New York: Penguin Press, 2015 Liu, Kunlun. “Design Research/Business Strategy for Life Scouts.” Bēhance. Adobe Systems Incorporated, 2 February 2016. Web. 2 February 2016 O’Keefe, Kristin. “Why This Troop Leader Quit The Girl Scouts.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 November 2014. Web. 28 January 2016 “Facts.” University of Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania. Web. 1 February 2016 “Fast Facts.” Drexel University. Drexel University. Web. 1 February 2016 “List of colleges and universities in Pennsylvania.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Web. 1 February 2016 “Famous Formers.” Girls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Girls Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. Web. 31 January 2016 Wong-Baker FACES Foundation. Wong-Baker FACES. Web. 26 January 2016 Famous Formers. Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago & Northwest Indiana. Web. 16 February 2016
Mars, Roman (Producer). (2016, February 9). 99% Invisible [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from http://itunes.apple.com
APPENDIX A. B. C. D. E. F. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. O. P. Q. R. S. T. U. V. W. X. Y. Z.
Business Model Canvas Environment Map Value Proposition Canvas DC Troop Leader Telephone Interview Notes Early Work In Progress Photos Current Business Model Pattern 1 Alternative Business Model Pattern 1 - Bait & Hook Alternative Business Model Pattern 2 - Unbundled Alternative Business Model Pattern 3: Multi-Sided Round Robin Exercise 5E Exercise Images Shown to DC Troop Importance/Difficulty Matrix Experiment Test Card Participation Numbers 2011-2015 College Volunteering Statistical Proof of Concept Washington DC Troop Meeting Visit Questions Washington DC Troop Meeting Visit Notes Washington DC Troop Visit Photos Philadelphia Troop Visit Notes Philadelphia Troop Visit Photos Penn Graduate Women in Science & Engineering Call Notes Penn Sirens Call Notes Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Call Notes Women in Computing Society (WiCS) Call Notes Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Call Notes
A. Business Model Canvas GSEP’s Current Business Model as defined by SDMBA team.
B. Environment Map GSEP’s Environmental Map as defined by SDMBA team.
C. Value Proposition Canvas GSEP’s Value Proposition Canvas as defined by SDMBA team,
D. DC Troop Leader Telephone Interview Notes Initial troop leader telephone notes from DC Troop Leader, Allison Fisher.
E. Early Work In Progress Photos Original business model canvas & value proposition ideas:
Jennifer’s daughter assisting in the Girl Scout business model breakdown.
F. Current Business Model Pattern 1 GSEP’s Current Multi Sided Business Model as determined by the SDMBA Team.
G. Alternative Business Model Pattern 1 - Bait & Hook Bait and Hook Business Model as determined by the SDMBA Team. The process centered on waiving fees for uniforms and badges.
H. Alternative Business Model Pattern 2 - Unbundled Unbundled Business Model as determined by the SDMBA Team. The process here was centered around giving the Service Unit Volunteers more specific responsibilities, while pulling back on other areas.
I. Alternative Business Model Pattern 3: Multi-Sided Multi Sided Business Model as determined by the SDMBA Team. The process here was centered around attracting college grads to be troop leaders in exchange for work related skills.
J. Round Robin Exercise The Round Robin exercise was completed to explore new opportunities at the heart of the problem.
PROPOSE A MISSION STATEMENT (Who): Girl Scouts Of Eastern PA (What): an organization that builds courage, confidence and character (For whom): for curious and creative young girls (What Need): looking to increase troop leaders (Against whom or what): to be able to place all interested girls in a troop (What’s Different): Girl Scouts of Eastern PA is a unique organization that provides unique learning experiences to young girls (So): (Capability 1) that they can build life long lessons (Capability 2) that they can lead with confidence in an otherwise male dominated society (Capability 3) that they can learn from each other what they may not be exposed to in other environments
CRITIQUE THE MISSION STATEMENT. POINT OUT THE WEAK PARTS AND EXPLAIN WHY IT IS INADEQUATE (Who): Fine (What): Too esoteric. Needs to be more quantifiable. Reference the pillars from their actual documentation. (For whom): why limit it to curious and creative? What about the business minded? The STEM-‐inclined, etc. Are there any girls it’s NOT for? (What Need): The Need refers to the job the girls are looking to accomplish, not the Girl Scouts of Eastern PA’s need. (Against whom or what): Against whom is a direct comparison to competitors or environment (What’s Different): Perhaps the male-‐dominated society is the “Against whom” and here we present how Girl Scouts of Eastern PA mitigates that culture (So): and we list the specific ways in which the girls overcome it
ADDRESS THE CRITIQUE BY EDITING THE EXISTING PROPOSAL (Who): Girl Scouts of Eastern PA (What): is an organization that promotes multi-‐generational connectedness through philanthropic activities (For whom): for women and girls of all ages and backgrounds (What Need): looking to develop the academic, social and career skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. (Against whom or what): To break down paternalistic culture, (What’s Different): the experiences are shaped by the troop leaders and the girls (options are limitless). (So): (Capability 1) allowing them to learn about and experiment in all the different topics they may be interested in (Capability 2) and share their particular or unique expertise (Capability 3) so that each may learn from the other what they may not have an opportunity to be exposed to in other environments.
K. 5E Exercise We followed graduating students through a potential customer journey exercise to understand how to first capture and then keep them through the life cycle. ENTICE: Graduating college senior goes to school’s career advisory office and sees poster of Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, LC Eileen Collins, Sandra Day O’Connor, Katie Couric, Abigail Breslin, Carrie Fisher, Lolo Jones and Venus Williams with the caption “What do they all have in common?” over the Girl Scouts logo. Career Counselor asks service-minded students if they’ve considered the Girl Scouts, and puts them in contact with the appropriate Girl Scouts of Eastern PA Recruitment Manager .
ENTER: Recruitment Manager contacts prospect and invites her to coffee. Troop Leader prospect is impressed by the incredibly dynamic woman that shows up at Starbucks. They discuss career and life goals, and how the Girl Scouts can help achieve them through its mission of leadership, inclusion, and philanthropy.
ENGAGE: Prospect is invited to a troop meeting of a troop matching the prospects interests (gleaned from coffee meeting). Prospect attends along with Recruitment Manager and is welcomed to participate and meeting ends with presentation of personalized thank you cookie basket.
EXIT: At end of meeting, awash in the glow of service and sisterhood, prospect is invited to commit to becoming an Adult Member. A streamlined application is presented and completed on the spot.
EXTEND: The following day, Recruitment Manager calls new Troop Leader to say thank you and begin scheduling trainings and background check. After passing background check, Troop Leader is assigned a mentor Troop Leader to interface with in addition to Recruitment Manager, beginning her Girl Scouts of Eastern PA network.
L. Images Shown to DC Troop We showed the following 3 images to the troop parents in Washington, DC as part of an experiment to validate if a more tech savvy network was what they would need to help stay connected. Our intent was to lead with a gamification, inform and share function that would bring women together at GSEP. Lean In: Is a non-profit organization and online community dedicated to helping all women achieve their ambitions.
Mogul: Is an award winning platform for women worldwide that enables them to share their voice, exchange information and access knowledge. They reach 18 million women weekly.
Waze: Is the largest community based traffic and navigation app. You join other drivers in your area and share real time traffic information. You win points and excel in levels the more information you share.
M. Importance/Difficulty Matrix We plotted some of our ideas on this matrix to validate the viability, feasibility and desirability to bring them to life.
N. Experiment Test Card The experiment card below allowed us to document our test at the DC Girl Scout troop meeting. Here we learned that troop leaders would not welcome another connection, but would rather like to make doing business with Girl Scouts easier. In addition this is where it was suggested to explore college graduates as potential troop leaders.
O. Participation Numbers 2011-2015 These two graphs show that GSEP’s growth is sporadic, with the Adult numbers (troop leaders and other volunteers) being the hardest to maintain. Overall, GSEP’s membership is experiencing a slight, but steady decline.
P. College Volunteering Statistical Proof of Concept We identified the amount of possible troop leaders at the various collegiate institutions that we could potentially identify as troop leaders.
We also surveyed millennial’s interest in becoming troop leaders by asking them if they were ever Girl Scouts; would they ever consider becoming and troop leader and if so how many hours a year they would be willing to devote?
Q. Washington DC Troop Meeting Visit Questions The below is a set of interview questions we designed prior to meeting with the Washington, DC Troop. Troop Leaders: How do you view yourselves as a community? How do you interact with each other? Tell me what you think GS could do to resource and attract troop leaders? Tell me if you would welcome a network dedicated to troop leaders? Were you a girl scout? For how long? What made you stay or leave? Parents: Have you thought about becoming a troop leader? Please tell me why or why not? Tell me why you chose to put your daughter in GS? Tell me what you think would attract more troop leaders to GS? Scouts: Age: Tell me how long you have been in girl scouts or your group? Tell me what you really like about Girl Scouts?
R. Washington DC Troop Meeting Visit Notes Based on the questions in Appendix Q, these are the rough notes from the Washington, DC Girl Scout troop meeting.
S. Washington DC Troop Visit Photos These photos capture the true Washington, DC Girl Scout meeting. While exploring the topic of science, we got to witness firsthand the amount of time and energy that it takes to pull together a great meeting. Below is an example of their assignment board where each girl takes turns with responsibilities necessary to make a great troop meeting.
In the following photos, the girls give respect to the American flag as they open the Washington, DC Girl Scout troop meeting.
I
In this photo, the girls learned about rock candy. They conducted a science experiment where with sugar, water and nitrogen.
In this photo, Troop Leader, Allison takes turns asking the girls qualifying questions around the science lessons they learned about buoyancy.
T. Philadelphia Troop Visit Notes Objective of the visit was to validate GSEP “pain points.”
U. Philadelphia Troop Visit Photos GSEP’s local Troop 1159 discussing how to use their cookie money.
GSEP’s local Troop 1159 “Friendship Circle.”
V. Penn Graduate Women In Science & Engineering Call Notes These notes were gathered from Jennifer’s call with Alex Delaney of PGWISE
University/College Questions - Alex Delaney – Penn Graduate Women In Science & Engineering (PGWISE) 2/15/16 Q: Can you tell me a little more about your organization? A: Interested in having a designated population and have science workshop – but haven’t had a lot of success Q: Why do you think this is an issue? A: We need access to spread the word and would love to consider a relationship with GSEP Q: Would any of your members be interested in a partnership with GSEP? A: Yes, Would be able to provide the lab facilities to do and depending location and can travel to the girls. We would likely not be troop leaders as many are pursuing their PHD and won’t have time. Q: Is there a better time for the girls to take advantage of your services? A: We are available full time year around – but summers are the best Q: What are the demographics of your group? A: Demographics – 500 members – 10% are men and 90% women Q: Were you a girl scout? A: Yes! Was a girl scout – went to second of jr’s, sister was cadet and is now a Councilor for foster children Q: Why did you leave the Girls Scouts? A: We moved to a different to city and didn’t have a troop in new city Q: How is your organization focusing on women and their development? A: Our organization specifically focuses on career development and mentoring – like to hold workshops for elementary to high school in science and tech. Conduct career mentoring for under and grad students to meet with local women in senior positions in tech and business within the community. Q: Can you tell me about whom you have partnerships with? A: USDA, GSK, Pfizer, Lattes with Ladies – highest attended event gives women a chance to connect with women in tech Q: Can you share how often these sessions occur? A: It depends on interest and scheduling – usually once a month Follow up resources: Consider talking to Women in Chemistry and Women in Tech… Alex will share the contacts
W. Penn Sirens Call Notes These notes were gathered from Eric’s call with Nora Lueth, President of Penn Sirens Organization: Penn Sirens Primary Contact: Nora Lueth, President Phone: 605-413-7597 Email: pennsirens@gmail.com Interviewed: 2/15 3pm; Eric spoke with Nora Lueth Description: The Penn Sirens is the University of Pennsylvania's premier female singing ensemble. The Penn Sirens perform a vast array of engaging and diverse music -- a repertoire that consists of styles ranging from classical choral, jazz, and Broadway to contemporary pop and rock. The Penn Sirens is not a typical stand-and-sing choir, but an ensemble that prides itself in captivating audiences with originally choreographed dances and self-directed scenes. On campus, each semester culminates with a student-written, Broadway-style production. Currently composed of 17 talented young women, the Penn Sirens perform at the University and around greater Philadelphia. The Penn Sirens was founded in 2011 with the encouragement of the Penn Women's Center and Harnwell College House's Dean, Dr. Suhnne Ahn. Since its inception, the Penn Sirens and its network of early support endeavor to give young women at the University of Pennsylvania the same opportunities for artistic expression, performance excellence and leadership, as well as musical community that are already afforded to young men on campus by the University of Pennsylvania Glee Club. Currently, no such organization exists on campus which affords the same to young women. The Penn Sirens continue to grow as an organization, maintaining close ties with its brother group, the Penn Glee Club. The Penn Sirens aspire to give its musicians and technical members every opportunity to share their talents with communities both near and far. (http://www.dolphin.upenn.edu/sirens/#/members)
Notes: - Group has 17 singing members (all female) and 5 technical staff (coed) - Penn Sirens have done community service programs before - put on a musical show every semester with totally self-directed choreography and musical arrangements - each member dedicates 7 hours/week for rehearsals - Also put on various performances during the year; they’ve performed at the White House for the Obamas - Nora doesn’t think they can commit to leading a troop but would love to partner with GSEP in some capacity, perhaps a music workshop - Receptive to the idea of older troop(s) working on the larger production - Receptive to having a Girl Scouts rep meet with the Sirens to talk more about partnering. Nora will be point of contact for outreach.
X. Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Call Notes These notes were gathered from Eric’s call with Danielle Schroeder of Drexel University’s Society of Women Engineers Organization: Society of Women Engineers (Drexel Chapter) Primary Contact: Danielle Schroeder, President Phone: 267-269-2509 Email: danielle.e.schroeder@drexel.edu Interviewed: 2/17, 5pm; Eric spoke with Danielle Description: SWE is an organization designed to promote women in the engineering
fields by providing a support network to its members, professional development opportunities, and community service opportunities. (https://drexel.collegiatelink.net/organization/SWE/about)
Notes: - Facilitated a College of Engineering summer program last year (originally intended for GS but then expanded) consisting of 3 separate sessions where companies came in to teach girls about tech. Open to K-12; 107 girls participated - Introduce A Girl To Engineering Day is this Saturday, 2/20. 100+ girls from Philly area attending. Will also have a parent session - Danielle will send contact info for Alistar and Victoria, in charge of outreach - SWE has board of 20 officers - 117 national members (dues-paying); mailing list of 400+ - SWE holds 15-20 events per quarter; including Wellness, Professional Development and Networking programs, as well as General Body Meetings (last GBM had 40+ in attendance) - Officers meet weekly on Sunday; other members don’t have regular contact beyond events - Empowering women but not exclusive to women - Danielle asked how the background checks would work. Some board members who have done volunteer events with minors in the past have clearances already - Receptive to having a Girl Scouts rep meet with SWE board of directors to talk more about partnering. Danielle will be point of contact for outreach.
Y. Women in Computing Society (WiCS) Call Notes These notes were gathered from Eric’s call with Amy Gottsegen of Drexel University’s Women in Computing Society Organization: Women In Computing Society (Drexel Chapter) Primary Contact: Amy Gottsegen Phone: 610-675-4809 Email: amy.m.gottsegen@drexel.edu Interviewed: 2/18, 12pm; Eric spoke with Amy Description: The Women in Computing Society (WiCS) is a female-centric organization tailored specifically to women in a Computer Science or similar field at Drexel University. Its purpose is to support, recruit, and retain women pursuing a degree in the broad field of computing. WiCS will enhance communication among women in computing through informal dinners and gatherings, speakers, field trips, and arrange for tutoring and mentoring for its members as needed. The ultimate goal is to empower women in computer fields to succeed and thrive in the Drexel community. (https://drexel.collegiatelink.net/organization/women-in-computing-society/about) Notes: - Drexel WiCS is 10 years old; broadly supports women in computing - WiCS has a number of initiatives, primarily around professional development - networking - resume review/interview prep - mentorship program (upper- to lower-classmen) - meetups on a monthly basis - Amy is trying to get a new initiative off the ground: youth outreach - Working with TechGirlz - General Body Events 3x per month - Executive board meets every other week - Official registration page counts ~200 members (undergrad + grad + faculty) - ~40 students regularly attend meetings - Host social events as well - Amy was a GS in elementary school, until her troop disbanded when the Troop Leader resigned - “I would love to be a Girl Scout troop leader personally!” - Partially as a function of the co-op program, Drexel students tend to be more focused on professional development than the average college student - “I don’t think I could muster a lot of enthusiasm [for being troop leaders].” - Amy has personally tried to organize social activities, with limited success - Amy would really like to set up something with GSEP; agreed to share her contact info and confirmed she is the best point of contact
Z. Chi Upsilon Sigma National Latin Sorority Call Notes These notes were gathered from Eric’s call with Sarah Woode-Afiriyie of Chi Upsilon Sigma Sorority Organization: Women In Computing Society (Drexel Chapter) Primary Contact: Amy Gottsegen Phone: 610-675-4809 Email: amy.m.gottsegen@drexel.edu Interviewed: 2/18, 12pm; Eric spoke with Amy Description: The Women in Computing Society (WiCS) is a female-centric organization tailored specifically to women in a Computer Science or similar field at Drexel University. Its purpose is to support, recruit, and retain women pursuing a degree in the broad field of computing. WiCS will enhance communication among women in computing through informal dinners and gatherings, speakers, field trips, and arrange for tutoring and mentoring for its members as needed. The ultimate goal is to empower women in computer fields to succeed and thrive in the Drexel community. (https://drexel.collegiatelink.net/organization/women-in-computing-society/about) Notes: - Drexel WiCS is 10 years old; broadly supports women in computing - WiCS has a number of initiatives, primarily around professional development - networking - resume review/interview prep - mentorship program (upper- to lower-classmen) - meetups on a monthly basis - Amy is trying to get a new initiative off the ground: youth outreach - Working with TechGirlz - General Body Events 3x per month - Executive board meets every other week - Official registration page counts ~200 members (undergrad + grad + faculty) - ~40 students regularly attend meetings - Host social events as well - Amy was a GS in elementary school, until her troop disbanded when the Troop Leader resigned - “I would love to be a Girl Scout troop leader personally!” - Partially as a function of the co-op program, Drexel students tend to be more focused on professional development than the average college student - “I don’t think I could muster a lot of enthusiasm [for being troop leaders].” - Amy has personally tried to organize social activities, with limited success - Amy would really like to set up something with GSEP; agreed to share her contact info and confirmed she is the best point of contact