Please use a monospaced font (Courier 12 point, for instance) to view this document. BUSINESS ASSISTANCE NOTE #3 APPROACHES TO FORMING A LEARNING CONSORTIUM Issues to Address This Business Assistance Note was developed from the National Workforce Assistance Collaborative publication Approaches to Forming a Learning Consortium: A Guide for Service Providers, published by the National Alliance of Business. Copies of the full publication can be obtained from National Alliance of Business Distribution, P.O. Box 501, Annapolis Junction, MD 20702, phone 800/787-7788, fax 301/206-9789, or e-mail info@nab.com. It can also be downloaded from the Collaborative's gopher server (info.psu.edu -- open "Information Servers at Penn State," and "Research Centers and Institutes") or world wide web home page (http://www.psu.edu/institutes/nwac). Learning Consortium A group of companies that come together to learn from each other in order to _ Develop new capabilities, _ Build the skills of their employees, and _ Increase the productive capacities of their enterprises. Many small and mid-sized businesses lack the time, money, and staff expertise to single-handedly develop and implement a plan for increasing productivity. By joining together into learning consortia, however, these same companies can share the costs of needed expertise, and more important, share their own knowledge and experience about what works and how. Learning consortia are groups of companies that come together to learn from each other in order to develop new capabilities, build the skills of their employees, and increase the productive capacities of their enterprises. They can be formed by the member companies themselves, or they can be developed with the assistance of some outside entity, such as an education and training supplier, manufacturing extension program or center, economic development institution, business or trade association, union, business management consultant, or large company customer that wants to improve the productivity of its small company suppliers. The issues that each of these organizations needs to address in forming a consortium would be the same, regardless of organization type. This Business Assistance Note will help individuals from any of these groups to organize and support a learning consortium. It will show that: _ A learning consortium is much more than a forum for sharing training and reducing training costs; _ There is no single approach to organizing and supporting a consortium, though every consortium will need to address the issues of concept, membership, organization, mission and goals, assessment, program development, program delivery, evaluation, and sustainability; _ Learning consortia provide economic benefits to companies, employees, and the communities in which they reside; and _ While organizing and forming a learning consortium is not easy, the barriers to success can be overcome. DEFINITION OF A LEARNING CONSORTIUM In general, a learning consortium is a group of companies that come together to learn from each other in order to develop new capabilities, build the skills of their employees, and increase the productive capacities of their enterprises. Some consortia, however, do not restrict their membership to companies. They may include such parties as labor, educational institutions, job training organizations, economic development agencies, or community organizations. Even in learning consortia with broadened memberships, though, the cornerstone of the consortia remains making member companies more competitive. Most learning consortia undertake both workforce and workplace development efforts. A consortium's workforce development efforts concentrate on building the skills of the individuals in member companies (including management staff), while its workplace development efforts aim at improving the productivity and efficiency of the companies' workplace processes and strategies. Members of learning consortia engage in cooperative learning, or learning from each other. In learning consortia, the interaction of the members is key. Firms share knowledge and work together to build their productivity and competitiveness. In a learning consortium, members engage in an ongoing process that provides both firms and any organizations working with them an opportunity to be more reflective about where they are trying to go and what might be the best strategies for getting there. While the key feature of learning consortia is cooperative learning, most learning consortia also engage in collective learning, or training. Consortium members will come together to jointly develop, purchase, or share training, thus reducing the costs of training to any one firm. In these training efforts, the locus of control and power rests with the consortium, not the training providers. Members define their training needs and learning objectives and seek providers willing to meet their specifications. They do not have to fit their needs within existing classes defined by the providers. ISSUES IN FORMING A LEARNING CONSORTIUM Issues to Address _ Creating a concept _ Building membership _ Creating and organization _ Establishing a mission and goals _ Assessing needs _ Developing a program _ Delivering the program _ Evaluating the consortium _ Building sustainability There is no single approach to forming a learning consortium. There are, however, a number of issues that most consortia will have to address at some time during their existence if they are to succeed. These issues might arise in different orders -- they are not numbered steps that can be followed one after the other. Some of the issues are interrelated and may need to be addressed simultaneously. Some may never be resolved once and for all, but instead have to be visited and revisited over the consortium's lifetime. These issues are as follows: Creating a Concept Most learning consortia need to start with an initial concept -- an idea about what they will try to accomplish and who will be involved. This initial concept is not cast in concrete, it is a working concept, used to discuss the consortium with potential members and generate a base of support. Massachusetts High Performance Manufacturing Consortium The Massachusetts High Performance Manufacturing Consortium is a group of 13 small to mid-sized companies, mostly electronics or electronically related firms, working together to become high performance organizations. Led by the Bay State Skills Corporation, this consortium reduces the firms' training costs by sharing firms' existing training resources among members and jointly developing or contracting for training services from outside providers. In addition, the consortium assesses members' needs, provides some on-site consulting services, and promotes networking among members so that they can learn from one another. Building Membership There is no learning consortium without members. Building membership, however, involves more than just recruiting participants, it also involves educating them about what the consortium can be and helping them to become a cohesive group by building interest, knowledge, and trust. Creating an Organization A learning consortium must become an organization if it is to operate smoothly. It needs to have an operating structure, an individual responsible for keeping the consortium on track, money to cover management and program expenses, and a system for keeping members informed about the consortium's activities. Members need to be intimately involved in organization creation to ensure that the resulting system will meet their needs. Establishing a Mission and Goals Learning consortium members need to jointly develop a mission and goals, specifying their purpose and what they hope to accomplish together. These will serve as the overarching framework for their activities. Goals will be most useful if they include both measures of success and milestones for success. The consortium should encourage member organizations to develop their own measurable goals for participation in the consortium, beyond those goals jointly agreed to by the consortium members. Assessing Needs Before a learning consortium can provide an appropriate program of services, it must determine what services its member companies need, both to succeed in the marketplace and to be effective participants in the consortium. Assessing needs involves determining companies' needs, and conducting measurements of those needs. Developing a Program The learning consortium will need a program of services addressing companies' needs as separate organizations and as members of the consortium. Developing a program involves researching the possibilities and cataloging available resources, and then defining the program and acquiring curricula. Agile Apparel Agile Apparel is a consortium of six small garment businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area working with organized labor and the City College of San Francisco to convert from high- volume to high-value production. The consortium provides training for both managers and line workers, customized technical assistance to help each company develop and implement a conversion plan, and networking opportunities where the companies can learn from each other. Delivering the Program The payoff to all of the planning is the actual delivery of services. For most learning consortia, this includes group training sessions, networking opportunities, and one-on-one consulting services. Programs need to be continually monitored over the course of delivery to ensure that they are meeting members' needs, and revised if necessary. Members need to be prepared for their own program delivery responsibilities. This may include providing release time for employees in training or networking sessions, ensuring that the appropriate staff are available to work with a consultant, and collecting and providing relevant data for program monitoring. If the program is to be successful, members will need to reinforce new learning at the work site and encourage integration of new knowledge and ideas into company work practices. Evaluating the Consortium While it is important to continually gain feedback and rethink, redesign, and improve the consortium's programs, it is also necessary to periodically conduct more comprehensive evaluations measuring the consortium's progress against its stated goals. These evaluations should measure progress against the consortium's goals for itself, for its individual program components, and for each of its members. Building Sustainability Some learning consortia are created with a fixed end point in mind, like helping members to attain ISO 9000 certification. Once their objective is achieved, these consortia might choose to disband. Many learning consortia are focused on continual improvement; their members hope to work together for years. These consortia will need to strengthen their structures, systems, relationships, and resources to promote longevity. BENEFITS OF A LEARNING CONSORTIUM The benefits of membership in a learning consortium are many. The process of working together as a group and learning cooperatively is extremely powerful. Members can share problems, solutions, and ideas with each other, thereby reducing the number of mistakes they make and shortening their learning curves. In many cases, consortium members, collectively, have all the answers they need to succeed -- all they have to do is learn to share. Agile Apparel introduced modular manufacturing to one of its members. Once successfully instituted _ Productivity rose 20%, and _ Workers' earning increased 10 to 30%. Through consortia, training costs can be reduced, training resources expanded and training relevancy improved. Consortium members can reduce their costs by sharing training development and delivery expenses. They can expand their access to training resources by sharing curricula, facilities, and trainers. By combining their resources, members might also be able to research and design new programs that they could not have developed on their own. Finally, with the leverage members gain by being part of a group, they can persuade education and training providers to tailor course content to meet their needs. While these benefits hold for both small and large companies, they are of particular importance for smaller firms. Few small or mid-sized companies would be able to achieve these benefits without becoming part of a consortium, while many larger companies might be able to achieve them on their own. When the benefits of shared learning and training are added together, everyone gains. Companies' competitiveness is improved. Employees' employability and value -- potential wage -- are enhanced. And for communities, there is increased economic activity and a stronger tax base. OVERCOMING BARRIERS Organizing and forming a learning consortium -- or any consortium -- is not easy. There are many barriers to success, including companies' lack of information and resources. But the barriers can be overcome, and the benefits of a consortium, particularly for small and mid-sized companies are great. To succeed, consortia should: _ Gain commitment from the highest levels within member organizations and involve all levels of the organization in consortium activities. Gaining the full support of members is crucial to success. Consortium goals must be aligned with members' goals. Full support is achieved when the consortium's activities meet members' needs. _ Recognize and address firms' concerns about sharing information with competitors. Companies will participate if they feel their competitive position will not be jeopardized. Addressing this concern might involve restricting consortium membership to noncompetitors, or delegating some issues to one-on-one meetings rather than to group discussion. _ Build on the success of earlier efforts. Create consortia out of earlier group or collaborative efforts. Once in operation, seize on each small success and use it to spur members on to even greater achievements. _ Create a sense of permanence and stability. A clear purpose, structure, and process will provide security. Preparing members to take ownership of the consortium -- giving them control of activities -- will help secure their continuing involvement and support. _ Demonstrate to members that participation in a learning consortium will benefit them directly. Offer concrete value up front, spell out, clearly and succinctly, the gains that will accrue to members. Help companies see the whole picture. Not only will the companies be able to obtain customized training they could not otherwise afford, but, by working together, members will be able to improve productivity, quality, and profitability. The benefits to be gained from learning consortia are real. Company members attest to lower training costs, better quality training, improved work processes, and increased productivity. While the barriers to forming learning consortia exist, they can be overcome, and they are worth overcoming. Further information on the issues presented in this note can be obtained from: Andrews, William G., Keith W. Bird, and Eric Brown The Industrial Consortium Strategy: A Successful Cooperative Effort Involving Education and Business (Manchester, NY: New Hampshire College and University Council). Hatch, C. Richard, The Network Brokers Handbook: An Entrepreneurial Guide to Cooperative Strategies for Manufacturing Competitiveness (Gaithersburg, MD: U.S. Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Manufacturing Extension Partnership, 1995). National Workforce Assistance Collaborative, Approaches to Forming a Learning Consortium: A Guide for Service Providers (Washington, DC: National Alliance of Business, 1995). Parker, Eric and Joel Rogers, The Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership: Lessons for National Policy (Preliminary Report to the National Center on the Workplace, January 1995). Rosenfeld, Stuart and Brian Bosworth, Significant Others: Exploring the Potential of Manufacturing Networks (Chapel Hill, NC: Regional Technology Strategies, Inc., 1993). -- Terri Bergman Possible Reviewers* The National Workforce Assistance Collaborative builds the capacity of the service providers working with small and mid- sized companies in order to help businesses adopt high- performance work practices, become more competitive, and ultimately advance the well-being of their employees. The Collaborative was created with a $650,000 cooperative agreement grant from the Department of Labor to the National Alliance of Business. Current partners on the project include the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning, the Institute for the Study of Adult Literacy at The Pennsylvania State University, the Maryland Center for Quality and Productivity, and the National Labor-Management Association. The Collaborative provides assistance in four areas: employee training, labor-management relations, work restructuring, and workplace literacy. For more information, contact Cathy Stewart at the National Alliance of Business, 202/289-2915. Those who signed up for this issue Those listed in the acknowledgments for the publication Those listed on P. 47 of the publication Lynn Frye Steve Mitchell Jim Van Erden *I do not recommend that we send the note to all of these people. All of them were involved with the original publication. We got all of their ideas for that. I think we can go with a much more truncated set of reviewers since this is based on an earlier work.