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Understanding the local market and competitor contextResource to support service design under NDIS ? Tool 1 of 6

24 June 2016

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Resource to support service design under NDIS ? Tool 1 of 6Understanding the local market and competitor context | 24 June 2016

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Contents

Introduction to understanding local factors that influence our services.....................................................3

Step 1: Understand the broader context......................................................................................................5

Step 2: Gather information about our local market...................................................................................10

Step 3: Understand what the information means for us............................................................................17

Step 4: Identify options for how we will respond.......................................................................................20

Next steps...................................................................................................................................................24

Appendix A Glossary.................................................................................................................................25

Appendix B Summary of relevant resources..............................................................................................26

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Introduction to understanding local factors that influence our services

Why is an external scan and strategic planning

important?

What is the output of this tool?

How do I use the tool?

• The NDIS will make the disability sector increasingly competitive. To succeed in this environment, you will have to gather and monitor information and assess how external factors influence your strategy and direction.

• A SWOT analysis that you can test with your colleagues and your board• A breakdown of your organisation’s relative strengths and challenges versus others in your

local market area.

• The tool takes you through a 4 step process to develop your options for modifying your service offering in response to market conditions.

• You will be provided with guidance and templates to complete each step.

Overview of resource

What are external factors and why are they important?External factors are anything outside the direct control of your organisation. The national introduction of NDIS will bring with it a raft of political, economic and social changes, with corresponding impacts for all disability sector providers across Queensland. At a more specific and local level, the move to self-directed funding of participants under NDIS means that Queensland’s disability services market is poised to become increasingly competitive.

To be successful in this environment, providers of disability services will need to build an understanding of these external factors and how they impact the direction of their organisation. These strategic choices will include what types of services the organisation chooses to provide and how it provides them.

What is the output of this tool?This tool will assist you in analysing the broad and local context and communicate the situation to your board and assess your own position in this context. This tool provides guidance and templates on each step of the process.

After using the tool you will have:

Structured local market information, including:

an approximation of current demand in areas you are operating or looking into

an understanding of how demographics are expected to change in those areas

other providers (and potential competitors) in those areas

the services delivered by other providers

strategic options to take to your colleagues and your board on how to potentially act within this environment

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How do I use the tool?The tool takes you through four steps to identify and incorporate external factors into your strategic planning process. In each step guidance is provided to assist you. The steps you will undertake are detailed below.

Each step described above is contained in the following broader framework. This tool examines each area of this framework.

Yourorganisation

Suppliers Alternativeservices

Participants

Newproviders

Otherproviders

This tool contains a set of complementary templates for you to use to assess each part of the above framework. Where relevant, the tool will refer you to online resources that will help you fill in those templates.

One of the most directly relevant inputs is an online data search tool, which has been created to make the publically available data about the disability sector in Queensland more accessible. Beyond this tool, there are a range of other online data sources available which may be helpful, ranging from specific guidance and factsheets from the National Disability Insurance Scheme website to general population data available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. There is a list and link to data sources in the data collection tables. You will also benefit from conversations with your colleagues on what they see as the big changes that could affect the organisation.

Attached to this tool is also a glossary of key terms. If you are unsure what a term means, refer to the glossary for guidance.

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http://www.abs.gov.au/

http://www.ndis.gov.au/


The tool isn’t intended to be completed in one-go. You should take time to do research, talk to your colleagues, seek help where you need it and review what you have done.

When do I use the tool?This tool is best positioned to inform strategic planning activities. You will typically perform a level of proactive strategic planning annually with your colleagues and board. However, you will also need to update your analysis of external factors should those factors change. Monitor the environment for new information and ask yourself if the strategic plan needs to be revisited.

This tool should also be used in conjunction with other resources are your disposal. In particular you should consider using tools which assess your internal capabilities, which include:

Resource 3: Gauging financial impacts of service changes.

Resource 4: Gauging non-financial impacts of service changes.

Resource 5: Understand how to market services to clients

What do I need to know before using this tool?This tool is appropriate for people and organisations regardless of their level of experience with strategic planning. It doesn’t assume experience in strategic planning and provides guidance throughout.

Before using the tool, think about the following.

1. Think about your organisation’s overarching purpose: Before using the tool you should have an understanding of why your organisation exists. This is helpful to be able to refer back to the company vision and mission statements. The NDS guidance document on strategic planning is also a useful and practical primer for approaching strategic planning.

2. Research and collaborate with others: You will likely need to do some external research to complete the tool. You will also likely need to collaborate with others- consider colleagues, stakeholders and contacts that can make valuable contributions.

3. Take your time and review: Don’t plan on completing the tool in one go. Work through the tool at your own pace. Set aside a few hours to first go through the tool (Including reviewing the key terms in the glossary attached) and then revisit the tool later and revise what you have done.

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http://www.nds.org.au/asset/view_document/979318268

http://www.nds.org.au/asset/view_document/979318268


Step 1: Understand the broader contextStep 1 focuses on understanding the broader context of how the introduction of NDIS might impact providers. You will be working with the following templates in the corresponding pack:

Template A – Framing the broader context.

Why is this step important?

What information do I need?

What is the output?

• The NDIS is projected to impact the market. • Political, economic, social and technology changes can impact the market.• An understanding of the impact of these factors will improve your planning and decision

making.

• You will need a broad understanding of your company, where you operate, the services you provide, the level and source of funding and the demographics of your customers

• At the end of this step you will have captured an analysis of the broader context associated with NDIS and how it might impact your organisation

Step 1 Overview

The NDIS is projected to bring significant changes to the disability services sector as a whole, including on political economic and social fronts. While all providers of services to people with a disability are likely to be impacted to some degree, the impacts on specific providers will differ according to their circumstances. There is a significant amount of information available on these external factors, although somewhat less information is available on specific impacts. Hence, the first challenge for providers is to understand NDIS’s potential impacts on the broader environment and start to reflect on the relevance for their organisation.

A PEST framework, outlined in Figure 1 below, provides a structured way to analyse and segment a large volume of information about a complex environment into a digestible framework. Segmenting information in this way helps you breakdown the complexity into more management pieces and reflect on how these impact your own organisation. This will in turn help you understand the dynamics in the local context. PEST is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors.

Figure 1: Using PEST to understand the broader context

Dimension Description

Political, legislative and regulatory

Information relating to how shifts in government policy, regulations and legal issues and both formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate might impact an organisation’s direction andoperations.

Economic and financial Information relating to how changes to economic and employment policies, and other economic issues might impact an organisation’s direction and financial position, including the purchasing power of potential customers.

Social and community Information relating to how population, demographic and cultural trends and shifts might impact an organisation’s direction and client/ customer base/needs.

Technology and practice Information relating to how evolving technology options and practice standards might impact an organisation’s direction and service model/ service offerings.

This framework forms the basis of Template A – Framing the broader context. Some basic information on NDIS, separated out under these dimensions, is provided in the Things to think about section at the end of this chapter.

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OutputIn this step you will collect information on the broader context in a structured way. After completing this step, you will have translated that information into a list of potential impacts on your organisation.

This will help you understand the factors you may want to monitor and will be an input into the remaining steps.

What you need to doWe have provided templates for you to record information and a set of key considerations which may prompt you to understand how external factors may influence you. Start with the areas you feel comfortable in answering and try to fill in the remainder with research. Add more considerations under each section as are relevant to your organisation.

Table 1: Sample PEST analysis for an area of interest

My organisation: Sunny town careRegion or LGA: Sunshine CoastServices we provide in this area: Specialist disability | community care | community mental health

Size of our organisation in this area: Micro <$0.5m | Small $0.5m-$2m | Medium $2-$5m | Large >$5m

Dimension Key considerations Response to prompting question

Political, legislative and regulatory

Do we have any experience with the Queensland Government’s existing reforms that may assist in NDIS readiness e.g. self-directed funding through Your Life Your Choice’ individualised funding

Are we aware of the potential changes to the regulation and how these might impact us?

Are there any tax or other legal implications that may affect our customer base

[Additional considerations]

Economic and financial

What are the emerging implications of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) pricing in the NDIS trial sites for us?

The NDIA pricing for NDIS trial sites is available. This can provide a useful guide. We can pick a regional and urban mix of pricing for Sunshine Coast

What will be the implications of us moving away from block funding to less predictable demand?

What is the purchasing power of our potential customers and will this change


Social and community

What is our previous experience in engaging participants on service planning?

How will demand for services in our area under NDIS be impacted by the local population?

Are there and cultural issues of which we need to be aware when delivering our services


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Technological and practice

Where might our existing services and practice be challenged to adapt to participant preferences?

How adaptable are our existing back-of-house systems to accommodate transition to individual payment?


Things to think aboutWhat is NDIS?

The NDIS represents a fundamental redesign to Australia’s approach and system of support for people with a disability, their families and carers.

The NDIS connects people with a disability to community and mainstream supports and Information, and other Linkages and Capacity Building supports

The NDIS funds individualised, reasonable and necessary supports for eligible people (participants) with permanent disabilities that significantly affect their ability to take part in every-day activities. This will assist them to pursue their goals and aspirations, and participate in daily life.

The NDIS provides participants with choice and control over how, when and where their supports are provided. It also provides certainty that eligible people will receive the support they need over their lifetime.

Under the NDIS, more people will be able to access a wider range of supports than those currently being delivered through the disability support system.

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is responsible for implementing, and managing, the NDIS right across Australia.

Under the NDIS, the number of Queenslanders receiving disability supports is expected to more than double to 97,000 by 2019. The NDIS will inject approximately $4 billion per year into the Queensland economy, and is expected to create up to 13,000 additional jobs in Queensland, once fully implemented by 2019.

Implementation of the NDIS will involve significant changes that will impact a large number of stakeholders nationally, including: state and territory governments; disability service providers; other mainstream and private sector organisations involved in service provision; and people with a disability, their families and carers.

What are the basic political, legislative and regulatory changes under NDIS?

The reforms introduced under the National Disability Scheme Act 2013 (the Act) will dramatically change the way people with a disability are empowered to control how and what services they require.

Queensland undertook to implement the NDIS through agreement with the Commonwealth in May 2013. This agreement confirms transition to the full scheme will commence from 1 July 2016 and be implemented by 1 July 2019.

The Queensland Government is currently working with the Commonwealth Government to finalise the Bilateral Agreement for the transition to the NDIS. This important agreement will provide vital information about the timing of the NDIS rollout and anticipated levels of demand for services in different areas across Queensland. It will also include information about financial arrangements, quality and safeguards, workforce, continuity of supports, sector and system

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readiness and performance reporting. It is expected that this agreement will be finalised by the end of August 2015

There may be potential regulatory implications for providers in terms of1:

NDIA provider registration.

Complaints management.

Staff arrangements for working with participants.

Safeguards for participants managing their own plans.

Changes to restrictive practices under NDIS.

1 National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2015, Proposal for a National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguarding framework.

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What are the basic economic and financial changes under NDIS?2

Governments will no longer be purchasing specialist disability services. In the NDIS, the primary funding relationships will be between the person with disability and the provider of supports. This means the Commonwealth, states and territories will not have funding agreements with providers to deliver disability supports in a participant’s plan.

Funding for disability supports is allocated to each eligible individual, not to a provider of supports. An individual support plan will be developed and the person with disability, their guardian or nominee then chooses who will provide their supports and how, when and where they get delivered.

There will be a need for new business and staffing models to operate in a consumer led environment where contracts for support are individualised.

What are the basic social and community changes under NDIS?

The NDIS will deliver a significant increase to the capacity of the disability system in Australia. The new service arrangements within the scheme include commitments to individualised funding approaches. This will ensure people with a disability will be empowered to make their own choices to achieve a better quality of life and increased social and economic participation.

For providers, there will be a number of potential impacts of this change in how they perceive and interact with their client/customer base, including3:

Less predictability and certainty about demand and revenue.

Increased competition between providers on price, quality and customer experience.

Multiple intermediaries to interact with (in addition to the participant), increasing the degrees of separation between the provider and the participant.

An imperative to earn the trust and loyalty of clients so they become repeat customers.

What are the basic technology and practice changes under NDIS?

Increased, consumer-driven demand for disability supports will necessitate a review of existing services and service delivery models. Innovation is an essential factor in response. Service providers will require the capability, in terms of skills, knowledge, resources and business systems, to deliver services in the right way and maximise efficiency and effectiveness.

Participants will be empowered to challenge established models of practice. Providers will be encouraged to consider individualised services and flexible delivery to meet participant preferences, without risking the ongoing sustainability of operations.

There will be a need for new business practices and supporting systems to operate in an environment where payments are retrospective and contracts for support are individualised.

2 National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2015, Proposal for a National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguarding framework. 3 National Disability Insurance Scheme, 2015, Proposal for a National Disability Insurance Scheme Quality and Safeguarding framework.

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Where can I go to learn more?

There is a significant amount of information about NDIS available through the internet, including fact sheets, discussion papers and supporting resources. This includes information from governments, peak and industry bodies, providers and consumer groups, each of whom bring their own perspective to the discussion.

For more information:

www.ndis.gov.au or call the NDIS Hotline on 1800 800 110 for further information from the National Disability Insurance Agency and to subscribe to the NDIS e-newsletter

www.communities.qld.gov.au/ndis for information on Queensland’s NDIS preparations and to sign up for Queensland NDIS update e-blast

What will I do with this information?The broad context information you captured in the above table will be used in Step 2 to help inform what the likely goals of competitors might be and in Step 3 to help you understand your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

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http://www.communities.qld.gov.au/ndis

http://www.ndis.gov.au/


Step 2: Gather information about our local market

Step 2 focuses on understanding the local market environment, including local supply of and demand for disability services. You will be working with the following resources and templates in the corresponding pack:

Local market data search tool.

Template B – Local area demand.

Template C – Local area supply.

The Local market data search tool is currently hosted online at the following web address.



What is the output?

• As the NDIS disability services market becomes more competitive it will become more important for organisations to understand the competitive landscape

• The information you captured in stage 1 • An understanding of your clients and what they would see as alternative options

(‘substitutes’) to using disability services

• At the end of this step you will have a structured analysis of your local area market including services provided by other providers and the clients they service

Step 2 Overview

From a commercial perspective, the context of your local market will be influenced by two main drivers:

Demand – the actual or potential participants requiring disability support services, including those you provide.

Supply – the other organisations providing disability support services, including established players in the area, new entrants and those offering an alternative service.

This mash-up of demand and supply is the competitive landscape in which you operate.

As with how the broader context was treated in Step 1, the objective of this step is to gather information about the local context which is relevant to your organisation and break it down into digestible pieces. The approach is to use an established approach to exploring market competition, the Porter’s Five Forces Analysis, which has been tailored to the Queensland disability services context. Porter’s Five Forces is a tool which helps organisations assess the competitive forces in any given market and whether that market is attractive. Attractiveness is viewed as the overall profitability of a potential business in a market

This tailored framework is outlined in the figure below and forms the foundations of Template B – Local area demand and Template C – Local area supply.

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https://public.tableau.com/profile/publish/DOC07-Resource1-tableaubook/Story1


Figure 2: Using an adaption of Porter’s 5-forces to understand the local context

Yourorganisation


Participants

Newproviders

Otherproviders


Participants Information relating to current or potential customers for the services you provide. Pre-NDIS, you will have considered them clients; individually allocated funding means they will operate more as customers. Their actual or potential requirement for your services sets the local market demand.

Other providers Information relating to organisations already operating in your local market, delivering the same or similar services to those you deliver. They impact supply by providing participants with options for the same services. You might view them as either potential competitors or partners.

New providers Information relating to new organisations entering your local market, delivering the same or similar services to those you deliver. They impactsupply by providing participants with additional options for the same services. You might view them as either potential competitors or partners.

Alternative services Information relating to new organisations entering your local market, delivering different services that nonetheless serve a similar participant need. They impact supply by providing participants with an alternative to your services. You might view them as either competitors or partners.

Suppliers Information relating to other organisations that you rely on to deliver your services, either currently or in the future. They include both suppliers of goods, services or materials that you utilise in delivering services, and organisations that deliver services on your behalf.

We recognise that a significant challenge for Queensland providers moving from block funding arrangement into a more competitive market is that many providers have not been required to undertake this kind of review to inform their strategy. We have included a link to a customised Local market data search tool to assist with this undertaking. The tool is designed to provide a snapshot of supply and demand by local government area, packaging up publically available information on the Queensland disability services market by local government under a simple search interface. We discuss how to use the Local market data search tool to support your research is discussed later in this chapter.

OutputIn this step you will search for the competitors in the market areas you are operating in or are interested in operating in and seek input from colleagues and stakeholders on what these competitors have planned. After completing this step, you will have a structured view of the supply and demand in the relevant markets areas.

This will help you understand where you will compete with or complement other organisations and will be a critical input into Step 3.

What you need to doWe have provided two templates for you:

Template B – Local area demand will provide you a format to analyse and record insights on participant numbers, types and requirements in your local area.

Template C – Local area supply will provide you a format to identify and evaluate your competitors and market participants.

Examples of each of the templates have been set out below in the Things to think about section, below.

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Things to think aboutWhat does market demand look like in my local area?

How do we think about our client groups?

All clients are individuals who you will have to work with to identify their unique needs and how you can best meet them. However, to understand our direction as a business, we need to look for clusters of similarities and differences between individuals and treating these as client groups. In thinking about client groups, we try to split them into groups that are meaningful and useful using a range of demographic factors, such as age, disability type and location.

How many client groups should I plan around?

Try to divide your participants into a manageable number of groups. The number of client groups you will identify in the below template will depend on the number of services you provide, the diversity of your client base and the size of your organisation. Try to keep the number of client groups to a manageable number, such as around 5 groups.

If there are particular groups that you often work with (e.g. young children and their families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities etc.), you may want to include segments from these groups separately.

Where do I start?

One of your likely goals will be to convert your current clients into ongoing customers under NDIS, so start by gathering the information that you have on your current client base. You should have a wealth of information available about these participants, their demographics, and their service needs and preferences. This will makes existing clients a good place to start the segmentation purpose.

How do I find out about potential clients?

Consider all NDIS participants in identifying client groups, including participants you don’t currently service. Remember that the NDIS presents an opportunity for your organisation to work with new client groups that you don’t currently service and think about how these clients are similar or different to your existing clients.

To source information on potential clients, try searching for your local government area in the first two tabs of the Local market data search tool, which provide population information for:

Current demand for disability services.

Future population projections.

Comparing your current client base against this information will allow you to estimate how much of the local market you currently serve and what additional potential there may be within it.

Where do I record this information?

Record the information in Template B – Local area demand, as per the worked example overleaf.

Once you have the bulk of the information in place for a given client group, reflect on what place they might have in your organisation’s future direction under NDIS.

Remember to approach this iteratively. It might take you several passes to build a picture of local market demand that you are comfortable using.

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Table 2: Sample customer segments

Customer segments Group name Estimated number of participants Likely goals Current relationship Future relationship What this means for us

Participants (current)Change services / additional services Retain current services Occasional customer Loyal customer

Participants (prospective)

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What does market supply look like in my local area?

How do we think about other organisations?

As per the model presented earlier, other organisations will fall into one of three categories:

Other providers.

New providers.

Alternative services.

A comprehensive understanding of supply in your local market means identifying those organisations under each category which are most relevant to you.

Remember also that you should not default to thinking about other organisations as competitors. A changed market under NDIS will present opportunity for innovation and collaboration, meaning that the exercise should be equally useful in identifying prospective partners.

How many other organisations should I plan around?

Try to keep your analysis of supply to a manageable number of relevant organisations. The number of relevant organisations you will identify in the below template will depend on the number of services you provide, the diversity of your client base and the size of your organisation.

How do I identify the other organisations operating in my local area?

To source information on potential clients, try searching for your local government area in the final three tabs of the Local market data search tool, which provide information for:

Availability and uptake of disability services.

Services offered by provider organisations.

Historical funding arrangements for provider organisations.

Comparing your current organisational circumstances and service offerings against this information will allow you to identify what other organisations are relevant to your organisation’s future direction under NDIS.

How do I find out more about the organisations that I have identified?

Once you have identified the relevant organisations from a supply perspective, you may wish to do additional research about them, such as their strategy and reputation. This information is not always readily available. In terms of next steps, try tapping the following source:

Company webpages and publications, which may provide information around strategy and ambitions.

Your clients and networks, which may provide information around how the organisations are perceived relative to your own.

Using this information, you will have to infer the likely impacts on your organisation and its future direction. Tapping your Board and other networks may be an effective way to check your thinking on the matter.

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Record the information in Template C – Local area supply, as per the worked example overleaf.

Once you have the bulk of the information in place for other relevant organisations, reflect on what place they might have in your organisation’s future direction under NDIS.

Remember to approach this iteratively. It might take you several passes to build a picture of local market supply that you are comfortable using.

What will I do with this information?The local market supply and demand information will provide local specifics to the broad context information captured in Step 1. You will use these two sources of information to identify the likely impact of NDIS transition on your organisation.

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Table 3: Sample evaluation of competitors and market participants

Competitors and market participants

Region or LGA: Sun shine Coast Services we provide: Specialise disability Size of our organisation in this area:

Local market participants Organisation Client base Provider type Provider size Provider region

Other providers

1. PROVIDER 1

Disability types Specialist disability Micro Metropolitan

Specific populations Community care Small Regional/ remote

Community mental health Medium Metro and

Regional/ remote

Large

2. PROVIDER 2

New providers

•TOP 3

Alternative Services

•TOP 3

Suppliers •TOP 3

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Key:


Step 3: Understand what the information means for us

Step 3 focuses on understanding what this local market environment information means for our organisation. You will be working with the following templates in the corresponding pack:

Template D – SWOT analysis.



What is the output?

• You will need to understand how well placed your organisation is against the broader context and the local market information and how that influences what services you will offer in the future.

• You will need the information you captured in steps 1 and 2• You will want to understand your organisational capabilities, particularly where those

capabilities are not being used to a full extent

• At the end of this step you will understand your organisation’s strengths and weaknesses in relation to other providers in your local market under NDIS.

• You will have also identified the opportunities and threats that these present for your organisation and decide what these mean for your service offering.

Step 3 Overview

The information you have collected and analysed on the broader context and the local market context will be valuable in helping you determine your organisation’s direction under NDIS. To realise this value, the challenge is to interpret and present the information in a summary form that people understand. Hence, the focus of this step is how all the inputs from Step 1 and Step 2 can be applied to your organisation. We will achieve this by using a SWOT analysis, identifying your organisation’s comparative strengths and weaknesses, and using these to identify opportunities and threats.

Figure 3: The broader context and local context impact on your organisation

Yourorganisation


Participants

Newproviders

Otherproviders


Strengths Areas where your organisation has an advantage relative to other organisations.

Weaknesses Areas where your organisation is at a disadvantage relative to other organisations.

Opportunities Areas that your organisation may be able to build on a strength to be successful. They may present as gaps in service delivery, common issues that your client segments face and the need for differentiated services.

Threats Areas where your organisation is vulnerable to due to a weakness. Threats may present as new entrants or availability of substitute offerings as well as changes to the political or economic conditions.

OutputIn this step you will have a summary analysis of how broader and local context impact your organisation, including opportunities and threats.

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After completing this step, you will have an easy to understand base of information from which to evaluate your options in Step 4.

Things to think aboutHow do I translate the broader and local context into implications for my organisation?

Use your own knowledge and judgement to align the demand in the broader context with the competitive landscape in your local context. The result of this alignment will be opportunities and threats.

Having identified your organisation’s relative strengths and weaknesses, consider how these marry to opportunities and threats for the future.


Record the information in Template D – SWOT analysis, as per the worked example overleaf.

Once you have the strengths and weaknesses in place, consider getting the perspective of trusted stakeholders within your networks to help you identify the potential implications for these in terms of opportunities and threats.

Remember to approach this iteratively. It might take you several passes to build a SWOT analysis that you are comfortable using as a basis for considering your organisation’s future direction under NDIS.

What will I do with this information?The opportunities and threats you defined in the above table will be used to select strategic options and objectives in Step 4. The strengths and weaknesses will be an influence on the selection of options and will be tested as part of the process in Step 4.

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Table 4: Sample SWOT analysis

How do we compare to other organisations in our local market?

Strengths (s) Weaknesses (W)

1. We have a larger footprint in providing accommodation support services than any other providers.2. The structure of our accommodation support service allows us to flexibly respond to individual clients’ needs and goals

1. Mega-care provider accommodation services, who provide similar services in two neighbouring LGAs., are significantly larger than us and equipped to expand quickly..

What does this mean for our position in the market?

Opportunities (O) Threats (T)

1. There are few accommodation support providers (for people with high and complex need) in the area2. There is a desire accommodation support services in the LGA that are close to where families live. There aren’t any providers in the local neighbourhood.

1. Mega-care provider accommodation services, will likely look to move in and provide an integrated service as well which would potentially affect our core specialist disability offerings

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Step 4: Identify options for how we will respondStep 4 focuses on taking your analysis of organisational impacts under NDIS to your Board or trusted advisors and deciding on how it will impact the future direction of your organisation, specifically the services it offers and how they are delivered.

You will not be working any additional resources and templates in this step.



What is the output?

• Well supported and easy to understand options are highly effective for engaging your board and leadership team for action

• You will need to draw on the information you have compiled in the previous steps• You will want to review the outputs of previous strategic and business planning work to

understand if your recommendations represent a new direction or and adjustment

• You will have a set of strategic options that you have socialised with your board and key stakeholders

• The recommended strategic option will list a set of strategic objectives

Step 4 Overview

Through Steps 1 to 3 you have developed an understanding of broad and local market context, which you have then applied to identify the relative strengths and weaknesses of your organisation. You have used this assessment to understand the resulting implications in terms of opportunities and threats to your organisation. This final step is concerned with deciding how these opportunities and threats will influence the future direction of your organisation.

This step requires you to engage your Board (or, in the absence of a Board, a group of trusted advisors) in a strategic conversation about what services your organisation offers, how they are delivered and how these might change in response to the environment. The objective is to use the SWOT analysis as a basis for conversation to outline options and decide on a future direction.

While there are a broad range of potential outcomes to any strategic discussion, this tool aims to assist you by providing a set of specific service options that you may wish to work toward in the strategic planning session.

OutputIn this step you will develop clear strategic options and work closely with your Board, colleagues and stakeholders to test, refine and agree on strategic objectives. After completing this step, you will have a set of tested and agreed strategic objectives.

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What you need to doConvene a working session of your Board or trusted advisors and take them through the work that you have done in the completion of this tool. This will include your assessments of:

The broader context, highlighting what changes to the political, economic, social and technology/practice associated with NDIS mean for disability service providers, including your organisation.

The local market context, sharing your research and findings on local area demand for disability services and contrasting this with the available supply of services.

The relative strengths and weaknesses of your organisation within this overall context.

The opportunities and threats that these present for your organisation.

Having presented this information, you will put three key questions to the group:

1. Do you agree with this assessment of our organisation’s opportunities and threats? Are there any other important opportunities and threats we should consider?

2. What do these opportunities and threats mean for the future direction of our organisation?

3. What does this direction mean for our future service offering?

The outcome of the conversation should be an agreement (or working towards an agreement) on any changes required in what services your organisation delivers and how it delivers them.

Things to think aboutWhat kinds of outcomes should I be looking for by the end of the session?

There are a broad range of possible outcomes to a strategic discussion, especially in an environment which is still evolving. Hence, it is impossible to predict all potential outcomes for the session.

That said, it is likely that elements of your future service strategy might fall into one or more of the following six categories:

1. Service generation – the decision to explore the development of a new service based on market needs and preferences.

2. Service selection – the decision to focus on delivering a specific set of services in a given market.

3. Service modification (existing services) – the decision to change a feature(s) of an existing service to better meet the needs and preferences of the market.

4. Service modification (partnering) – the decision to change a feature(s) of an existing service to better meet the needs and preferences of the market through the inclusion of another organisation in delivery.

5. Service introduction (new client groups) – the decision to introduce an existing service to a new client group within the market.

6. Service introduction (new services) – the decision to introduce a new service to deliver to the market.

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How will I know what future service strategy will match our proposed organisational direction?

While your Board or trusted advisors will likely offer valuable input toward future organisational direction, they may not be as able to articulate exactly what this means in terms of potential service changes. Instead, you may have to interpret the themes of the discussion to identify the corresponding impacts on service offering.

The table overleaf may be a useful guide to sorting through the themes of the discussion to identify the appropriate future service strategy for your organisation.

What will I do with this information?The decisions made as a result of this step will inform your next steps in preparation for transition to NDIS. The likely next step will be to engage clients and stakeholders to further develop and test your proposed service strategy.

For those providers using other NDIS readiness tools within the package, the service strategy outcomes will provide direct inputs into the remaining five tools by helping you frame your goals.

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Table 5: Interpreting discussion themes to to identify the appropriate service strategy

Consideration Option 1 Option 2 Option 3 Option 4 Option 5 Option 6

Common themes

Participants will want other services.

Participants have needs that we aren’t currently meeting.

We are thinking of introducing a new service, but you aren’t sure what it is.

We are providing too many services.

We have a number of ideas for new services, but aren’t sure which service to introduce.

Participants have requested minor modifications to our services.

Our services could do a more effective job of meeting the needs of participants than they do now.

Participants have needs that we cannot meet.

Other organisations could help fill a missing link for us.

Other participants have approached us with interest in our services.

There are other participant groups we aren’t servicing now, but we have the ability to serve them.

We have a new service ready to go.

We need to make sure we launch a new service effectively.

Future direction

We need to develop new ideas for services to effectively meet current and future participant needs.

We have a number of ideas for new services. We want to select which services will best meet participant needs.

We have existing services which we could modify to better meet participant needs.

We can better meet participant needs by partnering with other stakeholders in delivering services.

We want to identify if there are new participant groups that we could effectively serve.

We have a new service which we want to introduce in a way that best meets participant needs.

Service strategy Service generation Service selection Service modification:

existing servicesService modification:

PartneringService introduction:

New client groupsService introduction:

New services

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Next steps Successfully delivering on a new service strategy requires a detailed understanding of what is changing and a clear understanding of how you will organise your resources to deliver. It also requires a plan for how you will market the changes to the sector and how you lead the organisation and its stakeholders through the change.

The remainder of the tools in this package are designed to help you meet each of these challenges, as per the list and descriptions below:

Resource 2: Identifying services that clients want.

Resource 3: Gauging financial impacts of service changes.

Resource 4: Gauging non-financial impacts of service changes.

Resource 5: Understanding how to market services to clients.

Resource 6: Leading and making changes to services.

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Appendix A - GlossaryTerm Definition

ClientsClients are the people your organisation provides services to. Your clients will likely include people who will be NDIS participants, as well as people who will not be NDIS participants.

Client groups / customer segments

Client groups are groups of people who use your services. These groups are determined on the basis of similar characteristics, for example, similar age or goals in life.

PEST https://www.business.qld.gov.au/business/running/winning-new-business/understanding-the-buyer/researching-government-buyers/pest-analysis

RegionsDSCCDS regions:Brisbane; Central Queensland; Far North Queensland; Interstate; North Coast; North Queensland; South East; South West

SWOT See also … www.business.qld.gov.au

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Appendix B - Summary of relevant resources

Tool or data source Description / screenshot

1. Locate a provider (NDIS trial sites only)

http://www.ndis.gov.au/find-registered-service-providers

2. NDIS pricing information

http://www.ndis.gov.au/providers/pricing-and-payment

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3. Data search to understand unmet needs

Link here

4. Facilitators guide forstrategic business planning

http://www.nds.org.au/projects/article/70

5. Census data download ABS data for 2011 census including responses to section B18

6. QLD population forecast download 2011 population information and forecasts in 5-10 year increments

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https://public.tableau.com/profile/publish/DOC07-Resource1-tableaubook/Story1#!/publish-confirm



Queensland open data downloads

Funding provided to providersRegistered providers with service and client information

How to download data from the data search tool – method 1

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How to download data from the data search tool – method 2Where there is no option to download data using method 1 you can still download data by selecting a section of the data tables you are interested in and picking the view data button.

Once you select that button you will see a pop up window which gives you the option to download the data that was selected on the page or the underlying data that has not been filtered by LGA.

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department of communities, disability services and … › ... › 1a-external-f… · web viewat a...

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