In a previous post we previewed Filene Research Institute’s colloquium examining large-scale collaboration issues in the credit union movement. After several flight delays and a number of thunderstorms later we are back, well-rested and ready to update you on what happened in Philadelphia.
Harbir Singh, a professor of management at Wharton began the colloquium with a primer on effective practices in alliance building. This discussion set the stage for a critical analysis of credit union collaboration efforts and raised some great questions to consider. For example, Singh asked the group to list the key obstacles and enablers of collaboration in credit unions. What does that list look like in your credit union? .
Next, we presented some outside industry collaboration examples to consider, including a analysis of the bank holding company concept presented by Steve Williams and the franchising concept by Steven Michael. These discussions encouraged credit unions to look outside the cooperative structure for ideas on large-scale collaboration.
Finally, we were fortunate to hear from several credit union industry insiders to hear their extensive experiences on implementing large-scale collaboration. Specifically, Randy Karnes talked about aligning small and medium sized credit union operations; Kirk Kordeleski shared his experiences forming Open Technology Solutions with three other simliarly sized credit unions; Lucie Bouchard provided a compelling description of the Desjardins group in Canada.
All of these thoughts and ideas were thrown around by a group of attendees who included some of the industry’s smartest leaders, including: credit union CEOs, economists, regulators, league presidents, foundation executives, consultants, trade association leaders and journalists. While we came up with more answers than questions, you will be able to read a concise analysis of the proceedings later this year or early next year. For those of you who left comments on the previous post , unfortunately we didn’t have the time to address specific ideas, but we’ll likely cover these conversations in the final report.
So, in the spirit of David Letterman, I will leave you with a top 10 list of ideas/questions/insights posed during the event and ask that you comment accordingly, below.
10. Information Technology and trust are the two key enablers to collaboration
9. Are credit unions ready to be the junior partner in an alliance?
8. Vendors need to create attractive price points to suck people into collaboration
7. Collaboration is a phased process that occurs in steps, not leaps
6. Lack of incentive structure may sully collaborative efforts
5. We need to identify and promote success stories in credit union collaboration
4. Credit unions need to orient boards to the notion of “strategic risk”, or in other words the costs of being risk-averse are actually more risky than taking calculated risks
3. Governance of credit unions may be a roadblock to innovation and collaboration
2. Egos (of CEOs) can get in the way of change; maybe change needs to emanate from the board room (this comment came from a CEO!)
1. The last five years have been tough for credit unions, perhaps these hard times will cause credit unions to seek out change and collaboration in a more proactive manner
If you’ve ever wondered what happens at a colloquium, click here to see the presentations
Comments
1
What goals are we trying to reach or what are the objectives for forming the alliances? Survival of the fittest ? Economies of Scale? When we define the purpose of the alliance then it seems the details should easily follow. For example, from a team Training and Development perspective, I see huge possibilities in collaborations.
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