Orla Cronin Research

Social science research and strategic consultancy

0161 408 2047

Strategy & facilitation

Case studies

Organisational strategy development (1)

One of the largest ‘sport for development’ organisations in the world was awarded a small development grant (by Comic Relief) in order to create a 10 year organisational strategy and business plan.  In conjunction with Good Business and the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, OCR designed, facilitated and reported a process of stakeholder consultation and participatory strategic planning over a 1 week period with 30 of the organisation’s leaders and members.  Not only did this process feature as one of the highlights of the year for individual staff members, but the output formed part of a bigger  – and successful – application to Comic Relief.

Organisational strategy development (2)

A small charitable organisation wished to create a business strategy.  OCR convened and facilitated two sessions with the board where the key strategic themes were identified and an action plan was created around these.   This strategy was used to reconfigure the organisation and drive funding applications.

Participative design of community health interventions

A large urban NHS primary care trust wished to involve its target population in the design of training courses aimed at supporting healthy eating in areas of disadvantage.  OCR, in conjunction with The Murray Consultancy, designed, facilitated and reported a series of community based workshops on healthy eating which informed the redesign of the training course.

Optimising university library services

In conjunction with Clearbox consulting, OCR designed, conducted and reported a series of workshops in order to optimise the library services provided by one of the main Irish universities.  Results from this evaluation were used to reconfigure the library services, prioritise their innovation projects and streamline the library website.