JFT TASK 2
Tim Smith ID # 000416925

A1. UTAH SYMPHONY STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES
Leadership Strengths
Maurice Abravanel: The Utah Symphony has a legacy of being a renowned, world-class organization that was started by Maurice Abravanel. He served for 32 years as the music director and through strong leadership transformed a part-time community ensemble into the nationally recognized, year-round organization it is today. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Keith Lockhart: The legacy has continued under the leadership of Keith Lockhart. Mr. Lockhart has expanded the symphony’s national involvement and increased the performance schedule to over 200 shows per year.
The quality and success of the symphony is largely due to the high caliber of musicians that it has been able to attract and retain. This was accomplished in part through its leaders securing full-time professional status and full-time salaries for the musicians. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Leadership Weaknesses
Protecting Musicians: Ironically, the musicians that are responsible for the high quality performances of the Utah Symphony, are also a cause of concern for the organizations survival. Mr. Abravanel was known for defending the musicians and fighting for their compensation. This has lead to the symphony becoming financially unstable in a faltering economy. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Unionization: The musicians are represented by the Amreican Federation of Musicians (AF of M) in their contract negotiations. This gives the musicians collective bargaining power with the Symphony’s Board of Directors. This type of third party involvement can lead to increased costs and inefficient operations due to prolonged negotiations and even strikes by the musicians. Over time this type of relationship can cause suspicion on distrust between the musicians and administration. (Delong & Ager, 2005) (Society for Human Resource Management, 2014)
The reason that most employees, in this case the musicians, seek the help of a union is because they believe that they will not be treated fairly by their employer or organization. It could be a sign of failed leadership if these feelings and attitudes exist. If the symphony’s administration could demonstrate fairness in decision making, responsiveness to the concerns of the musicians and a commitment to provide them with the best possible opportunities the musicians would be less likely to seek the representation by the union or any other third party. (Rhoads, 2002)
Organizational Vacancy: The Utah Symphony is currently facing a vacancy of the President and CEO position in the organization. Finding a professional who has the pre-requisite experience to lead an organization like this is a difficult task. Operating during the interim vacancy will create challenges and will likely decrease the organizational effectiveness of the symphony. (Delong & Ager, 2005)

Financial Strengths
Operating Income: The symphony has a historical total operating budget of $12.4 million. It is projected to increase to $13.8 million next season. This would move the symphony from a Group II organization (budgets between $5.2 and $13.5 million) to a Group I organization (budgets above $13.5 million) which would open up even more performance opportunities. This would help to generate additional funds through ticket sales. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Contributions: The symphony has historically been able to garner $4.5 million in contributions from individuals, corporations and foundations. This figure is expected to increase to $5 million next season. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Investment Income: The symphony has historically made $0.8 million in interest off its endowment fund annually. It is expected to generate $0.9 million next season. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Box Office Fees and Venue Rental: Historically this has been minimal at around $4,000 annually. It is projected to increase to more than $240,000 next season due to higher utilization. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Financial Weaknesses
Reliance on Government Grants: Historically the symphony has received approximately $3.1 million in government monies in order to meet operating expenses. This equates to roughly 25% of the total operating budget. This figure is projected to decrease to $2.9 million next season. Reliance on government grants can be risky because it is largely dependent on the economy and other factors beyond the control of the symphony. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Use of Investment Income: Historically the symphony has drawn 5% of the endowment fund in order to fund operations. Relying on this fund to regularly fund operations could eventually lead to depletion of the account. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Guild Income: The contributions from the Artists Guild has been minimal in the past ($155,434). It is projected to decrease in the upcoming year due to a down economy. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Salaries/Benefits and Payroll Taxes: Due to the generous salaries of the musicians, the symphony has operating expenses of $10.4 million in this area. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Fund Raising Expenses: This amount is approximately $1.2 million. This represents the salaries and benefits of the developmental staff that performs the fundraising activities. It also encompasses a $100,000 bad-debt expense that has resulted from un-paid pledges. When compared to the amount raised, it represents an ROI of 383%. (Delong & Ager, 2005)

A1a. STEPS FOR UTAH SYMPHONY
The Musicians: Anne needs to take immediate steps to assure the musicians that the merged organization will offer them a culture of fair and consistent policies and practices. She already has a reputation of being a good listener and needs to capitalize on this by offering an open door policy that encourages the musicians to communicate their concerns to management directly. She needs to address the wages and benefits and assure them that she is interested in keeping them competitive with other similar organizations. (Rhoads, 2002)
Unionization: The musicians most likely believe that the union that they belong to will negotiate better compensation packages and assure that they are treated properly. If Anne can convince them that they are capable of communicating their concerns and negotiating their compensation packages themselves, the organization could save money and operate more efficiently. (Society for Human Resource Management, 2014)
Strong leadership and an open culture of communication could eliminate the need for the musicians to seek third party representation. If the musicians could feel that their concerns were carefully considered and addressed by management, distrust would be minimized. A good leader could explain the budgetary constraints and challenges to the musicians in a way that would increase understanding and engagement and ultimately acceptance of certain limitations. Good leadership would also demonstrate to the musicians that every effort for securing additional funds to compensate them was being made. (Rhoads, 2002)
President and CEO Vacancy: This situation will be resolved when Anne assumes the position of CEO of the merged organization. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Fund Raising: Anne has already demonstrated that she has great capacity for fund raising. She needs to continue these efforts in order to decrease the dependency that the organization has on government grants. Donations from the local private sector will be more controllable and reliable through garnering support by demonstrating that the combined organization can be a benefit to the community. She will also be able to save money by combining the fund raising departments of both the opera and symphony which will save overhead costs. The revenue generated through ticket sales can be maximized by finding the optimal number of performances that the opera and symphony could perform and overhead costs could be minimized by combining as many performances as possible. (Delong & Ager, 2005)
Investment Income: When the opera and symphony combine, their endowment funds could be rolled into one. Anne needs to budget the operating expenses so that the endowment can be reserved for capital improvements and expansion. Using it regularly for operating costs will deplete the fund. (Delong & Ager, 2005)

A2. UTAH OPERA STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES asdf A2a. STEPS FOR UTAH OPERA asdf A3. SCORECARD ASPECTS asdf B. MERGED COMPANY BALANCED SCORECARD asdf C. MERGED COMPANY STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES asdf D. ISSUES asdf D1. MITIGATING ACTIONS asdf E. SOURCES