CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Student Welcome Letter/Points to Maximize the Benefit of Your Three-Year Experience

Strategic Contacts / Mailing Instructions
 John Vardallas
 Deborah Rightmire, CCUE & Sandy Arnesen
 Janine McBee, CCUE, & Corina Balsells
 Student Updates

“The Project” AKA the Credit Union’s 3-Year Strategic Business Plan

Minimum Core Requirements to Successfully Graduate from the Southwest CUNA
Management School/Student Project Requirements (The Credit Union’s 3-Year Strategic
Business Plan)
3
4-5
6-7

Class of 2009 Project Deadlines
8

Special Dates to Keep In Mind
5

Student Presentations of Strategic Issues (also known as Oral Presentation)
9
Student Project Core Instructions: The Credit Union Three Year Strategic
Business Plan
Introduction
10

Table of Contents
11

History of the Credit Union
11

Mission Statement
12

Bonus Opportunities
 Vision Statement
 Core Values, Code of Ethics, Governance, etc.
 Project Differentiation

Planning Base
 Part 1 — SCOT List - Formerly referred to as SWOP List
 Part 2 — External Analysis

Outline of Strategic Initiatives

Strategic Initiatives (SIs) - Formerly referred to as Key Result Areas or KRAs
 Developing the Strategic Initiatives
 Internal Analysis
 Objectives/Goals
 Strategies/Programs
 Tactical Action Plan
 Tactical Action Plan Format
 Tactical Action Plans and Cost-Benefit Analyses Sample
 Cost-Benefit Analysis Format

Executive Summary
The Three-Year Strategic Business Plan General Information & Tips
12-13
13-18
19-20
21
22-36
22-24
25
25-26
27-28
29-31
31
32-34
35
36
36-38
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
APPENDIX (Yellow)

Sample Student Progress and Feedback Form
40

Financial Management SI Evaluation Form
41

Project Samples – Provide solely as a reference for current students.
All samples are to be treated as confidential in nature.

Mission, Vision, History, & SWOP I (Effective with Class of 2009 referred to as SCOT)
42-42.22

Mission, Vision, History, & SWOP II (Effective with Class of 2009 referred to as SCOT)
43-43.7

External Analysis
44-44.7

Key Result Areas (Effective with Class of 2009 referred to as Strategic Initiatives or SIs)

Outline

Strategic Initiative Summary Statements – 2 Different Approaches
(includes a wide sampling of possible objectives, strategies and action plans)
46-46.11

Human Resources
47-47.20

Users of Services
48-48.9

Loan Growth

Executive Summary
45-45.3
49-49.30
50-50.4
Quick List for those who have alumni or have back
copies of student projects…some key terms have
changed effective with the SCMS Class of 2008:
Old Terms
New Terms
Key Result Area (KRA)
Strategic Initiatives (SI's)
Action Plan
Tactical Action Plan
SWOP
SCOT
- Strength
- Strength
- Weakness
- Challenge (formerly known as problems)
- Opportunity
- Opportunity
- Problem
- Threat (formerly known as weaknesses)
The real value of doing a business plan is not having the finished
product in hand; rather, the value lies in the process of research
and thinking about your business in a systematic way. The act of
planning helps you to think things through thoroughly, to study
and research when you are not sure of the facts, and to look at
your ideas critically. It takes time, but avoids costly, perhaps
disasterous mistakes later.
Author Unknown
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Welcome to SCMS
(Southwest CUNA Management School)
The SCMS staff, faculty, current students, alumni, and League Oversight Committee are
committed to your success. You will find the school both rewarding and challenging. As with
everything else in life, you get out of the experience what you put into it.
Here is some information to help you get the maximum benefit from your three-year experience.
1)
This manual provides the core instruction for the development of your credit union’s three-year
strategic business plan. Strategic Planning courses rely on this as handout material.

Bring your manual to all future SCMS courses related to the development of your strategic
business plan.

Refer to this manual as you work on each section of your plan. There are many approaches and
terms used for planning. It is important to follow sequence and terms provided in this manual for
school purposes.

Replacement cost — $50.
2)
Deadlines are not negotiable - schedule your time to allow for unexpected demands, obstacles,
challenges, and constraints.
3)
Scholarship Applicants - students applying for scholarship assistance through the Southwest CUNA
Management School Scholarship Fund (administered by the Texas Credit Union Foundatiom – open to
all qualified applicants) must be on schedule with project deadlines to be eligible for scholarship
consideration.
4)
When you get submissions back from John Vardallas or Debbie Rightmire, always review the feedback
grid first to see if you are meeting requirements. If you are, it is up to you if you choose to address
comments. Comments are there for your thought and incorporation as you see fit. We expect students
to stretch. Should there be any question regarding your progess or pass/fail status, your feedback grid
is referred to. Always keep a copy for your records.
5)
Faculty, staff, and mentors are an email or phone call away. Let us know if you need assistance or
would like to discuss any aspect of your project. If you are not sure who to contact, contact Janine
McBee.
6)
Have someone else read and proof your work! We are looking for clear communication that is easy for
the reader to understand. Project reviewers may return submissions marked “redo” if work appears
thrown together and not to have been proofed.
7)
Make the most of the learning experience by steadily applying yourself and becoming acquainted with
your classmates, other students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Make a copy of your Project Completion Guidelines and the Minimum Requirements for your
supervisor, CEO, or chairman (whichever one is appropriate for your next reporting level up).
You are responsible for keeping the appropriate party aprised of your requirements and status in the
school.
If it appears that you are not meeting the school’s requirements, SCMS administration may contact the
individual you report to, checking to see if anything can be done to help.
It’s a good practice to review your feedback grid and project progress with the appropriate person on a
regular basis.
8)
Give at least one copy of your complete plan to your CEO or Board Chair, whichever is appropriate.
We wish you much success in the three years that you are with the school and the many years beyond!
Janine McBee, SCMS Director
Corina Balsells, SCMS Event Coordinator
STRATEGIC CONTACTS
Send ALL Project Work to . . .
John Vardallas/Project Evaluator
c/o The American BoomeR Group
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
PO Box 8486
Madison, Wisconsin 53708
Please mail your submissions regular, First Class, or Priority U.S. Mail. (Do not send FedEx, DHL, or UPS.)
For the return of your work, send self addressed/stamped return envelope to John in any form of mail or
delivery service you prefer (U.S. Mail, FedEx, DHL or UPS.)
To contact John. . .

(608) 221-4621

Cell - contact Janine or Corina for John's cell phone - It is okay to call his cell phone if you need to
reach him.

JVardallas@aol.com
Additional Resource for Project Questions:

Lily Newfarmer
lnewfarmer@tccu-tx.com
817-884-1470 x125
Mailing Project Submissions

With John’s travel schedule – we ask that all submissions sent to John are handled through US Mail
(regular or priority) and that you do not ask for signed receipt (as opposed to Fed EX, UPS, or other
special delivery services). Plan for deadlines accordingly.

For Debbie and her team, US Mail, Fed EX, or UPS are all good.

Always include sufficient return postage on project submissions for your material to be returned to you.
Do not use dated meter postage.
E-mail

Use judiciously. This medium is for brief Q&A or submissions, not pages and pages of copy.

Do not send project submissions by E-mail without prior approval.
Always keep a copy of your submitted and returned work, as well as the feedback grid.
Send the Financial Management SI along with SI Outline to . . .
Texas Credit Union League - ALM
4455 LBJ Frwy. Ste 1100
Farmers Branch, TX 75244-5998
Main number to contact Deborah “Debbie” Rightmire or one of her team members:

800.442.5762

469.385.6595 FAX
Direct Contact Information:

Deborah Rightmire
469.385.6496-Ext. 6496
drightmire@tcul.coop

Sandy Arnesen
469.385.6497-Ext. 6497
sarnesen@tcul.coopns
Overall SCMS Communications
TCUL TR - SCMS
4455 LBJ Frwy. Ste 1100
Farmers Branch, TX 75244-5998
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

Janine McBee
800.442.5762 x6634
469.385.6634
469.385.6734 FAX
jmcbee@cunaschool.org

Corina Balsells
800.442.5762 x6642
469.385.6642
469.385.6742 FAX
cbalsells@cunaschool.org
Third Year Students
John calls you to notify you of your final project approval. He does not return your project after the
final submission unless you request it (include return envelope with postage). Your final submitted
work will be returned to you during the summer session of school.
General Student Updates
The majority of communication is handled through the school’s website and email.
SOUTHWEST CUNA MANAGEMENT SCHOOL CORE PROJECT
AKA CREDIT UNION 3-YEAR STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN
REQUIREMENTS

Attend three Summer Sessions (8 days each July) and two Mid-Year Sessions (2 days each
February) for a minimum of 162 classroom hours. Any student missing a class will be given a
make-up assignment to complete before continuing with the next phase of the school.

Meet all project section deadline dates (submissions must be in the evaluator’s posession by
these dates and at least meet minimum requirements). Any student missing a deadline will be
given the opportunity to continue with the class after his or hers, and be expected to meet
those class deadlines. Students are expected to pace themselves to allow for the unexpected
and still complete their project work.

Live in on-campus residence during the Summer sessions, unless student lives in a
reasonable commuting distance. Students are expected to attend all school sponsored
courses and activities.
MINIMUM PROJECT REQUIREMENTS - DEVELOPING YOUR
CREDIT UNION’S THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN
(Refer to the Strategic Planning Sequence, Definition of Terms, and Samples section of this
manual for more detailed explanations and samples.)
Prepare a written three-year strategic business plan
(project) covering the following areas:
1) TABLE OF CONTENTS
This portion of the project is due out of sequence –
this is one of the last parts of the project to be
worked on.
2)
NARRATIVE HISTORY — five to eight pages,
focusing on the most recent five years.
3)
MISSION STATEMENT that defines the basic
purpose of the credit union.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Write a two to three sentence evaluation of the credit
union’s current mission statement:

reflecting why you feel the existing statement
accurately reflects the purpose of the credit
union, or

indicate what changes you would make and why.
Simply writing “I agree/disagree with the mission
statement” is not sufficient.
If you write your own mission statement, also include
wording indicating when statement would be
proposed to board or management, whichever would
be appropriate.
4) Planning base consisting of:
a)
SCOT LIST for the credit union:
1) Five Strengths
2) Five Challenges (formerly referred to as
Weaknesses)
3) Five Opportunities
4) Five Threats (formerly referred to as
Problems)
Explain each element as it relates to the credit
union with a minimum of one sentence.
b) Five EXTERNAL FACTORS that may affect
the credit union’s future. Be sure to examine
national, regional, and local implications as they
relate to the credit union.
For each factor, include:
1)
Factor
2)
Assumption
3)
Impact
4)
Response
5) An OUTLINE OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
(SI’s) including objective statements, strategy
statements, and Tactical Action Plan headings.
This is a work in process, initially used to provide
direction and help you get started on the
development of your plan.
Along the way, you may chose to change
direction.
Once your outline has been approved, you do not
need to resubmit it until you turn in your entire project
for final review.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
6) Five STRATEGIC INITIATIVES (SIs), one of
which must be financial management. Your
historical, SCOT, and external analyses lay the
foundation for the selection and development of your
SIs.
For each SI, develop:
a) For each STRATEGIC INITIATIVE
1) A brief INTERNAL
ANALYSIS:

summarize the credit union’s past
performance,

compile a five-year history, and

indicate magnitude of change for each
strategy and tactical action plan, along
with expectations for business as usual.
2) At least one three-year OBJECTIVE/
GOAL with:
two STRATEGIES/PROGRAMS
— each with
one TACTICAL
— each with
ACTION PLAN
a COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS,
including implementation costs.
This is a three-year business plan. With timing,
your first SI might have a majority of action steps
completed before graduation.
However, the greatest percentage of your project
should extend one to two years past graduation.
It’s an “automatic redo” if all action plans end the
year of graduation.
If the only action steps you have going past
current year involve re-evaluating the current
plan – won’t work. Re-evaluation becomes
business as usual.
There are three additional requirements for the FINANCIAL
MANAGEMENT SI. In addition to the previous requirements,
the Financial Management SI must also include:
1) An INTERNAL ANALYSIS highlighting
strengths and challenges and any information
that might impact financial projection outcome
(i.e., new building, expanding staffing, computer
conversions...)
2) A three-year PROJECTION with supporting
balance sheet income/expense projections, and
3) The calculation of a minimum number of key
FINANCIAL RATIOS specifically relating to
the CAMEL rating system.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Send the Financial Management SI portion of the threeyear strategic business plan, along with a copy of your
the project outline of all SIs, to:
Debbie Rightmire (see Strategic Contacts).
Debbie must approve this portion of the project before
John will approve the total project.
John needs to see the total project (including your
approved Financial Management SI with a copy Debbie’s
assessment form) on your final project submission.
You do not need to send a copy of your projections.
7) An EXECUTIVE SUMMARY is a one to two
page document providing a general overview of the
three-year strategic business plan. It should highlight
areas or services that the credit union should either:

Improve or enhance

Eliminate

Bring in-house, outsource, or partner

Explore

Implement
Include everything that you would cover in fiveminutes if you gave an overview of your plan to new
staff, board members, or potential SEGs (select
employee groups). Make it enthusiastic,
professional, complete, and concise.
8)
INDIVIDUAL STUDENT PRESENTATIONS
OF STRATEGIC ISSUES (formerly known as
Oral Presentations)
THE 3-YEAR STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN
(PROJECT) DEADLINES

The Initial Submission is not a rough draft. You are presenting a professional document. Be
sure to proof your work before sending and to make sure it follows the school format.

Evaulator time has been allocated based on initial submission deadlines. Missing the initial
submission deadlines may slow down project feedback and turn around time, as well as
reduce accessibility to faculty.

Deadlines are critical in today’s business environment. Pace yourself to allow for corrections
between “initial submission” and “deadline” dates. If a student misses a deadline, he or she
may be given the opportunity to join the next class and continue the next year, complying with
the appropriate class deadlines.

To qualify for scholarship consideration, students must be on track with project dates.

It is important that “project section submissions” are sent in the sequence outlined below.

Always include a return postage envelope with submissions.

Contact Janine McBee, school director, if you are stuck or do not understand format
expectations. You may be referred to a mentor for assistance. Of course, networking with
your classmates is another valueable source.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

If you are meeting mimimum requirements, it is your choice whether or not to
addres comments. The comments are there for your thought and
incorporation as you see fit.
Project Sections
(Submit in this Order)
Initial Submission by
DEADLINE
Table of Contents
Section Approved
By DEADLINE
05/08/09
History
Mission Statement (Vision Statement, Code of Ethics, Code of
Conduct, Values Statement are all Optional)
10/19/07
12/14/07
SCOT & External Analyses
Must have above assignments approved to attend 2008 SCMS Mid Year Classes and continue with your class.
Outline of Strategic Initiatives (SIs)
02/29/08
Strategic Initiative 1
03/07/08
05/03/08
Must have above assignments approved to attend 2008 SCMS Summer Classes and continue with your class.
Strategic Initiative 2
Strategic Initiative 3
10/10/08
12/05/08
Strategic Initiative 4
Must have above assignments approved to attend 2009 SCMS Mid Year Classes and continue with your class.
Strategic Initiative 5 or last SI: Financial Management
03/13/09
04/10/09
Executive Summary
Entire Project for Final Review in John’s posession by 05/08/09 - John will call you regarding final
project approval. Unless you provide return postage, all final projects are returned to SCMS administration to
be returned to students on campus.
Must meet complete project approved by 05/23/08 to attend and graduate 2008 Summer Classes.
Send copy of completed project to your Oral Presentation class leader (as indicated when final oral
presentation schedule is sent out) for Receipt by June 12, 2009. After the final project deadlines have been
met, all projects have been reviewed, and school applications with full tuition have been received, further
instruction about who needs a copy of your strategic plan is provided. You may sign up for your presentation
slot during your second Mid-Year class session.
SPECIAL DATES TO KEEP IN MIND
Working calendars are included to help
you plan your time. The calendars
provide an overview of key state events
and student project deadlines as of
06/13/07. Dates were gathered from
CUNA’s and TCUL’s Calendars, as well
as other leagues and associations.
Dates are subject to change.
Important:

Initial Submission Dates – To stay
on track, work to meet these dates
with your project submissions. They
are planned to allow for you to make
necessary enhancements if your
submission does not meet minimum
requirements. Make sure you follow
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
the school format and submit
professional (not rough draft) work.

Deadline – At each deadline, the
work submitted must be in John’s
(or Debbie’s if referring to the
financial management strategic
initiative) possession by that date. At
this point, work not meeting
minimum requirements will lead to
your progress in the school being
delayed by a year.
We realize life happens. Plan ahead.
Don’t push the initial submission
or deadline dates.
Give yourself room for the unexpected.
STUDENT PRESENTATIONS OF CREDIT UNION STRATEGIC
ISSUES
(Previously referred to at the Oral Presentation)
Presentation Frame
1) Determine your audience – select to approach as if you are addressing:
a) your credit union’s board of directors, or
b) your credit union’s management team.
Your task is to simulate a real business environment and engage your audience.
2) Select one to two key strategic elements from your strategic business plan. Based on your
audience, make a presentation to gain “buy in” as to why the strategic element is important to
your credit union and / or to acquire funding:
a) provide the foundation/background that led to the proposal of this strategic direction
b) discuss proposed programs and strategies
c) provide cost/benefit analysis
d) discuss challenges, issues, trends related to implementation
3) Bring presentation to a conclusion.
Presentation Format

Time: minimum 30 minutes, maximum 40 minutes. (The stated time factors may be adjusted
to allow for class sizes, availability of reviewers and time constraints.)

Attire: Business Professional

Minimum of one audio-visual element.

Audience handouts as appropriate to presentation.
Keep the material interesting! Go through the full presentation several times before the
presentation date!
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Think about what questions your identified audience might have and be prepared to answer them.
When you are not presenting, take your roll as an audience member seriously. If you were in your
classmate’s environment:

What might you want to know?

What questions do you have about the issue presented?

Do the recommendations sound important and reasonable for the credit union to implement?
Presentation Room Set-Up

Each presentation group room has a podium, LCD projector, document reader (Elmo), VCR,
and white board. Sorry folks, no remote controls.

If you chose to do a PC-based presentation, bring your presentation on disk or memory stick.
(Lessons learned – have a back up plan!)
Tips & Things To Consider

Make sure you have your thoughts together. Practice before class to be sure you stay within
the time frame.

Dress professionally.

You will never have a group pull harder for you during a presentation than your classmates.
We can all learn by listening to others.

Don’t read the material (your audience tends to have a limited attention span!).

After the project has been approved, you cannot fail because of a poor presentation.
However, an outstanding presentation may have an impact on honor consideration.

In the history of the school — no one has ever fainted or become deathly ill during an oral
presentation. The anticipation is much harder than the actual presentation.

Interested in improving your public speaking skills?

Take a course at a local college.

Join an organization like Toastmasters.

Enroll in a Dale Carnegie (or similar) course.

Check a local library for articles, books, tapes and other materials on making professional
presentations.
 STUDENT PROJECT CORE INSTRUCTIONS
THE CREDIT UNION 3-YEAR STRATEGIC
BUSINESS PLAN
John Vardallas, TheAmericanBoomeR Group
Debborah Rightmire, Texas Credit Union League
Lily Newfarmer, Tarrant County Credit Union
Janine McBee, Texas Credit Union League
Strategic Planning is …

a systematic plan for implementing professional management throughout the credit union
and for developing the strategy to improve and mobilize the human and financial resources to
carry out the credit union’s mission (purpose).

the continuous, formal written process employed
— to identify future opportunities and member needs or wants,
— to determine objectives, and
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
— to make decisions relative to the investment of credit union resources in order to achieve
objectives.

the process by which an organization can become what it wants to be.

the rational determination of
— what business the credit union is in,
— where it is,
— where it wants to go, and
— how and when it is going to get there.
Strategic planning can have multiple objectives. Some of these are noted below and have been
drawn from corporate and public sector descriptions and ISNAR experiences:

Change organizational directions and respond to external changes

Rationalize component unit and structure

Identify strategic issues and decision points

Set priority objectives and allocate resources

Develop information for manager and policy maker decisions

Build a coherent and ddeefensible basis for decision-making

Provide a frame of reference for investments, budgets and action plans

Identify external opportunities and threats

Analyze the organizations’s strengths and weaknesses

Defind and plan necessary organization changes

Develop better internal coordination of activities

Set realistic and attainable objectives

Evaluate current situation and make adjustments in strategy and plans

Highlight and analyze environmental changes

Improve management capacity

Involve partners in decision-making

Address organizational constraings
Strategic Planning for Agricultural Research: Guidelines for an Issues-Oriented Approach Govert
Gijsbers, Warren Peterson, and Michele Wilks, isnar – International Service for National Agricultural
Research
Operational Planning is …

how you are going to run the credit union’s present business most effectively in the period
immediately ahead as you make progress toward the objectives of the strategic plan.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Strategic Planning is done by the Board
of Directors, CEO/President/Manager,
Committee Chairperson(s) and key staff.
Operational Planning is done by the
CEO/President/Manager and key staff (i.e.,
Tactical Action Planning, cost-benefit
analysis, etc.).
STRATEGIC PLANNING
SEQUENCE, DEFINITION OF TERMS, AND SAMPLES
SCMS challenges you to stretch and dream.
Your task is to prepare the Credit Union’s Three-Year
Strategic Business Plan as if you were the CEO.

If there are two students from the same credit union
in the first year class, please discuss with Janine
how much of the project may be jointly prepared
before leaving school.
There are a variety of ways to approach strategic
planning. Be sure, for the purposes of this project, to
follow the sequence and term definitions provided in this
booklet.
You are creating a profesisonal report. Please handle
accordingly.
Where appropriate, involve your credit union’s leadership
team in the development process.
If there is something in your project that needs to be
handled in a confidential manner, visit with John
Vardallas. He will work with you on how to handle it.
If anywhere along the way, you are not sure about
format, directions, concepts, etc., contact Janine McBee.
Plan to give your immediate boss a copy of your finished
work.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Minimum requirement
Develop a comprehensive table of contents.
This is usually the last step in the development of the
three-year strategic plan. The table of contents continues
to change as the three-year strategic business plan is
changed, updated, and fine-tuned.
Be detailed. Use the table of contents as a tool to
enhance the value of the strategic plan to the reader.
HISTORY OF THE CREDIT UNION
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Minimum requirement: Write five to eight pages of
narrative history, focusing on the last five years.
Write the history to help new employees, board
members, credit union members, and potential members
understand how the credit union has become what it is
today.
Consider creating in the form of a timeline or
benchmarks to easily identify the highlights.
Place a greater emphasis on the factors that have had a
significant impact on the credit union in the last five
years.
Include:
1) The date of origination.
2) What made the credit union what it is today and
helped set the direction for tomorrow? State the
history in terms of stimulus and response or cause
and effect.
Example: In (month) (year), ABC CU merged with
____________ to rebuild the capital base. The
merger lead to a __% decrease in the capital to
asset ratio.
3) When significant events occurred (i.e., membership
expansions, mergers, new products or services, new
facilities, obstacles that have been overcome, etc.).
a) Highlight milestone moments that have shaped
your credit union.
b) If something happened in “the early years” that is
still significant, cover it. Otherwise, focus on the
last five years.
c) If there was a problem with a sponsor company,
management, or other areas of the credit union,
allude to it here. Do not mention specific names
of individuals. The problem should also be
reflected further on in the plan, in the SCOT
listing.
4) Charts covering at least, with reference in the text,
the annual change over the last five years on assets,
membership, loans to assets, and net worth ratio.
5) If a previous student has already written a history, it
is OK to use their work to build on. Make sure to
change to your words and bring current. Important
for you to cite the source.
6) After the history has been approved, you do not need
to resubmit until the final project submission. At that
time, update the history to reflect anything that has
had a significant impact on the credit union. Also
bring charts current.
When people review their history and take personal ownership of their background, traditions, and
current momentum, they are in a better position to look at their future possibilities realistically.
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Northbound Train, Karl Albrecht
MISSION STATEMENT
Minimum requirement: Provide a mission statement that defines the basic purpose of the credit
union.

If previously adopted, does the existing mission
statement give an adequate assessment of why the
credit union exists? Write a couple of sentences
explaining your positon.

If you write your own mission statement, include
wording indicating when statement would be
proposed to board or management, whichever would
be appropriate.

Write a two to three sentence evaluation of the
mission statement.

Indicate source (board, self, prior SCMS graduate),
status (adopted, submitted, never reviewed), and
date.
A mission statement simply states what an organization
is or does. It is a description of a desired state of affairs
that inspires action, determines behavior, and fuels
motivation. It answers the question, Why does the credit
union exist?
The mission statement is not the place for specifics such as ratios and numerical objectives.
Does the mission statement reflect reality?
Should the mission statement reflect:

credit union philosophy?

an obligation to the community?

an obligation to potential members (within the field of
membership (FOM) that are not using credit union
services)?

an obligation to expand the FOM?
The secret of success is constancy of purpose.
Benjamin Disraeli
The most commonly taken initial act in establishing organizational direction is to determine an
organizational mission. Organizational mission is the purpose for which — the reason why — an
organization exists. In general, the firm’s organizational mission reflects such information as what types of
products or services the organization produces, who its customers tend to be, and what important values it
holds. Organizational mission is a very broad statement of organizational direction and is based upon a
thorough analysis of information generated through environmental analysis [includes internal and external
analysis].
A mission statement is a written document developed by management, normally based upon input by
managers as well as non-managers, that describes and explains what the mission of an organization
actually is.
An organizational mission is normally very important to an organization because it usually helps
management to increase the probability that an organization will be successful. This probability is increased
for several reasons.

First, the existence of an organizational mission helps management to focus human effort in a common
direction. The mission makes explicit the major targets the organization is trying to reach and helps
managers keep these targets in mind as they make decisions.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

Second, the existence of an organizational mission helps managers because it serves as a sound
rationale for allocating resources. A properly developed mission statement gives managers general but
useful guidelines about how resources should be used to best accomplish organizational purpose.

Third, the existence of a mission statement can help managers because it pinpoints broad but
important job areas within an organization. A well-developed mission generally helps management
define critical jobs that must be accomplished.
Samuel C. Certo, Modern Managemet
(CCUE Management Course Text)
BONUS OPPORTUNITY
Develop a Vision Statement for the credit union.

A mission statement indicates what one does.

Vision is the heart, the constancy of purpose. What
does your credit union aspire to be? You must
understand the vision to be able to move forward.
Vision is what one wants to “become”, not what one
“does”. A vision is from the heart and encompasses the
value of the organization. It is a dream, a fantasy of what
the organization ideally can be — its guiding principle.
Vision is idealistic; it raises us above everyday problems
to look at an ideal future.
Niki McCuistion, “The Quality Sales Leadership System
for Today’s Financial Executive”
Even though vision directs us toward the future, it is important
to understand that it is experienced in the present. The tension
that comes from comparing the image of a desired future with
today’s reality is what fuels a vision to action.
Qualities of a Vision

It motivates, inspires.

It is a stretch, moves towards greatness.

It is clear, concrete.

It is achievable, not a fantasy.

It fits with the highest values.

It is easy to communicate, clear and simple.
Vision Questions

If we could be what we wanted in five years, what
would we be?

How would we know we were there?

What would be a stretch for ourselves?

What kind of organization do we want to be?

What do we really want to do or create?

What would be worth committing to over the next 10
years?

How do we differentiate ourselves from our
competition?
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
What are the right things to do?
Cynthia D. Scott, MPH, PhD;
Dennis T. Jaffe, PhD; and Glenn R. Tobe MA
“Organizational Vision, Values and Mission”
BONUS OPPORTUNITY
Develop Core Values Statement, Code of Ethics,
Governance, or similar material to supplement your
plan.
Back to the Beginning - Core Values
by Rick Sidorowicz
An article in the Harvard Business Review provided the insight
into what is an ingredient missing in many organizations.
"Building Your Company's Vision," by James Collins and Jerry
Porras talks about core ideology, core values, core purpose,
"big hairy audacious goals" and envisioned future. It's a very
interesting read, but the 'gem' is in the very simple notion of
core values, which I think can be better defined as an
organization's sense of character or integrity.
The authors define 'core values' as the essential and enduring
tenets of an organization - the very small set of guiding
principles that have a profound impact on how everyone in the
organization thinks and acts. Core values require no external
justification. They have intrinsic value and are of significant
importance to those inside the organization. They are the few
extremely powerful guiding principles; the soul of the
organization - the values that guide all actions.
The core values or ideology define the enduring character of
an organization - a consistent "identity" that transcends
product and market life cycles, management fads,
technological change, and individual leaders. The organization
may develop new purposes, employ new strategies, reengineer processes and significantly restructure; however, the
identity and ideology remains intact. In the authors' words, "...
core ideology provides the glue that holds an organization
together through time." A few examples:
Disney - the obvious core values of imagination and
wholesomeness stem not from any market requirement but
from Walt Disney's belief that imagination and wholesomeness
should be nurtured for their own sake;
Proctor and Gamble - product excellence is cultural, more
like a religious tenet than a business strategy for success;
Nordstrom - service to the customer above all else and being
part of something special; a way of life at Nordstrom long
before customer service programs became stylish;
Sony - being pioneers and doing the impossible; seemingly
obsessed with creativity and innovation.
It does seem that the 'greatest' companies over time possess
unwavering intrinsic core values that define their identity.
These organizations are not all things to all people. 'Customer
service' doesn't have to be a core value - it's not for Sony.
Neither is 'teamwork' for Nordstrom, nor 'respect for the
individual' for Disney. This is not to say that Disney or Sony or
Nordstrom do not embrace 'quality' or 'customer service,' or
'teamwork.' The greatest organizations have operating
practices that contain these elements, but the elements are
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
not the essence of their being. Nor is there a requirement that
they be likable or 'humanistic.'
The greatest companies seem to have decided for themselves
what values are core, independent of the current environment,
competitive challenges, or management fads. Core values
may be a competitive advantage in a current context; however,
they are core values because they define what an organization
stands for. They are core values ... just because. (Just
because some individual decided they were important.) Values
are 'core' "if they are so fundamental and deeply held that they
will change seldom, if ever." Values are core if they would be
held even if they were a competitive disadvantage in certain
circumstances.
Core values are deep, very deep. They are extremely
important. Core values rarely change in light of market
changes. On the other hand it is more likely that the
organization will change markets if necessary to remain true to
its core values.
The insight? It appears that for the greatest companies it
doesn't matter what the core values are - as they are so
diverse. What really matters - is that an organization has core
values at all. I think that is worth repeating somewhat more
boldly …
What really matters - is that an
organization has core values at all.
Perhaps the key to 'greatness' in the sense of viability,
adaptability, longevity, and relevance for organizations is this
sense of character, identity, unwavering purpose, integrity and
the core values that you truly stand for.
So how do we get core values that inspire us to greatness?
How can we create them? It's quite obvious that we cannot get
them by looking outside at the external environment or
competitors. It's also quite obvious that our strategic planning
exercises cannot possibly uncover the ideology that is the soul
of our endeavors. It's not an intellectual exercise. It's not a
wish list or vision of what the values should be. It is somewhat
like, (exactly like), discovering the core values we hold as
individuals that provide unwavering guidance in our lives.
The authors offer a few clues:
Listen to people in truly great companies talk about their
achievements - you will hear very little about earnings per
share. Maximizing shareholder value does not inspire people
throughout an organization and does not provide any
guidance. Maximizing shareholder value is "the off-the-shelf
purpose for those organizations that have not yet identified
their core purpose. It is a substitute - and a weak one at that."
You discover core ideology by looking inside. It has to be
authentic. You can't fake it. It's meaningful only to people
inside your organization and it need not be exciting to others
outside. It's an individual journey. And it is in the authenticity,
the discipline and the consistency of the values, not the
content, that differentiate the greatest companies from the
rest.
"How do we get people to share our core values?" You don't.
You can't. Just find people that are "predisposed" to share
your values and purpose, attract and retain those people, and
let those who don't share your values go elsewhere.
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This entire exercise is about having your integrity in - in the
sense of your authentic values and your courage to act
congruently all of the time.
And could it be that the seemingly unending quest for the
answer - will ultimately take you back to the beginning - to
what you are and what you stand for? And perhaps, this could
be the first step to the beginning ... on the path to greatness.
Source: http://www.refresher.com/!corevalues.html
Codes of Ethics
A code of ethics (otherwise an ethical policy, code of conduct,
statement of business practice or a set of business principles)
can be a management tool for establishing and articulating the
corporate values, responsibilities, obligations, and ethical
ambitions of an organization and the way it functions. It
provides guidance to employees on how to handle situations
which pose a dilemma between alternative right courses of
action, or when faced with pressure to consider right and
wrong.
No two codes will be the same. They must reflect the concerns
of the employees of the particular organization and the context
of the relationships and business environment in which it
operates.
Having a code of conduct is not enough, however. It can only
be effective and practically useful with committed
dissemination, implementation, monitoring and embedding at
all levels so that behaviour is influenced.”
Key areas to include –
A.
The Purpose and Values of the Business - The service,
which is being provided - a group of products, or set or
services - financial objectives and the business' role in
society as the company sees it.
B.
Employees - How the business values employees. the
company's policies on: working conditions, recruitment,
development and training, rewards, health, safety &
security, equal opportunities, retirement, redundancy,
discrimination and harassment. Use of company assets
by employees.
C.
Customer Relations - The importance of customer
satisfaction and good faith in all agreements, quality, fair
pricing and after-sales service.
D.
Shareholders or other providers of money - The protection
of investment made in the company and proper 'return' on
money lent. A commitment to accurate and timely
communication on achievements and prospects.
E.
Suppliers - Prompt settling of bills. Co-operation to
achieve quality and efficiency. No bribery or excess
hospitality accepted or given.
F.
Society or the wider community - Compliance with the
spirit of laws as well as the letter. The company's
obligations to protect and preserve the environment. The
involvement of the company and its staff in local affairs.
The corporate policy on giving to education and charities.
G. Implementation - The process by which the code is issued
and used. Means to obtain advice. Code review
procedures. Training programme.
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Source: http://www.ibe.org.uk/codesofconduct.html
BONUS OPPORTUNITY
Create a Statement of Commitment to Members – Project Differentiation
“Credit unions today remain as unique as their history. Officially chartered as a financial "movement" in
1934, credit unions undertook the mission to bring economic democracy to "people of modest means"
through the extension of affordable financial services.
The fervor of the early pioneers is echoed in today's credit union movement. As cooperatives, credit unions
are working hard to position themselves competitively in the financial market through emphasis of their
basic cooperative philosophy and democratic principles.
In the past few years, credit unions have refocused attention on how they can best communicate to their
members the difference between credit unions and other financial institutions. Successful marketing
position has led many of them to examine how they incorporate the basic principles of credit unions into the
everyday work of serving their members, and how to proactively communicate these activities to members,
legislators, and consumers.
In 1998, CUNA's Board appointed a Project Differentiation Committee to reemphasize credit unions'
philosophy and their commitment to members. The result? A "Statement of Commitment to Members"
encouraging all credit unions to develop their own statements.
Introduction
What is a Statement of Commitment to Members? Why should you make the effort to create one for your
credit union?
The "what is it?" answer is relatively simple. Think of the Statement as a "Philosophy Policy"-- similar in
nature to your asset/liability management (ALM) policy, but focusing instead on the philosophical aspects of
your operations.
The "why do it" answer is a little longer:

Do it because it's a great way to capture the real value of belonging to your credit union.

Do it to reinforce your commitment to credit union principles.

Do it to evaluate how well you carry out your commitment to credit union principles--to
document your successes as well as to find gaps that need to be filled.

Do it because the information it yields can give you a new and exciting strategic
marketing position.

Do it because, once completed, it's great information to share with your board, your
staff, your membership, your sponsor(s), and your community at large.

Do it because it's a great tool for advocacy efforts.

Do it because it's a great tool for education.

Do it to put some focus back on our philosophical roots; always keep safety and
soundness in mind, but never forget why credit unions exist and what our difference is.

Do it to articulate our difference.
"It's time to show in a tangible way how credit unions practice what we preach."
Credit unions practice what we preach by:

Providing service to all groups within our fields of membership;

Providing consumer education;

Keeping to our demographic principles and ensuring that diversity is embraced, not
rejected;

Supporting other credit unions and our movement as a whole;

Participating in noncredit union cooperative activities; and
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

Supporting our communities, through financial as well as in-kind donations.
Completing this exercise will be well worth your time. Winning H.R. 1151 (the Credit Union Membership
Access Act of 1998) has given credit unions terrific visibility and an outstanding opportunity to differentiate
ourselves from others in the financial service industry. This Statement of Commitment to Members can be
your best tool for accomplishing that, and for taking your credit union into the next century--looking to the
future, but keeping an eye on our past. (Click here for how-to instructions.)
Copyright © 2007 - Credit Union National Association, Inc.
PLANNING BASE (PART 1) — SCOT LIST
Minimum requirement:
Develop a SCOT list for the credit union:
Strengths – build on
Challenges – identify and address
Opportunities – capitalize on
Threats - minimize
Identify at least five areas in each category, including a minimum of one sentence explaining how
the factor relates to the credit union.
Include in the SCOT list those areas relative to the financial position of the credit union that have
been identified in the credit union’s ALM report.
SWOT [SCOT] analysis is based on the assumption that if managers carefully review such
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, a useful strategy for ensuring organizational
success will become evident.
Samuel C. Certo’s Modern Management
(CCUE Management Course Text)
It is possible that areas may fall into more than one category.
The same factor can represent both a threat and an opportunity. The way you respond to it and
how well your response works out puts it either on the “win” side of the scorecard or the “loss”
side. In working through the oportunity scan, it helps to think carefully about what it takes to
discern an opportunity or a threat?
Karl Albrecht, “orthbound Train”
According to Webster

Strengths
o Power to withstand strain, force or stress: toughness.
o Power to sustain or resist attack: impregnability.
o Legal, intellectual, or moral force.
o The power or capability of generating a reaction or effect: operative potency.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
o Degree of concentration, distillation, or saturation: potency.
o Numerical force or supportive personnel measured as to concentration.

Challenge
o To take a stand against.
o To confront boldly and courageously.
o To call on another to do something requiring boldness.
o A call to engage in a contest or fight.
o A demand for an explanation.
o Requirement for full use of one’s abilities or resources.
o To call to engage in a contest or fight.

Opportunity
o Favorable or promising combination of circumstances.
o A chance for advancement or improvement.

Threat
o An expression of an intention to do something harmful.
o An indication if impending danger or harm.
o One regarded as a possible danger: menace.
SAMPLE SCOT FACTORS TO CONSIDER
Strengths – Build On
Internal items that have a positive impact on the credit union. These items are specifically within the control
of the credit union.
What factors directly contribute to the success of your credit union. What core competencies does your
team excel in? What are your credit union’s major competitive strengths?

Brand/Identity

Community Charter

Competitive Products & Services

Competent Board & Staff

Member Satisfaction

Educated board and staff

Strong Capitol Position

Innovative

Technology

Location

Strong Sponsor Relations
Challenges – Identify & Address (formerly referred to as Problems)
Internal items that have a negative impact on the credit union. These items are specifically within the control
of the credit union.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

A major financial institution has lured away two of our employees in the last 6 months with offers of
better pay and benefits packages.

Board Composition

Package of Products/Services

Rate Responsiveness

Lack of Marketing

Lack of Political Involvement

Lack of Training

Lack of ….

Single Sponsor SEG
(Select Employee Group)

Staffing/Succession Plan

Accessibility of Products/Services

Location

Charter

Aging Membership

Facilities

Information Security (in-house)
Opportunities – Capitalize On
Items in the environment that present opportunities for the credit union, but which have not been thoroughly
explored.

Most of our members are not taking full advantage of the full array of products and services we offer.
The potential for increased product penetration and creating a stronger long term financial service
provider with our members is high.

Small Business Services

Community Charters

Community Outreach (financial education, unique ways to help members improve financial position,
increase political awareness of industry, social responsibility)

Home Banking

Lending – i.e. Recapture, Participations, Risk-Based Pricing, Intergenerational Credit Cards, Lifestyle
Lending

Marketing – using new methods/tools to reach market

Mergers

Partnerships/Alliances/Collaborations

Retail Outlets / Shared Branching

Technology

Untapped/underserved Markets

Expand FOM

Streamline Procedures/Products/Services

Financial Planning

HSAs? (Health Savings Accounts)
Threats – Minimize (formerly referred to as Weakness)
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Items in the environment that could have a negative impact on the credit union. These items are out of the
control of the credit union.

Banker Attacks

Bankruptcies

Changing Labor Market

Economy

Potential for CU Taxation

Member Demographics

Over the last 18 months, 3 major financial institutions have started operations within a five mile radius.
They have actively advertised no or low fee products and services to attract customers.

Credit Union Charter Conversions

Increased Competition

Increasing Legislation/Regulation

Sponsor Company Layoffs

Natural Disaster

Taxation

Labor Market

Fraud

Terrorism

Identity Theft

Disaster

Information Security (external – i.e. Department Store records)
PLANNING BASE (PART 2) — ETERNAL ANALYSIS
Minimum requirement:
Identify and analyze at least five external factors that affect (or could affect) the credit union.
These are factors over which the credit union has little or no control. Be specific, listing single
events or trends, not broad topics. Also, be sure to cite any reference materials.
Follow the FAIR Format
1)
Factor — identify the present and future trends in each of the areas.
2)
Assumptions — make assumption(s) as to the future course of the trends.
3)
Impact on the credit union — relate the trend’s probable impact on the demand or supply of
the program or services and the effect on costs and profits.
4)
Response — determine what are the probable responses your credit union can make
based on potential impact.
Think in terms of:

Operating environment

Business logic/strategy

Customer values
Possible driving or key factors to consider:
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
1) Political/legislative/regulatory/legal
2) Population Dynamics - Social/cultural/
demographic

How and why people live and behave as
they do?

What are the demographic trends of
your existing membership? Potential
membership?

Labor Pool
3) Economic
4) Technology

Skills/equipment

New products/new processes
(ways of doing things)
5) Competitition

Has anything changed in this area?
6) Physical Environment

The physical surroundings of the credit union facilities and operations

Location/proximity to suppliers, transportation, members

Risk for natural disasters/pandemics
Not sure where to start? See if your credit union or a
classmate has a copy of CUNA’s Environmental Scan
that they might share with you.
Johnny Vs
Tips from the Evaluators Corner

Tie the factor back as it specifically relates to the credit union.

Be thoughtful and creative here and your plan will go from “Good to Great”.
EXTERNAL ANALYSIS
SUGGESTED INFORMATION SOURCES
Industry Periodicals & White Papers
CUNA Publications (www.cuna.org)
CUNA data subscription service: CU360
Credit Union League/Association educational events, newletters, magazines, list serves, etc.
CUNA Mutual Group’s Dimensions Reports
The Economist magazine
Federal Reserve Banks
U.S. Department of Commerce
Regulatory News Letters
Google :-)
Libraries — community and campus
Local:
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
Business Meetings

Chamber of Commerce

College/University Professors

Credit Union Chapter/Manager Meetings

Publications
Newspapers (local, state, Wall Street Journal, etc.)
Professional Associations
Soundview Executive Summaries (summarizes current business books)
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES (SIS)
OUTLINE OR SUMMARY
Minimum requirement:
Create an Outline or Summary of SI’s 1-5, including objective statements, strategy statements,
and Tactical Action Plan headings.
This step helps bring into focus the direction as you proceed to develop the Strategic Initiatives.
As you develop SIs, you will want to refer to this section, adding detail and modifying it
accordingly.
Important:
This must be included when you send Debbie Rightmire your Financial Management Strategic
Initiative (SI).
DEVELOPING THE STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
Minimum requirement:

Five complete SIs.

One must be financial management.
(Start with a Strategic Initiative like membership or growth, using financial management as the last
SI.)
Strategic Initiatives focus on a few critical areas vital to position your credit union for success in
the future. The serve as a way to focus attention of board, management, and staff at all levels.
For each SI, a minimum of . . .

A brief INTERNAL ANALYSIS with

One three-year, measurable, OBJECTIVE/GOAL

Achieve and maintain or exceed

Bring in-house, out source, or partner

Develop and market

Eliminate or phase out

Establish

Explore

Identify

Improve, enhance, change, or revise
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

Increase

Keep pace with or outdistance

Produce and market

Attract or retain
Two STRATEGIES/PROGRAMS for each objective/goal

One Tactical Action Plan for each strategy/program

A COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS for each Tactical Action Plan
Additional Requirements for the Financial Management Strategic Initiative

An internal analysis highlighting strengths and challenges and any information that might
impact financial projection outcome (i.e., new building, expanding staffing, computer
conversions...)

A three-year projection with supporting balance sheet income/expense projections, and

The calculation of a minimum number of key Financial Ratios specifically relating to the
CAMEL rating system.
Note:
The ALM and financial management courses provide further details to aid in the
development of the financial managemanagement SI.
Johnny Vs Tips from the Evaluators Corner
Strategic Initiatives are the heart of the plan. Developing and writing the first one is harder than
the other three (non-financial) SIs combined. Tackle it early!
Key Result Areas are critical or essential issues that can determine the success of the credit
union. They are areas where the credit union will focus its resources, in connection with the
strategic plan.
Key Result Areas are the foundation for setting objectives, goals, policies, strategies and short
range plans [Tactical Action Plan].
CUNA’s VAP Module —
The Strategic Planning
A SAMPLING OF POTENTIAL STRATETIC INITIATIVES
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
METHOD OF MEASUREMENT
(Always Include a Completion By Date!)
1) Membership
# and % of increase
# and % of increase in secondary or family members
# and % of increase in age bracket (member/primary potential
member ratio)
2) Growth
Increase in regular share base by $ and %
Increase in share drafts by $ and %
Increase in loan volume by $ and %
Increase in average share balance by $ and %
Increase in average personal loan balance by $ and %
3) Image
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Conduct a member survey by _______ (date)
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
To ensure the viability of credit unions as independent
institutions to allow people to have the fredom of choice when
selecting financial service providers.
# of programs to educate and increase member awareness
about the uniqueness of credit unions as financial service
providers
Develop a plan to educate SEGs on the importance of credit
unions to company employees by _____ (date)
# of lobbying efforts at the state and national level to educate
and increase politcal awareness about the uniqueness of credit
unions as financial service providers
Develop a plan to become involved in the political process with
local and national politicians by _________ (year)
Conduct an employee morale survey by ______ (date)
# and % of return on survey
# and % of favorable responses to
(price,
professionalism, quality of service, convenience, etc.)
# and % of increase in positive member perception of service or
product quality from one survey to the next
# and % of members viewing CU as primary financial institution
(PFI)
Time on hold or number of calls on hold
Time member enters credit union until teller/loan/member service
transaction is complete
# of statement or transaction errors
Measures that reflect aspects of speed/convenience (both
internally and externally)
4) Financial Management
Asset Yield
Cost of Funds
Gross Spread
Net Operating Expense Ratio
Operating Return on Assets
Net Charge Offs/Average Total Assets
Net Return on Assets
Loan/Asset Ratio
Net Charge Offs/Average Loans
Capital/Assets Ratio
% of change for:
— assets
— loans
— capital
5) Users of Services
Asset or deposit redistribution
# of users per service
Borrowing members/members ratio
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Average # of services per member or household
% of members viewing CU as their primary financial institution
(PFI)
6) Innovation/Technology
# of new services (the kind of new services with year of
services implementation)
# of employees enrolled in PC related/software courses
Develop training program for employees/members with written
plan due by _______ (date)
Establish technology task force to define technology based
needs and deliver written technology plan by _______ (date)
To design amd implement technology plan by ______ (date)
Increase PC usage within the credit union by # of employees or #
of programs employees are proficient at
Increase % of member usage of technology based services
7) Human Resource
Management
(Includes
Personnel
Management)
# and % of turnover (due to termination and employee
dissatisfaction)
On-site evaluation of training (scale of 1-10)
6-month post-training evaluation (degree of improvement on scale of
1-10)
programs
Degree of improvement — pre-test/post-test # of training
held/attended each year
Salary and benefit as a percentage of operating expense
# of staff/officials to be trained each year
Target dates when type of training will be held
# of full time equivalent employees/million dollars in loans and
share drafts ratio
Additional areas for SI that have been successfully developed in the past:

Remote Facilities/Facilities Expansion

Service Quality

Delivery Systems

Target Marketing

Political Action

Project Differentiation
If you are considering an innovative, new, or novel SI, contact John Vardallas to discuss before
you have spent much time on it. One test of a potential SI is to see if you can support it with
enough detail to carry it through to the Tactical Action Plan and cost benefit analysis process. If
you are finding Tactical Action Plana challenge, you may be working on a strategy addressing
another SI.
INTERNAL ANALYSIS
(5-Year History of Performance)
Minimum requirement:
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Develop one internal analysis for each SI, including a five-year history/analysis of each. Use
narrative, charts, graphs, policies, and suggested policies as applicable to each SI.
Draw conclusions.
Don’t leave the reader wondering what direction the plan is taking.
Johnny Vs Tips from the Evaluators Corner
The internal analysis makes or breaks more SIs than any other part of the SI write-up,
with the exception of possibly the cost-benefit analysis.
OBJECTIVES/GOALS
Minimum requirement:
Develop at least one three-year objective/goal for each Strategic Initiative. These goals/objectives
should define the basis for action.
Objectives — qualitative statements
Goals — quantitative statements
Be careful how objectives/goals are stated:
Right: The delinquency ratio will not exceed 1%.
Wrong: To maintain a delinquency ratio of 1%. (This does not allow for a ratio of less than 1%.)
Smart Goals
Sensible
Does it make sense to do this?
Measurable
How will I measure when I have arrived?
Attainable
Can I actually attain this now?
Realistic
Is it possible and realistic at the same time?
Time line
How much time will it take me?
Full Esteem Ahead: 100 Ways to Build
Self-Esteem in Children & Adults
Diane Loomans with Julia Loomans
It is important to set corporate objectives for many reasons.
— The most general reason is that, as experience has shown, the act of setting objectives for a
corporation considerably increases the chances of achieving them.
— Another reason is to communicate a common framework to both management and
employees so that “everybody is pulling in the same direction.”
— A third reason is that corporate objectives serve as a consistent set of criteria for evaluating
alternative strategies that are developed as part of the planning process.
— Finally, corporate objectives can be used to judge the performance of the company and its
management.
AMA’s How to Develop The Strategic Plan
Goal:
What you want to accomplish expressed as a result. It is a desired performance or a specific
outcome to be completed within a given period of time. It represents progress, a gain beyond past
accomplishments, a tangible improvement over existing conditions.
Goals provide:
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
— direction [communicate expectations]
— orientation
— a performance standard
— a work plan
— a progress measurement
— motivation
— discipline
6 basic characteristics of a measurable, effective goal:
A) Written in terms of desired results or outcomes.
B) Has a specific time frame or deadline.
C) Has a norm or standard for judging success.
D) Is realistic and attainable.
E) Is understandable.
F) Agrees or corresponds with the mission statement.
Formula for a measurable goal:
Action Verb
Build
Recommend
Increase
Publish
Achieve
Purchase
Identify
Design
Reduce
Provide
Develop
Implement
Complete
+
Measurable Result
+
Deadline Date
That you want
to accomplish.
Once the goal is written, ask if it is understandable and realistic.
CUNA’s CU Planning Seminar: Facilitator’s Manual
Sample objective statements:
Increase total membership 5% per year from x to y by 12/31/10.
Conduct the annual member survey by 12/31/09.
Maintain a minimum member satisfaction rating of 90%.
Implement remote banking options by 12/31/10.
Enroll 20 new youth account members, increasing membership by x%, by June 30, 2009.
Form a task force to review types of loans offered and prepare recommendations for
streamlining the lending process by reducing or combining various types of loan products
by 12/31/09.
STRATEGIES/PROGRAMS
Minimum requirement:
Develop at least two strategies/programs for each objective/goal.
NOTE: Each program/strategy has an effect on the credit union’s future and its financial
condition.
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Strategies/programs describe how the identified goals/objectives are to be achieved.
The strategy should be congruent with the professional mission, with available resources, and
with market conditions. Moreover, the strategy should be monitored and changed to reflect shifts
in the wind, including the status of the competition.
Stephen Covey,
Principle-Centered Leadership
Today, the word strategies, in a planning sense, means a general program of action and an
allocation of resources and activities to achieve objectives.
Strategies are developed after objectives and policies have been set. Strategies are written to
attain objectives in light of policies.
The purpose of strategies is to determine and communicate how the credit union will get where it
wants to go through a system of objectives and policies. Strategies, then, are a set of decisions
made over time that will achieve objectives and goals. They point you in a unified direction in
regard to what activities will be emphasized and how resources will be allocated.
Strategies deal with action and direction of financial, human and material resources to achieve
objectives.
Major strategies which give a unified direction to a credit union are likely to be in the following
areas:
1) Products and Services. This is the area in which the credit union responds to the changing
needs of members.
2) Marketing. Marketing strategies are the part of the plan that concentrates on getting products
or services to members.
3) Growth. Growth strategies give direction to such questions as how much growth, how fast,
where, and how.
4) Financial. Every credit union must have a clear strategy as to how to operate a financially
stable and competitive institution.
5) Organizational. This kind of strategy has to do with the type of organizational structure the
credit union will create and use. This structure defines a system of roles and relationships
that helps people accomplish objectives in effective ways.
6) Personnel. Major strategies in the human resource area deal with such topics as
compensation, selection, recruitment, training, and appraisal, as well as strategy in special
areas such as the quality of work life.
CUNA’s VAP Module,
The Strategic Planning Process
Strategy is a broad and general plan developed to reach long-term organizational objectives; it is
the end result of strategic planning . . . Organizational strategy can, and generally does, focus on
many different organizational areas, such as marketing, finance, production, research and
development, personnel, and public relations . . . For a strategy to be worthwhile, however, it
must be consistent with organizational objectives, which in turn must be consistent with
organizational purpose [mission] . . .
After managers involved in the strategic planning process have analyzed the environment and
determined organizational direction through the development of a mission statement and
organizational objectives, they are ready to formulate strategy. Strategy formulation is the
process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving organizational objectives and
thereby accomplishing organizational purpose.
Managers formulate strategies that reflect environmental analysis, lead to the fulfillment of
organizational mission, and result in the reaching of organizational objectives. Special tools
managers can use for assistance in formulating strategies include:
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
1) Critical Question Analysis
a) What are the purposes and objectives of the organization?
b) Where is the organization presently going?
c) In what kind of environment does the organization now exist?
d) What can be done to better achieve organizational objectives in the future?
2) SWOT Analysis [see page 19].
3) Business portfolio analysis, a technique that is based on the philosophy that organizations
should develop strategy much as they handle investment portfolios. Just as sound
investments should be supported and unsound ones should be discarded, sound
organizational activities should be emphasized and unsound ones de-emphasized.
4) “Porter’s Model for Industry Analysis”, a model that outlines the primary forces that determine
competitiveness within an industry and illustrates how the forces are related. Porter’s model
suggests that in order to develop effective organizational strategies, managers must
understand and react to forces within an industry that determine an organization’s level of
competitiveness within that industry:
a) Differentiation,
b) Cost leadership, and
c) Focus.
Samuel C. Certo, Modern Management (CCUE Management Course Text)
TACTICAL ACTION PLAN
Minimum requirement:
Develop a minimum of one Tactical Action Plan for each strategy/program.
Each sequence of Tactical Action Plan must include:
1. The actual steps to implement the strategy/program.
2. A start and completion date for each step.
3. The responsible team leader and responsible member(s) [listed by position — not by name]
for completing each step.
4. A list of resources needed for the action plan.
5. A list of benefits if the action plan is implemented.
6. A list of out-of-pocket expenses and non-financial costs for the Tactical Action Plan only. This
is the implementation cost of the Tactical Action Plan, AKA the cost of failure.
7. A cost-benefit analysis.
8. Comments on improving the Tactical Action Plan Process (if applicable).
Include copies of all implementation
costs and cost-benefit analysis with
your submission of the financial management strategic Initiative.
Bonus Opportunity
Identify/list situations that would trigger the need for adjusting parts of the strategy, and specify
“early warning” indicators for taking action.
There may be one or more Tactical Action Plan(s) for each strategy/program.
In most cases,
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— If all action steps are to be completed by either the board chairman or the
president/manager/CEO, something may not be right.
— If there are only two to five action steps, important details or steps are probably missing.
— If the Tactical Action Plan were presented to someone else for execution, would he or she
have a clear understanding of the overall objective or purpose of the plan?
Make sure that the Tactical Action Plan format includes a clear statement of the SI, objective, and
strategy that it supports. Add narrative, definitions, assumptions, etc., as needed to communicate
desired outcome.
In completing the Tactical Action Plan, some goals . . . may have no cost impact.

If this is the case, simply state this on the form.
Other goals may not have any quantifiable benefits or costs.

In this case, the intangible benefits or costs should be summarized verbally.
CAUTION: Most goals do have quantifiable costs and benefits which affect the credit union.
Make sure you do not label such goals as unquantifiable.
CUNA’s CU Planning Seminar: Manager’s Implementation Manual
Action Plan: The action steps, cost-benefit analyses and implementation resources necessary to
accomplish the goal, together with corresponding assignments of responsibility and deadlines.
CUNA’s CU Planning Seminar:
Facilitator’s Manual
PLAN FOR SUCCESS
Reduce the chances of Tactical Action Plans being returned marked “REDO”.
Combined hints and tips from
John, Debbie, Lily, and Janine...Take Heed!
1. The Tactical Action Plan must follow the format on the page 31.
2. Tactical Action Plans must contain enough details for someone else to be able to complete
the Tactical Action Plan on his own without further instruction.
3. Simply repeating or revising Tactical Action Plan on an annual basis does not count as
a long range plan.
Example: If the credit union’s share draft or checking program is currently one size fits all, a
possible Tactical Action Plan could be to customize the share draft program to four different
accounts.
If the credit union already has a tiered share draft or checking program, reviewing or
evaluating the program on an annual basis is considered a normal part of doing business and
would not be considered an Tactical Action Plan.
4. Business as usual is not adequate in today’s business environment.
5. The Tactical Action Plans need to be included in each SI they pertain to. However, each
Tactical Action Plan is only counted ONCE toward the completion of your project
requirements.
Example: You include a copy of an Tactical Action Plan from the Loan SI in the Financial
Management SI. This Tactical Action Plan does not count toward minimum requirements for
the Financial Management SI.
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6. If ALL Tactical Action Plans (other than evaluate or
review) are complete by the year of graduation, you have
not satisified the school’s minimum requirements.
This is a three-year (year of graduation plus two) strategic
business plan.
7. Each Tactical Action Plan has implementation costs and a separate, more inclusive
cost/benefit analysis.
More redo grades are caused by a
failure to heed point #7 than
for any other single reason.
Action Plans deal with the nuts and bolts of operational planning.
Action Plans will clearly state “how-to” accomplish goals and objectives.
Action Plans must also designate the resources required to complete the job.
CUNA’s VAP Module
The Strategic Planning Process
All SIs, Tactical Action Plans, and
cost-benefit analysis must
follow the school’s format!
TACTICAL ACTION PLAN FORMAT
Strategic Initiative #:
Objective #:
Strategy #:
Tactical Action Plan #:
Team Leader (position responsible for ensuring completion of the Tactical Action Plan):
Action Steps
Responsible
Team Member
(by position)
Start
Date
Finish
Date
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
.....
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20.
Resources Needed:
Benefits:
Costs: [Out-of-pocket dollars if the credit union implements the Tactical Action Plan. This reflects
the cost to the credit union if the Tactical Action Plan failed, including loss of investment
dollars.]
Implementation Costs:
Comments on Improving Tactical Action Plan Process (complete section as action steps
progress):
TACTICAL ACTION PLANS AND COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS
SAMPLE
Example:
Imagine submitting a Membership SI which includes an expanded Field of Membership strategy.
Separate Tactical Action Plans are developed for each major expansion. Expanding to serve local
WalMart employees, is one Tactical Action Plan. Expanding to serve a nearby industrial firm is a
second Tactical Action Plan.
1. Each Tactical Action Plan has a list of resources needed.
In the example, you might need promotional materials, a new business development staff
person, a portable telephone, a laptop computer, funds and time to attend a sales training
seminar, temporary help, and other resources. Other resources might include the expense of
attorney consultation.

Some resources are shared with other Tactical Action Plans. In the example, the new
staff person would serve the Wal Mart employees and the industrial firm’s employees.
The cost of the portable phone and laptop computer would be utilized in implementing
both Tactical Action Plans. Include the staff person, portable phone, and laptop in the list
of resources for both Tactical Action Plans.
2. Each Tactical Action Plan has a list of benefits.
In the example, you should include all the major benefits you would realize if the Tactical
Action Plan succeeds.
Do not just copy directly from the samples—this plan is on your credit union and its own
unique situation. Just because a sample project or works-in-progress includes or omits certain
items in the cost-benefit analysis, doesn’t necessarily mean that the same analysis will work
for your credit union’s situation.
3. Each Tactical Action Plan has a list of expenses you incur in completing the Tactical Action
Plan. These are the implementation costs.
In the example, you would list salary/benefits (for the new person), depreciation costs (for the
laptop and phone), lawyer’s fees, total costs of promotional materials (development, printing,
delivery), postage (if direct mail is to be done in the Tactical Action Plan), total cost of giveaways, temporary staff fees, and all other out-of-pocket costs you incur when the Tactical
Action Plan is implemented.
4. List expenses of the Tactical Action Plan for each year in which you complete the
Tactical Action Plan. Remember, if the Tactical Action Plan lasts more than one year,
you MUST list the expenses of the Tactical Action Plan for each year!
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A lot of students simply end their Tactical Action Plans by saying that the plan repeats each
year. Tactical Action Plan expenses for each year covered by their project still need to be
provided.
In the example, the FOM expansion would be completed in one year, so only one year’s
implementation costs are required.

If resources are shared with other Tactical Action Plans, resource costs should be
allocated between the Tactical Action Plans. In the example, the staff salary/benefits and
the depreciation of the laptop and phone expenses, the lawyer’s fees, and (maybe) the
costs of promotions and give-aways are shared by two Tactical Action Plans. Allocate
accordingly, indicating that these are shared expenses with other Tactical Action Plans.

What should you do about expenses which continue indefinitely but were incurred in a
one-year? In other words, the example says a new staff person is hired and a laptop and
phone are purchased. But the Tactical Action Plan lasts only one year. What should you
do about the salary/benefits and depreciation expenses?
Answer:
List Tactical Action Plan expenses for just the year the plan covers.
However, when preparing the cost-benefit analysis, include the salary/ benefits and depreciation
expenses for all years. The salary/ benefits and depreciation expenses are considered additional
operating expenses which continue after the Tactical Action Plan is done.
After Each Tactical Action Plan,
You Must Provide a Cost-Benefit Analysis.
Note: The cost-benefit analysis shows how your credit union income and expense statement
would change if you complete the Tactical Action Plan and it succeeds. Remember this and costbenefit analysis is easy. Consider the example:
Example:
You have hired a new person and given him/her a laptop computer, portable telephone, and
promotional materials to give away. You also paid for attending a sales training seminar and used
your credit union’s lawyer to review the FOM expansion. You purchased some give-aways and
produced some direct mail pieces. A temporary employee is hired to mail these materials.
As the Tactical Action Plan unfolds, new members begin to sign up and make deposits. A few
take out loans and open checking accounts or get credit cards. All these things happen during
implementation of the Tactical Action Plan. They change your credit union’s income and expense
statement in all years. Your cost-benefit analysis must reflect these projected changes.
1. Each year covered by the cost-benefit analysis should cover these income items:

Loan income from loans generated by the Tactical Action Plan.

Investment income from deposits generated by the Tactical Action Planwhich are not
loaned out.

Fee income generated by members who joined.

Other income (for example, if your Tactical Action Planis for a new building and you rent
out space, include rent).
Calculate these income items separately for each year.

List income from loans, not loan volume.
2. Each year covered by the cost-benefit analysis should cover all operating expenses that are
changed by the Tactical Action Plan.
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Warning . . . common mistake:
The operating expenses incurred by the Tactical Action Plan include the expenses of
implementing the Tactical Action Plan, but are not limited to the expenses of the plan.
Example:
All of the steps required to implement the Tactical Action Plan are completed. Some of the
expenses incurred are one-time expenses; ending when the plan is finished. These one-time
expenses include:

Purchase of promotional materials and give-aways

Lawyer’s fees and the cost of temporary help

Postage charges for the direct mail of promotional material

Training expenses
Some of the expenses incurred in completing the plan are continuing expenses. These continuing
expenses include:

Salary and benefits for the new staff

Depreciation for the laptop and phone
Important: In addition, the operating expenses go up because of the increase in credit union
membership, deposits, and the services used at the credit union. A list of these expenses
includes:

Dividend expense

Loan Loss Prevention

Data processing charges

Postage

Printing

And all of the other related expenses.
The Cost-Benefit Analysis Does Not Just Re-state the Expenses
of the Tactical Action Plan.
Do not lump the total cost of the Tactical Action Plan into operating costs, adding dividend
expense, and stopping there — it won’t work!
Here is what you should do:
1. Allocate the costs of the Tactical Action Pla ninto expense items used by credit union. This
means that lawyer’s fees are listed as professional services. Postage goes into postage.
Salaries and benefits are listed as salaries and benefits. Depreciation is depreciation, And so
on for all the expenses incurred in completing the Tactical Action Plan.

Cover all the years affected by the Tactical Action Plan. Remember that staff and
depreciation expenses continue into future years.

Limit one-year expenses to just one year. Lawyer’s fees might be limited to the first year
of the Tactical Action Plan.

Separate one-year and continuing expenses. Postage for the completion of the Tactical
Action Plan is limited to the period in which you complete the direct mail promotion.
Statement printing and postage is a continuing expense.
2. Estimate the costs imposed by the Tactical Action Plan on overall operations. Your postage
costs continue — at a lower level — because you continue to mail statements to members
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who join during the Tactical Action Plan. The salaries/benefits and depreciation expense carry
over into all future years.
3.
Combine costs in (1) and (2) into the expense items used by the credit union.

In the first year, postage expenses include the cost of direct mail and the cost of mailing
statements and newsletters.

In the second year, postage expenses cover only statement mailing costs (the direct
mail promotion ends after the first year).
4. Estimate dividend expense.
5. Add all expense items and all income items.
6. You can have negative expenses. For example, if you outsource marketing, a negative salary
and benefits entry would be made (of course, the professional services category would go
up).
7. The same thing applies to negative income. If you reduce investment dollars, your investment
income would be negative.
Cost-Benefit Survival Tips

Look at the Tactical Action Plan implementation costs.

Are the implemtation costs the same as the expenses listed in the cost-benefit analysis? If
yes, chances are, something is not right.

Rarely are implementation costs and expenses listed in the cost-benefit analysis identical.

Usually cost-benefit expenses are greater than the implementation costs.
COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS FORMAT
Strategic Initiative #:
Objective #:
Strategy #:
Tactical Action Plan#:
Team Leader:
INCOME EXPECTED
2009
2009
2010
Loan Income
XX
XX
XX
Fee Income
XX
XX
XX
Investment Income
XX
XX
XX
Other Income
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
Include all income derived from this
Tactical Action Plan, i.e.:
May also include loss of investment income if dollars
being used are substantial and had been earning interest.
Total Income Expected
COSTS ANTICIPATED
Include all dollar costs associated with this Tactical Action Plan, i.e.:
Salary/Benefits
XX
XX
XX
Data Processing
XX
XX
XX
Depreciation
XX
XX
XX
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Dividends
XX
XX
XX
Equipment Rental
XX
XX
XX
Professional Services
XX
XX
XX
Incentives
XX
XX
XX
Marketing
XX
XX
XX
Operating Expense
XX
XX
XX
Postage
XX
XX
XX
Printing
XX
XX
XX
Provision for Loan Loss
XX
XX
XX
Supplies
XX
XX
XX
Temporary Help
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
XX
May also include reductions in expenses (negative expenses)
if cost savings are part of the Tactical Action Plan.
Total Costs Anticipated
ESTIMATED NET PROFIT (LOSS)
Critical assumptions on which outcome is dependent: Short paragraph containing any supporting
information that substantiates the cost-benefit analysis. This should include things like the number
of new employees per year, total loans expected, total deposits, etc.
Risks (uncontrollable factors that may impact outcome):
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Minimum requirement:
Prepare a one to two page executive summary on what needs to be addressed in the three-year
strategic business plan. The summary should indicate the future direction of the credit union.
Johnny Vs Tips from the Evaluators Corner
Hint: Why do you think this section is referred to as a summary? If this section is not short
and to the point, the ol’ red pen will make it so!
THE THREE-YEAR STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLAN
GENERAL INFORMATION & TIPS
The Three-Year Strategic Business Plan is a professional report!
The planning process involves proactive as opposed to reactive decision making. It requires a wide variety
of future opportunities and challenges be examined. At times, it requires making a best guesstimate.
Mental blocks are likely to occur. Where appropriate, enlist the members of the various teams that you are
a vital member of — the credit union employees, board members, peers, and so on. Soliciting input and
feedback helps position your plan to be a valuable tool for your credit union.
Practice creative decision making, what-if scenarios, and general brainstorming.
Tip:
When working with others to generate fresh approaches and perspectives, aim to look at the positive side
of all suggestions, being vary careful of negative or critical thoughts. Instead of saying or thinking it could
never be done, try asking what if it were possible, how might it be done?
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Warning:
The strategic plan is an intertwined, dynamic process. When a section of the strategic plan has been
reviewed by the project evaluator, do not let it sit on a shelf. As the strategic plan develops — keep in mind
each section, in one way or another, should be relating to other portions of the plan.
Help is available to students year round. As deadlines approach options become more limited. Faculty and
staff have other obligations. Plan ahead.
The proper use of grammar, spelling, graphics, and overall appearance are all important.

Always run spell check, grammar check if you have one.

Avoid buzz words or excessive verbiage (i.e., very, extremely, drastically, dramatically, etc.).

Check usage of capitalization and bolding. Is it consistent? To make it easier on the reader, keep
capitalization and bolding to a minimum.

Graphics (charts/tables/figures) should

be incorporated throughout the business plan.

add to the reader’s understanding of the area being discussed.

Students should be able to explain any graphics used.

Appearance exceptions:

You may hand number pages up until your final copy. (Please number all pages before submitting
for review.)

Graphs and charts may initially be submitted hand drawn. They must be in polished form for final
project submission.
When there are two or more first year students from the same credit union:

It is OK for students to work jointly or independently on the project from the Mission Statement through
the External Analysis — be sure to credit who did the work on each section. (However, we recommend
each student work indepentently on the entire project to get the maximum benefit from the program.)

ALL students are required to submit individual work for SIs and Executive Summary.
Just because a previous student’s work from the same credit union has been approved, does not mean that
a student coming after him or her can expect to resubmit the same work and have it approved. Students are
expected to build on previous student’s materials, using their own words and building from there. Be sure to
properly cite previous student’s work.
Third year students tend to sell their projects as class fundraisers. It is up to each class and each student
whether or not to sell or share their projects. Buyers be ware…each student’s work is graded based on their
unique situations and are to be viewed as samples. Don’t assume because a format was previously
approved that you may stray from your class’ CORE MANUAL format instructions.
Project submissions are reviewed in order of receipt. You will receive a student feedback grid when your
first section submission is returned to you.

Send the student feedback grid form with each project section submission. This expedites the review
and return process.

Always review feedback grid comments before reviewing your work. (Red ink does not always mean
work needs improvement. Keep a sharp eye for positive statements, not just red ink.)

Always keep a copy for your records.
Save all previously submitted and reviewed work until you have completed School.
So, you’re wondering what John Vardallas meant when he wrote or said “cow bells”. That’s Wisconsin slang
for embelish, expand, or provide more details.
Expect “redo” if:

All actions steps are completed in one year or completed by same person.

All cost benefit analysis don’t require any additional resources, have no implementation costs, or result
in zero additional expense/income to credit union.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

Submission is obviously not proofed.
Take disaster recovery planning to heart. Back up your work frequently, storing on two disks (in
case one goes bad). Disasters are heartbreaking - don’t count on deadline extensions.
Number of “final” copies of the strategic business plan vary by credit union needs:

The final copy you send John will be sent to TCUL and returned to you on campus.

You will be instructed to send a a copy of your plan to your oral presentation facilitator. This is returned
to you after your presentation.

It’s up to each class and each student whether or not to provide a copy of their plan as scholarship
fundraisers.

Students are responsible for ensuring that the credit union has a copy of the plan and for displaying
their projects at graduation.
From time to time, TCUL may ask permission to use student work as samples. This in no way implies
honors.

Students are free to decline requests for confidentiality purposes with no impact on project review or to
black out all references to the name of the credit union.

All students are expected to approach samples provided as confidential material.
If there are confidential issues a student wishes to include in their project, please discuss directly with John
Vardallas or Debbie Rightmire. There are ways to handle this.
If there are concerns about dorm or mentor/ counselor assignments, please discuss with Janine or Corina.
TYPES OFHONORS AWARDS
1)
One Award of Excellence is awarded each year. On rare occasion, two may be awarded.
2)
Additionally, each year a number of Honor Graduates are designated.
There is NO correlation between
the number of pages in the project or the amount of money spent to pretty it up and the quality of the
project. Content and reasonableness are the most important factors, as well as the growth of the individual
student during the school experience.
WHAT CONSTITUTES AN HONOR PROJECT?
1)
Students completing their final projects on time and completing SCMS in three consecutive years are
eligible for consideration for the Award of Excellence.
All other students submitting final projects by the completion deadline are eligible for graduation and
consideration for Honor Graduate status.
2)
The final project deadline must be met!
3)
The project must go beyond the minimum requirements. (Simply meeting the final project deadline
does not mean that a project has qualified for honors.)
4)
The following additional factors are considered when reviewing a project for honors:
—
students are evaluated against themselves (individual student progress from day one to
completion of the project),
—
level of strategic planning currently in place at the credit union,
—
position/job function in the credit union,
—
educational background/
experience, and
—
access or lack of access to PCs and software programs.
Consider the following excerpts from AMA’s How to Develop the Strategic Plan as you work on the credit
union’s strategic plan.
The evaluation [of a strategic plan] should incorporate the following questions:
1)
Was the information used reasonably the best that could have been obtained?
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
2)
Did the analyses focus on issues of truly significant matters for the company [the credit union]—the
success or failure of the business over an extended time period?
3)
Were the conclusions clear? Sound?
4)
What decisions were made as a result of the planning?
5)
What action was taken?
6)
Did management at all relevant levels understand and support the planning results?
7)
And finally, if a retrospective view is available, was the company in a better position as a result of the
decisions and action taken, or would the company have been better off if they had not been taken?
Good plans are seldom produced in isolation; that is, rarely do they arise out of a process that turns them
out in a single, complete operation. An effective planning system does not operate like a doughnut
machine; efficient systems require draft proposals, and each proposal must be analyzed, referenced, and
modified to align with the others.
Corporate plans should seldom be the first to be drafted . . . The overall, governing plan of an enterprise
should not be completed in a single pass. It must be adjusted through each planning cycle, so as to be in
balance with its subordinate plans as they in turn must be adjusted to be in balance with it.
Sound strategic direction has never been more important—which is why the strategic planning process
must be truly decentralized. Yet strategic planning, as we conventionally conceive of it, has become
irrelevant, or w orse, damaging.
What is a good strategic plan? There is none. But there is a good strategic planning process.
A good strategic planning process:
1)
gets everyone involved
2)
is not constrained by overall corporate “assumptions” (e.g., about the general economic picture)
3)
is perpetually fresh, forcing the asking of new questions
4)
is not to be left to planners, and
5)
requires lots of noodle time and vigorous debate.
As for the document per se, it
1)
is succinct,
2)
emphasizes the development of strategic skills, and
3)
it is a living document, not an icon.
Flexibility is the necessary watchword.
Tom Peters, Thriving on Chaos
CREATING A BUSINESS PLAN THAT WORKS
By Susan M. Jacksack, CCH Staff Writer
Creating a business plan need not be difficult. However, it does require a step-by-step approach, and a
willingness to persist in digging for information and thinking through all the essential factors that will
contribute to your operation.
You'll find that the time you spend creating your plan will be some of the most valuable hours in your
entrepreneurial career. By creating a business plan, you’ll know exactly what pieces must come together at
the right time, place, and amount to make your project a success. What's more, you'll be able to explain
your idea to others whom you must convince to write a loan, invest in your business, or join you as a
partner or co-owner.
While the planning document itself can be important, particularly if you're going to use it to obtain necessary
capital, the planning process is even more important.
It's during the process of creating the plan that you round out your knowledge base by gathering
information, consider numerous alternatives, and make dozens (if not hundreds) of decisions about how to
proceed. Putting your decisions on paper has the very important psychological effect of cementing your
commitment to action.
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Where available, you can and should enlist the help of others (e.g., your accountant, lawyer, consultant, or
even a professional business plan developer) to help you pull together the physical document. A review of
the financial section by an accountant can be particularly helpful. But you must ultimately do the
essential thinking and decision making yourself. Your plan must reflect your own individual
strengths, personality, and intentions for your business, and no one knows them as well as you.
Remember that no two business plans will look alike. Your reasons for creating the plan, and what you
hope to get out of the process and the plan itself, will play an important role in shaping the scope and
contents of your particular plan. What's more, your plan should reflect your personality and your
management style. You'll want the readers to feel as if they know you and have a good handle on what your
business is all about.
This column was adapted from Business Plans That Work for Your Small Business, a book available
from CCH Incorporated. To order, call 1-800-248-3248 or visit our on-line bookstore. Added to the
Business Owner's Toolkit on June 10, 1998. Copyright 1998, CCH INCORPORATED. All Rights Reserved.
THE FIVE-MINUTE SPEECH CHECKLIST
No matter how often you give speeches, every trip to the lectern brings new challenges — and new
opportunities to improve your presentation. These tips can show you how.

Smile. Make the audience feel as if you are glad to be there, and glad they are there, too. They will
remember your mood even if they forget your point.

Be energetic. Show your passion and conviction through body language and an optimistic tone of
voice.

Keep still. Don’t fidget or rock back and forth. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, and your arms
at your sides when not gesturing to emphasize a point.

Be heard. Don’t shout, but project your voice without sounding unnatural.

Hostile audience? Of course not! Keep calm; don’t get defensive. Give them as many facts as you can.
Remember: they can’t make you look bad — only you can do that.

Remember your setting. Tailor the presentation to each particular group and the environment where
you speak. Decide how you can connect with the audience, how large it will be, how the room is set up,
and any audiovisual needs you’ll have.

Tell it and hold on. Cut to the chase: tell them why you’re there, and stay with that message. Don’t
follow tangents.

Watch your time. Practice the speech so you can develop a schedule for time management. This way
you will know if you are speaking too quickly, or dragging on and on. Stay with the text, and stop at the
end. Don’t speak with single members of the audience as you pass out informational literature.

Be careful during Q&A. A question-and-answer period is a surefire way to get sidetracked, waste time,
and lose control of your message. Keep it short. Be honest with your answers. If you don’t know an
answer, say so, but tell the inquirer where to find the answer.
Reprinted with permission from The Working Communicator (new ideas, trends, and techniques for the
working communicator) — January 1995. Source credit to The American School Board Journal.
Lawrence Ragan Communications, Inc. 212 W. Superior, Suite 200, Chicago, IL 60610
(312)335-0037, FAX (312)335-9583
America Online: markR347@aol.com.
PROCRASTINATORS BEWARE . . .
Things that can be done at any time never become important enough to do now.
Wess Roberts, Ph.D.,
Straight A’s Never Made Anybody Rich:
Lessons in Personal Achievement
Eligible students who miss a year of school, need to resubmit any previously approved portions of the
project. Missing one year, the student will be held to the requirements and deadlines of the class they are
joining. Eligible students missing more than one year need to petition the oversite to determine their status.
The old imperativse were: Work hard, keep focused on doing the right things, do better each year, and grow
incrementally.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
The new imperatives are: Rethink the basics, adapt to new ways of doing business, reinvent processes,
and let go of the past.
…And we have to learn how to enable the people of the enterprise to create unprecedented levels of value
for the customer, the organization, and themselves.
The Northbound Train, Karl Albrecht
SCMS Challenge
Truly make this the credit union’s strategic plan.
Involve all levels of employees and the directors in the planning process (where and when appropriate).
Chieftains should always aim high, going after things that will make a difference rather than seeking the
safe path of mediocrity.
Wess Roberts, Ph.D.,
Leadership Secrets of Atilla the Hun
StretchOut And Reach Into The Future!
“To Infinity And Beyond”
Note from SCMS Faculty
& Administrative Team
This manual is a constantly evolving process. We welcome any input on how we might clarify instructions
or recommendations on samples we might provide to help students successfully create a real-life working
plan.
Send any recommendations/samples to Janine.
jmcbee@tcul.coop
Sample
Mission, Vision, History and SWOP
(now referred to as SCOT) List I
Sample
Mission, Vision, and SWOP
(now referred to as SCOT) List II
Sample
Workspaces: Code of Conduct
As part of Microsoft's commitment to making GotDotNet a
great place to meet and interact with others around the world,
you agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. Your commitment
to this Code of Conduct in all message board services, chat
areas, news groups, forums, communities, sample uploads,
and/or other message or communication facilities (including
any contents of any of these services or facilities) designed to
enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a
group, ensures a positive experience for all our users.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Specific communities, chats, and message boards may also
have additional guidelines which govern your use, so be sure
to review them in addition to this Code of Conduct. Microsoft is
not responsible for the content or activities in any usercreated, non-Microsoft managed Communication Service.
Respect Others
We encourage everyone to treat each other with mutual
respect. Do not use any communication or collaboration
services to threaten, harass, stalk, or abuse others
participating in these services.
Microsoft reserves the right to remove posts that advocate or
encourage expressions of violence, bigotry, racism, hatred, or
profanity.
Microsoft may remove postings that are deemed inappropriate,
offensive or that violate guidelines or this Code of Conduct.
Microsoft may also eject or ban any user from their area who
behaves in a manner deemed inappropriate, offensive or who
violates guidelines or this Code of Conduct. By participating in
a collaborative service, you agree to be bound to the rules of
that area.
Keep It Legal
Microsoft does not allow any illegal activities. You cannot use
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obscene, or other unlawful material or information, specifically,
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Also, you may not use these services for chats relating to
illegal drugs.
You may not use any of the collaborative services for the
purpose of linking to external sites that violate this Code of
Conduct.
Do not upload files or post messages that contain photos,
music, software or other material protected by intellectual
property laws, rights of privacy or publicity or any other
applicable law unless you own or control the rights thereto or
have received all necessary consents. Microsoft is not
responsible for any use of anything you say or post.
Do not post any materials (including software and other
information) that could harm (or is designed to harm) other
users' computers or would allow others to inappropriately
access software or Web sites.
Play Nice
Microsoft does not tolerate disruptive activity online, such as
persistent off-topic comments and postings or statements that
incite others to violate this Code of Conduct or participate in
illegal activities. Our participants want to chat and post on our
collaborative services in a positive environment.
Microsoft does not allow the posting of destructive features,
use of computer programs that contain such features, or
access to any content that contains destructive features such
as: viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or bots for the use of
scrolling, showing multiple screens, and other activities that
can be disruptive to online communication.
Falsely impersonating a Microsoft employee, agent, manager,
host, or any other person with the intent to mislead or cause
harm to others is forbidden.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Don't Spam
Please don't "spam" through our collaborative services, none
of our users like it. To spam includes sending identical and
irrelevant submissions to many different discussion groups,
mailing lists, chats or communities. Usually such postings
have nothing to do with the particular topic of the group or are
of no real interest to those on the mailing list. To spam also
includes misrepresenting the source of anything you say or
post. Spamming and scrolling in chat rooms are serious
violations of online etiquette.
Microsoft reserves the right to ban a user at any time, without
notice, from any or all collaborative services for spamming.
Take It Personally
The collaborative services areas may be used to provide
supplemental information regarding your own business
(provided you do not use spam to provide this information);
however, the collaborative services areas are not designed to
be used as the primary mechanism for operating your
business or providing core information about your business.
Any use of our collaborative services for commercial purposes
is solely at your own risk and Microsoft has no liability for such
use.
Any space provided to you in any collaborative services is for
your own personal use. You may not sell, license, give away,
exchange or barter any space provided to you within any
collaborative service for any purpose including, without
limitation, selling, licensing, exchanging or bartering space for
advertisements.
Accept Responsibility
You are responsible and liable for all your activities while
participating in any collaborative services area. Remember,
you are responsible for anything you say or post and for
protecting your own computer system. We recommend you
install a virus protection program on your computer.
Our collaborative services areas are not designed as the
primary places to store any materials; you are responsible for
creating backups of materials you post to any collaboration
service such as photos, documents and software. Microsoft is
not responsible for loss of, access to, or deletion or alteration
of any materials included in any collaborative service.
Microsoft reserves the right to remove at any time, without
notice, any sample and/or post to a collaborative service.
Some collaborative services may post Internet website links in
their area. Please be advised that Microsoft is not responsible
for the content on the websites associated with the links you
may view.
Some content and links on the Internet may contain adult
content and may not be suitable for children. We encourage
parents to join their children as they surf and explore the
Internet.
You are responsible for any actions you may take based on
advice or information you receive online. Use your own good
judgment when evaluating information provided through any
collaborative service, remember that the information provided
could be from people at any age and experience level. The
decision to conduct transactions with anyone is your own and
you should conduct your own research prior to making any
decisions.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Uphold the Code
In helping to make our collaborative services a great place to
meet, chat and exchange samples, you must do your part to
uphold this Code of Conduct.
Microsoft also reserves our right to amend or change the Code
of Conduct at any time without notice. You agree to
periodically review this document to ensure you are doing your
part.
Microsoft is not obligated to send users or hosts a warning
before deleting any content.
Protect Your Privacy
We caution you against giving out personally identifiable
information (such as social security numbers, credit card
numbers, names and addresses, telephone numbers, driver
license numbers) to strangers online, which may be used for
illegal or harmful purposes.
Some personal information you provide to Microsoft may be
stored outside of the country in which you reside.
Thanks for following this Code of Conduct and joining the
GotDotNet Community!
August 2001
Source:
http://www.gotdotnet.com/workspaces/legal/conduct.aspx
SAMPLE 4 – THE RITZ-CARLTON
GOLD STANDARDS
Our Gold Standards are the foundation of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company,
L.L.C. They encompass the values and philosophy by which we operate and
include The Credo, The Motto, The Three Steps of Service, The Basids, and the
Employee Promise
THE CREDO
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our
guests is our highest mission.
We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who
will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambience.
The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills
even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.
MOTTO
At The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., "We are ladies and gentlemen
serving ladies and gentlemen." This motto exemplifies the anticipatory service
provided by all staff members.
THREE STEPS OF SERVICE
2.
A warm and sincere greeting. Use the guest name, if and when possible.
3.
Anticipation and compliance with guest needs.
4.
Fond farewell. Give them a warm good-bye and use their names, if and
when possible.
20 BASICS
1.
The Credo is the principal belief of our Company. It must be known, owned
and energized by all.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
2.
Our Motto is "We are Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and
Gentlemen." As service professionals, we treat our guests and each other
with respect and dignity.
3.
The Three Steps of Service are the foundation of Ritz-Carlton hospitality.
These steps must be used in every interaction to ensure satisfaction,
retention and loyalty.
4.
The Employee Promise is the basis for our Ritz-Carlton work environment. It
will be honored by all employees.
5.
All employees will successfully complete annual Training Certification for
their position.
6.
Company objectives are communicated to all employees. It is everyone's
responsibility to support them.
7.
To create pride and joy in the workplace, all employees have the right to be
involved in the planning of the work that affects them.
8.
Each employee will continuously identify defects (MR BIV) throughout the
Hotel.
9.
It is the responsibility of each employee to create a work environment of
teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other
are met.
10. Each employee is empowered. For example, when a guest has a problem or
needs something special you should break away from your regular duties,
address and resolve the issue.
11. Uncompromising levels of cleanliness are the responsibility of every
employee.
12. To provide the finest personal service for our guests, each employee is
responsible for identifying and recording individual guest preferences.
13. Never lose a guest. Instant guest pacification is the responsibility of each
employee. Whoever receives a complaint will own it, resolve it to the guest's
satisfaction and record it.
14. "Smile - we are on stage." Always maintain positive eye contact. Use the
proper vocabulary with our guests. (Use words like - "Good Morning,"
"Certainly," "I'll be happy to," and "My pleasure.")
15. Be an ambassador of your Hotel in and outside of the work place. Always
talk positively. Communicate any concerns to the appropriate person.
16. Escort guests rather than pointing out directions to another area of the
Hotel.
17. Use Ritz-Carlton telephone etiquette. Answer within three rings and with a
"smile." Use the guest's name when possible. When necessary, ask the
caller "May I place you on hold?" Do not screen calls. Eliminate call
transfers whenever possible. Adhere to voice mail standards.
18. Take pride in and care of your personal appearance. Everyone is
responsible for conveying a professional image by adhering to Ritz-Carlton
clothing and grooming standards.
19. Think safety first. Each employee is responsible for creating a safe, secure
and accident free environment for all guests and each other. Be aware of all
fire and safety emergency procedures and report security risks immediately.
20. Protecting the assets of a Ritz-Carlton Hotel is the responsibility of every
employee. Conserve energy, properly maintain our hotels and protect the
environment.
THE EMPLOYEE PROMISE
At The Ritz-Carlton, our Ladies & Gentlemen are the most important resource in
our service commitment to our guests.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity and commitment,
we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the
company.
The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of
life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton
mystique is strengthened.
Source: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/corporate/about_us/gold_standards.asp
Texans CU
Table of Contents
Mission Statement……….………………………………………………………1
Vision Statement…………………………………………………………………2
History of Texans Credit Union………………………………………………...3
SCOT Analysis…………………………………………………………….....…20
External Analysis……………………………………………………………….29
Our Mission
“To improve the economic well-being of our
member/owners”
Adopted by the Board on October 18, 2001
Texans Credit Union’s Mission Statement clearly and concisely defines the reason for Texans
Credit Union’s existence. Complimenting the mission, Texans has created a statement I believe
appropriately supports the mission of our organization and defines what makes Texans different:
“Being member-owned, all profits made by the credit union are returned to our members in the
form of dividends and competitively priced products and services”. We are committed to the
credit union philosophy of People Helping People, and continue to believe in the philosophy “not
for profit, not for charity, but for service”, which came from the credit unions commitment during
the Great Depression and continues to live strong in the credit union movement today. Texans
Credit Union’s primary focus continues to be on the economic well-being of our members who
own us, not on profit, which sets us apart from the banks and the other financial competitors in our
industry.
Our Vision
“To be the financial institution of choice…”
Adopted by the Board on October 18, 2001
With the rising number of competitors in our industry, our vision, “Be the financial institution of
choice”, has become more challenging. Texans Credit Union’s vision is encompassed by our
beliefs, which are a statement of our values.
Our Values:

Integrity

Respect

Accountability

Communication

Member Satisfaction
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL

Continuous Improvement
In order to achieve our vision, Texans Credit Unions has also adapted the promises that all
employees of Texans Credit Union have committed to.
STAR Promises:

Accurate

Attentive

Proactive

Courteous

Timely
Finally, in order to provide guidance and direction for our ethical standards and expectations, an
Ethics Strategy was developed and recently enhanced. It consists of our basic standards and
minimum expectations of our employees in their professional and personal conduct. Our values
provide guidelines which assist employees in making sound business decisions.
I believe the Vision Statement of an organization should challenge and inspire its employees; I
think Texans Credit Union’s Vision Statement accomplishes this.
PROLOGUE
In 1953, eight men and three women pooled $5.00 each and petitioned the Texas Banking
Commission to create an organization to promote thrift and provide low cost loans to employees
of Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI). These 11 people, Louise Bryson, Alice Gaecke, Johnnie
Nell Chaumier, Alan K. Baker, John McCormack, Fred J. Snyder, William T. Hudson, Adolf E.
Schuricht, J.C. Pevehouse, F.H. Watson and Beverly B. Tucker filed the Articles of Incorporation
for Texins Credit Union on September 19, 1953. On October 8, 1953, Texas Banking
Commissioner J.M. Falkner signed the certification making Texins Credit Union a member of the
family of state chartered credit unions.
Created at a time when this country and the world were poised to experience a period of
technological advancement only dreamers visualized, Texins Credit Union was affiliated with a
host that would become an innovator and technological leader in electronics.
Field of membership diversification begun in the early 1990s augmented the Credit Union’s
membership with companies in a variety of technology-oriented disciplines, notably the
telecommunications industry. Diversification insulated the Credit Union from the dramatic
economic swings inherent to the semiconductor industry. Texins changed its name to “Texans”
Credit Union in 1998 in keeping with its growing and diverse field of membership.
Texans Credit Union continues to benefit from an expanding, educated, well-paid, technology
oriented membership base. The composition of this membership base made it possible for
Texans to employ automated services well before the average consumer was ready to accept
electronic delivery systems.
Armed with a mission statement that institutionalizes the credit union philosophy of
people helping people, Texans Credit Union's history is rich with traditions of excellence,
innovation, and service.
CHRONOLOGICAL HISTORY
1953 Texins Credit Union was chartered by the State of Texas on October 8, 1953. By yearend, membership grew to 267 and assets totaled $6,855.73. Forty-two loans totaling $5,903.81
had been made to members at an interest rate of 1% per month.
1954 Loans were offered at 1% per month and the first share dividend, 4.25% per annum, was
declared and paid. The first Texins club account was opened for "The Fisherman's and Liars'
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Club." On May 5, 1954, Winfred McCommas petitioned the Board of Directors to retain his Credit
Union membership after leaving Texas Instruments. An emergency board meeting was called at
10:00 a.m. as Mr. McCommas sat in his exit interview with TI personnel and retention of
membership after separation of service from Texas Instruments was approved.
1955 Automatic payroll deductions were made available to TI employees. A preferential rate
of 0.8% per month was set for new cars financed with 1/3 down payment. The Credit Union was
open for business on a full time basis (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) with the employment of its first full time
employee, Marie Kitchens.
1956 The Credit Union was moved from a desk in the personnel office to new quarters at 6110
Lemmon Avenue. The first real estate loan was made. A manual posting machine replaced
hand posting of ledger entries.
1957
The annual dividend was raised to 5%.
1958 The Credit Union's second office was opened in the new north Dallas semiconductor
components building. By action of the Board, members were required to work at TI for a
minimum of 90 days before being eligible to apply for a loan.
1959 Assets, share balances, loan balances, and net income roughly doubled from year-end
1958. Membership increased by slightly over 83%. A 5% annual dividend was declared and
paid. The 90-day employment requirement for loan eligibility was rescinded.
1960 In addition to the 5% annual dividend, the Board of Directors declared and paid a
special dividend of 1/2% on 1959 deposits.
1961 Share secured loans were offered at 0.8% per month. A new dividend policy was
approved to allow deposits made by the 10th of each month to earn dividends from the first.
1962 Credit Union management began preparing a monthly operating report of income and
expense for Board review. All loan rates were reduced to 0.8% per month. Electronic
bookkeeping machines replaced the manual posting machine.
1963 A new "central" office was opened at TI's Expressway site to support projected future
expansion.
1964 A branch office was opened in the new North Building, home of TI's business operations
and executive staff.
1965
Share dividend set at 5.5%.
1966 Dividends were declared semi-annually. Branches were opened at the new Texas
Instruments facility in Sherman and the new South Building in Dallas.
1967 Share dividends were declared and paid at 5.5%. Texins became the third largest credit
union in Texas in total assets and loans outstanding and Texas' largest credit union in number of
members.
1968 Electronic bookkeeping machines were replaced by a new "state-of-the-art" Burroughs
series 4000 EAM semi-automatic processing system.
1969 Share dividends of 5.75% for the first six months and 6% for the second six months were
paid. A Texins savings certificate was offered at 6% APR and a term of 3 months. Texins Credit
Union merged with the Texas Instruments Employees' Credit Union of Houston to create a statewide resource for all Texas based TI employees and expanded the number of Director seats on
the Board from seven to nine. New branches were opened in Stafford (Houston) and at the new
TI plant in Austin.
1970 For the first time, Texins paid quarterly dividends (6% APR). The first true electronic
data processing of member transactions was performed with the introduction of a batch
processing system through the Service Bureau Corporation (SBC).
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
1971 Loan programs were expanded to include the TexChek open-end line of credit, student
loans, and home improvement loans. Travelers’ Cheques and money orders were offered for
sale. A new office to provide service to non-TI employees was opened on Spring Valley Road at
Greenville Avenue in Richardson.
1972 NCUA Deposit Insurance was established on deposits of up to $20,000.00 for each
member. On-line electronic data processing was installed on July 10.
1973 The Certificate of Deposit (CD) program was expanded to include multiple rates and
terms. A new branch office was opened to provide service to TI's newest manufacturing facility in
Lubbock.
1974 NCUA coverage was increased to $40,000.00 per account holder. A new one-year CD
program was introduced. 1974 was declared "the year of 50-50-50-50" as the number of
members exceeded 50,000 and loans outstanding, savings deposits and assets all exceeded $50
million for the first time in Texins Credit Union's 21 year history. The charge-off policy was
amended to provide for earlier charge-off of loans considered uncollectible. By a November
1974 action of the Board,
effective on and after the 1975 annual meeting of shareholders, the by-laws of Texins Credit
Union were amended establish an elected term of three (3) years for each Director seat. The bylaws were amended to limit the number of consecutive terms a Director may serve to three (3) full
terms or a consecutive partial term and two full terms. Accordingly, Directors who have served the
maximum period are not eligible for re-election for three years.
1975 Forty-eight month new automobile loans were offered along with new, optional, loan
payment disability insurance coverage. Thirty year, fixed rate, no point mortgages were offered at
9% APR. The Spring Valley office began a schedule of Saturday opening. New data processing
(IBM) equipment was installed. A system of direct deposit of recurring government payments
was initiated to become the forerunner of electronic funds transfer (EFT) processing.
1976 A four-year certificate was added to the ever-expanding CD program. MasterCharge,
sharedrafts and automated teller machines (ATM) named "TexTeller" were introduced in a pilot
program involving Credit Committee, Board, and staff members.
1977 MasterCharge, sharedrafts and TexTeller were introduced to the membership. In
conjunction with the Sharedraft program, direct deposit of "net pay" to the sharedraft account was
initiated as an option for account holders. By year-end, Texins had 7 TexTeller machines, over
4400 sharedraft accounts and over 5200 MasterCharge accounts. In addition, a new branch was
opened at TI's new west Texas manufacturing facility located between Midland and Odessa.
1978 1978 saw Texins occupy a new central office facility across Floyd Road from the Dallas
Texas Instruments expressway campus and, for the first time, offer drive-up teller services.
Services were expanded to include monthly payment of share dividends, new "Money Market"
CD programs and a new six year CD.
The branch service network now stood at 18 offices and nine TexTeller ATMs.
1979 Texas Instruments' business continued to grow and prosper and new offices were
opened in Temple, Lewisville, and Abilene. Due to a 12% usury ceiling and skyrocketing inflation
and money market rates, a loan reduction program was instituted in mid-1979 to
curtail loan portfolio expansion and increase investment portfolio yield. For the only time in its
history, Texins Credit Union was forced to lay-off lending personnel in a move that would lead to a
reduction in loans outstanding of over $13 million by the end of 1981.
1980 Texins' loan reduction program initiated in 1979 was canceled in mid-year. However, the
decline in the loan portfolio continued as high inflation, high interest rates and sluggish economic
growth prevailed. Blanket loan and share life insurance was replaced by an optional loan life
insurance program in a cost containment move. The minimum share balance required for
membership was increased to $25.00, a TexTeller fee of $.50 per month per cardholder was
introduced and a monthly service charge ($2.00) was implemented on each sharedraft account.
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
A thirty-month CD was added to the Credit Union's money market CD program. New branch
offices were opened in Houston at TI's Greenbriar and Northwest locations and at the new Forest
Lane site in Dallas. NCUA insurance coverage was raised to $100,000 and Individual Retirement
Accounts were offered for the first time.
1981 Rollovers of TI stock received from lump sum distributions of proceeds from TI Profit
Sharing plans were approved for acceptance into Texins' IRA program. The All-Savers
Certificate, a special 24-month tax exempt CD offered during the 15 months from January 1981
through March 1982, was added to the CD menu. 11,000 inactive accounts with share balances
under $25.00 were purged from the membership rolls. Permanent legislation passed by the
Texas legislature raised usury ceilings to prevent future loan/share interest inversions.
1982 By year-end 1982 the Texins network stood at 16 full time and 2 part time branches and
18 TexTeller ATMs.  With tax law changes that made IRAs available to individuals who were
participants in employer sponsored plans, the IRA program grew from $1.2 million to over $10
million in 1982. Regular share dividends were raised to 7% and IRA share dividends were
declared at 10% APR. A Correspondent Service Center was organized to provide service to
TIers
in locations where they had no access to Texins Credit Union offices and Members Insurance set
up an office at Texins' Central Office in Dallas.
1983 The CD program was revised to include maturities ranging in term from 91 days to 36
months and a new partial redemption feature was written into policy. In February, the Texins
Money Market Account was introduced to the membership and grew to deposits of over
$25 million by year-end. Processing of automated clearinghouse payments was added to the
service menu and Members Investment (discount brokerage services) joined the Members
Insurance family of affiliate services offered to Texins' members.
1984 In 1984, Texas Instruments began issuing corporate American Express cards to TI
employees to use for company travel. Employees charge travel expenses on the card, file an
expense statement for company reimbursement, and pay the American Express billing with the
expense reimbursement. This program created a need for a "special" account for members to
house expense reimbursement funds between the reimbursement payment and American
Express billing without commingling the funds with their household deposits. To satisfy this need,
Texins began offering the "Share Travel" and "Sharedraft Travel" accounts for members' "special"
savings and checking needs. In addition, direct deposit of TI expense reimbursements from TI's
accounts payable department was arranged and offered. Texins joined the MPACT ATM network
allowing Credit Union members to access their account from "coast to coast". A new, selfcontained real estate department was organized to offer home mortgages and new branch offices
were opened in College Station and McKinney.
1985 Members were provided with increased convenience in accessing their accounts with the
introduction of self-service inquiry terminals and a touch tone telephone access system christened
"Access Line". A new branch office was opened at TI's new Plano Spring Creek facility and
Texins' first out-of-state branch was opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
1986 The Access Line program was expanded to include personal computer interface through
a program called "P.C. Access Line". The Pulse and Cirrus networks were added to the array of
ATMs accessible with a Texins Credit Union TexTeller card. The NCUSIF was created to provide
greater security for credit union depositors and a new branch was opened in TI's "Center"
complex in Dallas.
1987 Texins Credit Union's central office was moved to new quarters on Campbell Road at
Greenville Avenue in Richardson on April 1, 1987. With the move, drive-up teller facilities were
increased from 2 to 9 lanes and for the first time, Texins Credit Union was able to offer a drive-up
TexTeller ATM and safe deposit boxes.
1988 A Human Resource Development Department was created to develop a training
curriculum for Texins' 180+ employees. A branch at TI's new Denton plant increased the Credit
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Union's service network to 22 full time and part time branch offices and 43 TexTeller ATMs.
Cashier's checks were offered from the Campbell Road office. A quarterly employee "Quest for
Excellence Award" was established.
1989 Based on the results of a member satisfaction survey completed in the second quarter,
emphasis was placed on competitiveness and improving the ease with which the member could
receive service. A new mission statement based on the concept of quality and continuous
improvement was drafted. The audio response "Access Line" and "PC Access Line" were
enhanced to expand transaction capabilities and five new TexTeller ATMs were installed.
Cashier's checks were offered in branch offices. A pilot program was introduced to automate
the lending process and facilitate loans by telephone.
VISA and VISA Gold credit card programs were added to the loan portfolio. The MasterCard
and VISA card programs were converted to a variable interest rate indexed to 9- day treasury
securities.
1990 TeleLoan, a loan-by-phone service, and CarShop, an automobile purchasing assistance
service, were offered to the entire membership. New offices were opened in TI's East Building
and in the Park Central Complex in Dallas. The definition of the "immediate family" was
expanded to include parents of both spouses, spouses of children within the family unit, and
grandchildren of the member and spouse. A more participatory management style was
pioneered through the establishment of effectiveness and quality improvement teams. By yearend, 12 effectiveness and cross-functional teams and a quality steering team were in operation.
1991 Texins purchased its home office on Campbell Road in Richardson. Through a new
agreement with Electronic Data Systems, a system of cooperative in-house data processing was
developed. The field of membership was expanded to Select Employee Groups and Varo,
Ericsson, Northern Telecom, BNR, Convex Computer Corporation, and CompuAdd Corporation
were added to Texins' field of membership. Personal financial planning was made available to
members through PLAN America an affiliation between CUNA Mutual Insurance Company and
Century Insurance Company. Early retirement / voluntary termination incentives accepted by
approximately 2,900 employees in the third quarter resulted in significant share growth,
particularly in long term IRA CDs, and contributed significantly to a deterioration in the loan to
deposit mix as demand for new loans remained soft. Members eliminating debt as they left TI
accelerated loan repay. Delinquencies and bankruptcy filings gradually increased as the
economy slowed. Four additional teams were added to Texins' ET/QIT network bringing the total
to 16. An experienced Staff Development/Quality Manager was hired to aid in the quality journey.
1992 An advisory director’s seat was created to provide retiree representation on the Board of
Directors. The IRA program was revised to eliminate unrestricted, penalty free cashing and
repricing of IRA CDs. Aetna's Commercial Insurance Division in Richardson, Texas based
employees of Tandem Computers, the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, and MotorolaNortel were added to the field of membership. All staff members were introduced to concepts of
quality service with 32 hours of classroom training to supplement technical skills training. Balloon
note new auto financing was revived with the "Smart Loan" program and a checking capability
was added to the TexChek to provide direct point of sale access.
1993 The total quality initiative progressed as the QST and SQITs continued work on the
Vision Model. A new "hybrid" branch concept was designed and built at TI's Lewisville
manufacturing facility. The Real Estate Department was moved from Center I to Campbell Road.
Operating procedures were uploaded to the A/S 400 system and all teller operations were
converted to a data processing branch teller administration (BTA) system. The Access Line
system was upgraded with new audio response equipment provided by InterVoice. The MeyersKohl Asset/ Liability
Management Program was introduced as an aid to administering the ALM program. Vinson &
Elkins L.L.P and the 30,000 member Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants (TSCPA) were
added to Credit Union's field of membership. A Business Disaster Recovery Plan was drafted,
approved, and put into effect. A comprehensive random survey of member satisfaction
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
conducted by Koch-McNabb yielded favorable responses and initiatives to further improve service.
A marketing customer information file (MCIF) database was installed to improve marketing
efforts and a professional researcher was hired to spearhead the research and analysis process.
The "Texins Futures" youth account program was introduced, marking the first Credit Union
relationship-pricing program.
1994 An indirect auto lending program was initiated through dealers in the Dallas/Sherman
area. First mortgage loan products were expanded to include a step-rate and 10-year balloon
(40-year amortization) program. The Member Response Center telephone management process
was introduced. An automated call distribution (ACD) system was installed in the TeleLoan
department, providing call queuing, management reporting, and the option for placing applications
during non-business hours. A telemarketing pilot program was conducted to promote and sell
Credit Union services select members. Checking account starter kits were introduced in branch
offices. Policy and procedural changes required to by the federal Truth-in-Savings Act (TISA)
were implemented on October 1. Dividend calculations for all share and checking accounts were
converted from the rollback method to a daily balance computation. Deposit documents and
disclosures were reconfigured into a single universal document. ATMs in the TexTeller network
were replaced with current generation technology NCR equipment. New installations included
drive-up ATMs in Austin and Sherman and a second drive-up at Campbell Road. The PayMate
electronic bill paying service was introduced. Touch screen self-service terminals were tested in
a pilot program. Access Line was enhanced with a new system designed by InterVoice.
1995 A comprehensive (third party) member satisfaction survey was completed. New auto
leasing was introduced. Activated an automated
credit card credit line increase program. Implemented risk-based pricing of automobile and boat
loans. Implemented a custom credit scoring program card in TeleLoan and the Campbell Road
loan office. Established an Internet home page. Installed document imaging for signature
verification supported by LAN servers. Installed report imaging. Initiated credit bureau and real
estate system access. The McKinney and Lubbock branch offices were relocated within the TI
sites to provide public access. Partnerships were created between two-person QST teams and
organizational business units to foster the quality initiative.
1996 The Equilink CD (a federally insured certificate of deposit with at Standard and Poors
Market Index-linked yield) was promoted in early 1996 to lure deposits from 1995 TI profit sharing
cash payments and vacation buyouts. Structured as a participation packaged through Southwest
Corporate Federal Credit Union, the program required a combined commitment of $10 million to
“make.” Participating credit unions were unable to guarantee the minimum deposit commitment
and the concept was “tabled.” Business accounts were reconfigured and the pricing structure
modified. Virtual Branch home banking, a Windows-based PC software program featuring
account access and electronic bill paying was introduced in June. The Texins (VISA) Check Card
was introduced
in August with a mass issue of approximately 15,000 cards. A share secured credit card was
introduced for members who cannot meet credit qualifications for an unsecured line-of-credit.The
Empowered Business Team Development Fieldbook was deployed as a tool for team
development. Texins joined the TCUL’s Shared Branch network in Houston to enhance public
access to Credit Union services.
1997 Led by regulator approval to serve individuals living or working with Richardson’s
Telecom Corridor, field of membership expansion continued with the addition of 23 SEGs
(September, 1997). Acquired land for branch expansion in the Telecom Corridor . Opened first
“concierge” hybrid branch at CompuCom. Introduced the Texins MasterCard Gold TRIP card.
Submitted Texas Quality Award Application. Introduced Internet on-line loan applications. A
human resource entity (and supporting processes) was created as Credit Union employees were
transitioned from employment by Texas Instruments to employment by Texins Credit Union.
1998 Texins Credit Union received a Texas Quality Award examiner site visit. Telephone and
data processing system modifications and the creation of an internal HR entity and employee
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
benefits plan were necessitated by the transition away from TI. The “Texins” name was changed
to “Texans” to better reflect the ongoing diversification in the field of membership. Continuing to
divest non-DSP businesses, TI's departure from Temple, Midland and Lubbock resulted in the
closure of the Credit Union’s Temple, Midland and Lubbock offices. Roth IRAs, Inter@ctive and
Reward relationship checking account options, home equity loans, and a MasterCard platinum
card were introduced.
1999 Garland Credit Union merged with Texans Credit Union, expanding the Texans field of
membership to include over 80 additional SEGs and individuals who live or work in Garland,
Rowlett, Rockwall County, and a large area of northeast Dallas commonly referred to as Lake
Highlands. The field of membership was further expanded in mid-1999 to include individuals
living or working in the northwest Dallas County communities of Highland Village, Flower Mound,
Lewisville, Coppell, Carrollton, Hebron, The Colony and Frisco. A storefront service center
equipped with a TexTeller ATM was opened at 2334 W. Buckingham Road in Garland. New full
service branches were opened at 7220 Telecom Parkway in Garland, 1081 W. Main Street #101
in Lewisville, 8600 Preston Road # 108 in northwest Plano, and at Nokia in Irving. Web-based
Home Banking was introduced in mid-September. A Member Care Advocate position was
created and filled to monitor and respond to member feedback. Systems renovation and testing
was completed, contingency plans developed, and appropriate staff and public communications
deployed to insure data processing integrity for Y2K.
2000
Texans experienced no significant Y2K-related incidents Credit Union assets passed $1B for the
first time on February 15, 2000. John McCormack, on of Texans’ founders, made a symbolic $5 deposit to
put the Credit Union’s assets over the $1B mark. Texans was the 37 th credit union in the US to surpass $1B
in assets. “Select” Money Market Account and Jumbo Certificate of Deposit programs were introduced to
stimulate deposit growth. E-statements were introduced Introduced Internet Virtual Branch Home
Banking and nationwide wireless connectivity The Savar Kids Club was introduced as an elementary thrift
program for children ages 0-12. Collin County, the cities of Richardson and Plano, and 20 sponsor
groups/companies were added to the Credit Union’s field of membership.
2001
Opened public branch in Allen and sponsor-hosted branches at the “Ericsson Village” and
Computer Associates campuses in Plano Center I and CompuCom offices closed in mid-2001 Decision
Support (data warehouse & profitability model) System developed Leadership training and 360o feedback
system deployed On-line check reorder capability added to Internet.
2002
Community charter for Travis and Williamson Counties approved Closed Varo branch Opened
public branch at SH 66 and Dalrock Road in Rowlett Introduced new Internet Home Page Electronic
check images were made available on IHB Enhanced checking account products introduced Decision
Support System launched .
2003
James Bryan retired after 30 years as President, CEO and was replaced by David Addison.
Opened public branch on Stonebridge Parkway in McKinney. Texans celebrated its 50th anniversary with
several promotions including a 50 month CD special. Introduced Roughrider Checking product to leverage
dominant sponsorship of the Frisco Roughriders AA baseball team. Created Texans Commercial Capital
to provide commercial lending services to Texans members.
2004
The Credit Union underwent reorganization to realign departments and functions, including
reorganization of the call center and member service areas in the central office location. Introduced the
STAR sales and service initiative. Continued expansion into Collin county through a sponsorship
agreement with the Frisco Soccer and Entertainment, FC Dallas, and the North Texas State Soccer
Association. Sold the credit card portfolio to MBNA. Public branch opened in Cedar Park, Texas.
2005
Began implementation of a new Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Implemented a new General Ledger (GL) System. Implemented a profitability system which measures
branch, member, and product profitability Sale/leaseback of the 777 E. Campbell Rd. (Headquarters
building) Redesigned and renamed Texans’ Line of Credit. Converted all voice and data lines to voice
over IP. Began converting TexTeller Machines to image capable machines and renamed them. Continued
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
to implement, manage, and measure STAR sale initiative.  Opened two branch offices: McDermott
Branch (previously a Legacy Bank Branch) and the Frisco Branch, both locations are stand alone branch
with full service drive thru lanes and safe deposit boxes. Closed the Computer Associates’ (SEG) on
employee office.  Introduced for the first time Free Checking. Enhanced business products, to include
Free Business Checking.
2006
Introduced new retail and business Performance Money Market accounts with competitively
priced, tiered-rate structure to grow balances and maintain current deposits. Implemented Instant Issue
Debit Card.
Began implementation of an automated Performance Management System for the purpose of documenting
performance initiatives Replaced our existing merchant services provider with Quickbooks Merchant
Services for better pricing and improved processing. Converted business debit cards off the consumer
debit program and offered MasterCard Business Card. Continued to implement, manage, and measure
STAR sale initiative.  Converted core data processor for Texas Commercial Capital
This History is part of Texans Credit Union’s on-going Strategic Plan, as edited by Tim McCoy, VP Strategic Services,
former Chief Operations Officer, Dean Borland, and Chris Walton, VP Product Development.
HISTORY OF FINANCIAL GROWTH
DATE
MBRS
ASSETS
DEPOSITS
LOANS
1953
267
6,886
6,852
5,903
1954
653
74,787
71,936
67,221
1955
943
190,839
181,984
148,357
1956
1,519
367,083
308,570
322,065
1957
2,432
639,546
548,641
582,777
1958
3,666
1,356,804
1,111,535
1,121,077
1959
6,725
2,607,307
2,216,593
2,445,166
1960
9,195
4,050,328
3,391,407
3,520,602
1961
10,190
5,076,002
4,479,982
4,070,982
1962
11,135
6,059,203
5,458,373
5,039,777
1963
12,691
7,302,598
6,521,907
6,317,746
1964
14,510
8,575,110
7,634,441
7,640,106
1965
18,087
11,293,693
9,158,991
11,094,017
1966
22,120
13,286,090
11,353,124
12,397,689
1967
23,320
15,007,521
13,500,721
14,144,443
1968
25,689
18,251,057
15,254,953
17,340,977
1969
31,282
21,706,629
17,669,997
19,719,580
1970
31,384
23,674,824
20,083,395
18,105,139
1971
31,157
28,802,586
24,991,417
23,452,852
1972
35,600
37,362,868
33,130,924
33,546,413
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
DATE
MBRS
ASSETS
DEPOSITS
LOANS
1973
45,012
49,298,334
45,457,973
45,239,266
1974
49,894
56,164,568
51,992,743
48,975,575
1975
49,150
66,001,267
60,514,303
52,314,730
1976
54,102
77,601,620
71,494,225
74,546,435
1977
60,514
96,648,905
89,202,950
89,170,891
1978
69,373
111,957,537
104,224,808
106,545,573
1979
78,991
126,589,555
119,583,881
112,405,031
1980
81,537
142,430,098
134,638,208
101,727,127
1981
72,464
141,253,670
133,619,695
99,179,380
1982
71,102
162,960,918
153,764,943
104,006,203
1983
72,941
203,598,710
191,529,003
121,045,763
1984
76,965
251,757,597
225,199,945
138,783,900
1985
78,064
282,270,722
263,416,400
177,884,175
1986
79,083
330,676,748
308,216,513
206,961,028
1987
81,092
367,494,389
341,571,871
243,980,263
1988
83,743
405,254,903
368,814,593
280,021,608
1989
85,245
450,515,888
412,533,542
305,863,324
1990
85,202
487,243,949
446,172,952
332,915,299
1991
87,754
583,237,655
538,519,652
330,150,347
1992
89,930
605,868,283
560,157,398
326,800,823
1993
93,002
630,195,982
579,237,897
340,784,237
1994
96,196
623,458,840
565,916,987
383,543,839
1995
101,246
644,314,449
580,197,487
417,317,911
1996
108,114
713,320,061
638,959,439
497,672,933
1997
113,730
778,386,576
696,821,243
545,288,590
1998
118,047
860,725,180
769,246,664
570,634,016
1999
136,500
916,900,000
809,800,000
741,700,000
2000
141,855
982,777,717
868,719,881
764,086,917
2001
144,486
1,084,364,029
961,218,318
733,116,360
2002
150,243
1,177,234,360
1,019,868,435
801,132,261
2003
156,463
1,281,192,700
1,121,831,420
923,504,225
2004
155,953
1,340,096,440
1,158,621,029
1,054,588,500
2005
155,241
1,564,523,722
1,251,718,499
1,181,920,517
June 2006
157,588
1,638,457,297
1,314,934,228
1,237,090,453
Revised 06/07
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Loan/Asset
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Jun-06
67.61%
68.05%
72.08%
78.69%
75.55%
75.50%
Loan
to Asset Ratio from December 2001 – June 2006
12%
10%
8%
6%
4%
2%
0%
Net Worth/Total Assets
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Jun-06
10.10%
10.34%
10.32%
11.20%
10.42%
10.24%
Net
Worth Ratio from December 2001 – June 2006
Texans Credit Union -The Last 5 Years
In 2002, there were not any real significant changes or occurrences, in anticipation of the future changes.
The President of Texans Credit Union, James Bryan, was retiring the next year after 28 years of service.
In 2003, in Texans Credit Union’s 50th year, David Addison, who had 11 years experience in senior
management at corporate credit unions, was hired by the Board as the next President/CEO of Texans
Credit Union. Since then, the credit union has undergone some major organizational changes. Included
in these changes are strategic changes, technology changes, new-product changes (or product
revamping), cultural/people changes and increased community involvement to promote the spirit of the
credit union with the emphasis on “people helping people”.
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Strategic Changes:
Our capital position has improved each year from 2002 where Texans Credit Union was at $121 million to
$163 million at year end 2005. Non-earning assets were freed up with the sale and leaseback of the
Headquarters building in Richardson. Delinquencies and charge-offs have been reduced due to the
deployment of centralized underwriting, the reduced reliance on the indirect car market, and the sale of
the credit card portfolio to MBNA. The Lending Focus has shifted away from personal and auto loans and
moved more towards commercial and mortgage loans.
Technological Changes:
As shown above in the chronological history, there have been significant technological enhancements in
all areas of the credit union. Some examples are converting core data processor for Texas Commercial
Capital, converting all voice and data lines to voice over IP and converting TexTeller Machines to image
capable machines and renamed them.
New-product Changes (or Product Revamping):
In 2003, Texans Commercial Capital was created to provide much needed commercial lending services to
Texans members. A more competitive set of products both business and personal accounts have been
developed such as free checking, bump-up CDs, and the Performance Money Market with a tier based
rate structure.
Cultural/People Changes:
One of the biggest changes that the staff has seen is the focus on sales and service. The STAR sales
and service initiative was introduced in 2004, and the intent was to begin to cultivate an organization that
focuses on sales and services. For the year 2005, Texans migrated away from equal incentive to all and
moved towards a pay for performance philosophy. Service scores have become increasingly important as
well, and the STAR promises are constantly practiced and reinforced.
Increased Community Involvement:
In addition to all of these changes, Texans Credit Union has increased community involvement with
continued sponsorship of the Frisco Roughriders, new sponsorships with FC Dallas and the North Texas
State Soccer Association. In addition, Texans Credit Union has been actively involved in giving back to
the community with the United Way, JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation), USO DFW (Dallas
1,400,000
Fort Worth
Chapter of support services offered to the personnel from all military branches and their
families). Texans has become actively involved in Financial Literacy Programs, and will soon begin
1,200,000of an affordable housing program.
implementation
Deposit Growth
($000)
1,000,000
Loan Growth
800,000
600,000
1,400,000
400,000
1,200,000
200,000
0
800,000
19
80
19
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
20
00
20
02
20
04
Ju
n06
($000)
1,000,000
600,000
400,000
200,000
0
80
19
Revised 06/07
82
19
84
19
86
19
88
19
90
19
92
19
94
19
96
19
98
19
00
20
02
20
04
20
0
nJu
6
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
SCOT Analysis
Strengths
Outstanding People:
Texans Credit Union knows that in order to be successful in achieving it’s very aggressive mission and
vision statements; it must strive to attract and hire, motivate, empower and retain exceptionally
knowledgeable, talented, and committed people. Our employees have a strong work ethic, have proven
to be results and service oriented, willing to embrace change, and support our core values. Just as in
“Who Moved My Cheese”, in order be successful, “you have to adapt to change quickly; and move with
the change and enjoy it.” Texans Credit Union employees have experienced some significant changes
over the last couple of years, and the majority of the employees that remain are committed to the direction
that the organization is going.
Leadership:
Texans Credit Union has embarked on a new era of leadership with the Board hiring David Addison as our
CEO. He has brought in new ideas, new thoughts, new opportunities, as well as finding the right
resources to support his new vision and his futuristic ideas for Texans Credit Union.
Sales & Service Culture:
Texans Credit Union has adopted a pay for performance philosophy. Although the program is still in the
modification stage, it is evident that the credit union is extremely serious about rewarding those employees
who meet both their sales and service goals. Texans Credit Union employees for the first time are being
held accountable for meeting their goals, which should improve the organization’s performance in the
future.
Delinquency:
Our delinquency ratio has improved significantly over the last couple of years. In 2002 and 2003, the
delinquency ratio was very high, at .94 % and .91 % respectively. At the end of 2004, it had dropped to
.38%, and by the end of 2005, it was a very respectable .28%. Much of this was due to the new
leadership and the direction the credit union took. We increased our emphasis on business and mortgage
loans, decreased our dealership business, and began a centralized underwriting program. The
centralized underwriting program I believe is significant in the control the credit union can now have on
tightening or loosening our loan approvals, with only a handful of underwriters actually making the
decisions on the loans.
Financial Stability:
Texans Credit Union Capital Ratio remains strong. Capital provides a cushion against unexpected losses
and promotes member confidence in the credit union’s condition. We have a strong balance sheet, with
an average equity-to-assets ratio of greater than 11%. This should allow us to grow our deposit portfolio
by offering market leading rates on our deposit products, and should allow us to better support further
business.
Challenges
System Limitations:
The credit union’s implementation of the “pay for performance” philosophy has been a challenge in large
part due to our system limitations. Our current tracking system for sales and referrals consists of
manually inputting the sales and referral information into an Excel spreadsheet. There is room for human
error, including duplicating information, forgetting to key in information, and incorrectly keying information.
In addition, there is the risk of being able to manipulate numbers for the sake of meeting goal numbers.
This process is very time consuming, from someone having to key the information in by hand, and
someone having to review each spreadsheet to verify the accuracy of the information. Texans Credit
Union will undergo a core conversion in the future when our contract expires with our current processor.
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At that point, we should have more advanced tracking capabilities. Until then, we must continue the
current antiquated tracking process.
Training:
With such a large credit union, training employees and having continued training is extremely difficult. In
addition, we have branches that are out of town, and training has to be given to them as well, which is
difficult at times. Our new systems training, policies and procedures, and updated products require
training, and getting over 300 employees trained is time-consuming and expensive, and very difficult to
schedule.
Hours of Operation:
The retail branches are open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday-Friday, and 10:00 am – 1:00 pm on
Saturday. Based on member feedback, members feel that 10:00 is too late to open, and 1:00 is too early
to close on Saturday. They feel that this is not convenient or competitive with the other financial
institutions in our area.
Name Recognition in an area that is saturated by financial institution:
According to a report in the CUNA scan, the number of consumers who have joined credit unions has
risen in the past 10 years, but those who are unaware that they are eligible for membership has remained
consistent. We have to find a way through our training and marketing efforts to educate consumers
about credit unions. We want them to know the credit union philosophy, and how committed credit unions
are to that, as well as the difference between credit unions and other financial institutions.
Branch Deployment:
The Texans Credit Union Branch Network is not strategically deployed geographically. According to the
Spring 2006 Raddon Member Survey for Texans Credit Union, 35% of the members surveyed live greater
than 5 miles from a branch. This number has decreased a bit from 39% in 2005 and 42% in 2004, more
than likely from the increase in community retail branch business. Texans Credit Union will need to study
the demographics of our current members, as well as potential members in our field-of membership. We
will then need to build branches in high-growth areas and identify opportunities for mergers and other
opportunities that will allow us to better serve our current and potential members.
Regulatory Limitations:
In 1998, CUMAA (Credit Union Membership Access Act), imposed statutory limits on credit union member
business lending, Texas Commercial Capitol’s growth potential has been significantly impacted by these
regulations. The credit union hopes that H.R. 2317, the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act
(CURIA) passes. Although the current cap would be increased with this bill, and business loan
thresholds would increase as well, credit unions will continue to be more limited and regulated than other
financial institutions. According to a written statement from Grace Mayo, President & CEO of the Telesis
Community Credit Union on behalf of CUNA on March 9, 2006, “Insured commercial banks have no
comparable business lending portfolio concentration limitations. Thrift institutions have portfolio
concentration limitations, but those limitations are substantially less restrictive than the limits placed on
credit unions.”
Opportunities
Increase Hispanic Members:
We need to focus our attention on the Hispanic population and increase our services to better serve them.
The only way that we will be able to compete with our competitors that already do this is to offer similar
avenues, but to also deliver it with excellent member service. Texans Credit Union has a team that is
currently working on how we should approach this segment. They will be working on what needs to be
done to best serve these members and potential members.
Aging population:
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The credit union population is aging, and many are moving into retirement status. This presents
numerous opportunities in investments and deposits, as well as other non traditional credit union products.
Increasing Business Loans and Accounts:
Our new Business Account products have been revamped, and there is still huge opportunity in this area.
An advantage that we have that the larger institutions may not is how well we know our local businesses
and economy, and our strong relationships with the Chambers. This knowledge should give us a
competitive advantage, and a better opportunity to compete in this area.
Increase Texans Financial Business:
There is considerable untapped potential to get more of our members’ and potential members’
investments and deposits through Texans Financial. There should be a focus on this opportunity through
increased communication with aggressive marketing efforts. In addition, training the staff on identifying
sales opportunities is vital to the success of communicating this service to our members.
Increase Lending Opportunities:
Our delinquency rate has been declining over the past few years, and I listed that as strength. However, I
believe that this could also indicate that we are missing out on loan opportunities and not taking enough
risk. The credit union could improve its yield by increasing the risk when making loan decisions and
loosen its lending policies. Our centralized underwriting and more advanced processes should help us
effectively implement and control this rebalancing of the loan portfolio to generate higher yields and
minimize the default rate generally associated with this type of risk.
In addition to simply loosening up the lending policies and guidelines, it might be beneficial for Texans
Credit Union to explore the opportunities available in subprime lending. According to the August 21, 2006
article from Creditunions.com called “Key Considerations for Subprime Indirect Lending”, “Subprime
lending is overlooked by many in the credit union community. Concerned about higher delinquency and
charge offs, many credit unions have conservative lending guidelines that limit their ability to serve new
members with impaired credit. However, with the subprime lending market growing 5% a year, the need
for more flexible guidelines will only increase. Credit Unions can use this as an opportunity to build a
niche by serving subprime markets.” There seems to be an opportunity for us in this market for lending,
as well as for developing relationships and cross selling other products and services.
Threats
Fraud:
Due to our community charter status, we are much more susceptible to fraud than the credit unions who
only serve select employers. When we began opening to the public, we had very large losses due to the
fact that our internal policies and procedures did not protect us from this type of fraudulent activity. We
were accustomed to serving TI employees and their family members. With CUMIS recommendations, we
put in place some procedures that employees must follow on new and existing members. In addition,
some tools were also used, such as Qualifile and Fraud Alerts, to protect us when opening accounts and
adding members. However, even with the best procedures and technology, we could still fall victim to the
fraudulent activity. The policies and procedures may be not being followed accordingly, and many of the
offenders are one step ahead of our technology, and can outsmart or outmaneuver our attempts to
prevent fraud.
Taxes:
Texans Credit Union, being as large as it is, and being a Community Charter Credit Union, is a very likely
candidate for being attacked by banks. Banks are threatened by the services that are provided to our
members, which are equal, and in some cases, superior to their products. They view Texans Credit Union
as a major competitor, and one that they would love to see taxed as they are.
Slowing Economy:
According to the 2006-2007 CUNA Environmental Scan Report, the average net interest margins for credit
unions are lower than operating expenses for the first time ever. Yield curves are flat and expected to be
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
so for some time and will continue to squeeze interest rate margins and minimize profits. As a result,
Texans will become increasingly more dependent on fee income to boost income. Texans will look for
traditional banking opportunities to increase fee income but will also proactively look at non-traditional, offbalance sheet opportunities to bolster non-interest income.
Competition:
Internet competition has significantly increased. They have a significant competitive advantage in that that
they do not have the amount of overhead that the traditional institutions have to incur. Because of this,
they are able to offer superior rates on deposits and loans. In addition, internet users provide unsolicited
opinions and feedback to each other and to the business community. Subsequently, this increases their
business with less marketing efforts.
Declining Loan Demand:
In the demographics section of the 2006-2007 CUNA Environmental Scan, it reports that the percentage
of peak borrowers has dropped from 48% to 38% during the past decade. This means that the credit
union could have the potential of seeing a significant drop in their loan demand in the near future.
According to the article, it could cost credit unions billions of dollars. Texans Credit Union will need to be
conscious of this information as we market to our existing and potential members in the future. We will
need to continue to remain competitive with our loan products to attract more loan business for the credit
union. As mentioned in the opportunity section, it could be very important that we look into the subprime
market, especially if our current member loan demand falls like it is expected to.
External Analysis
Political/Regulatory/Legislative/Legal
Factor:
Bankers’ attacks on credit unions have strengthened. Operation Credit Union is a bank program that was
developed for the purpose of “educating” bankers with anti-credit union information for the purpose of
having them join their crusade in the effort of taxing credit unions.
Assumption:
An article in the American Bankers Association titled “A Field Guide to New-Breed Credit Unions” in May
2006 focused primarily on “new-breed” credit unions. They are targeting the credit unions that “resemble
tax-paying banks”; but they contend that the only difference is that the credit unions don’t pay taxes.
Impact:
Community credit unions will be scrutinized by the banking industry to ensure that they are following the
mandate set for them to receive the tax exemption status.
Response:
Texans Credit Union will have to ensure that they are doing a sufficient job educating their members and
the public on the differences between banks and credit unions. Credit unions also need to support their
league and their efforts to fight these bankers’ attacks.
Texans Credit Union has to continue to be involved in the community, and serving people of “modest
means”. Texans has already begun to have increased involvement in programs for underprivileged
people in the areas that we serve, such as Financial Literacy Programs, Affordable Housing Programs,
and Command Spanish through community colleges.
Political/Regulatory/Legislative/Legal
Factor:
H.R. 2317, the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA), may soon be passed.
Assumption:
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
More leniencies in regards to the regulatory limitations currently imposed on credit unions in regards to
business loans are anticipated.
Impact:
According to the CUNA website under legislative issues, “regulatory relief for credit unions will help
improve productivity and efficiency in a competitive and dynamic marketplace, and will translate into better
and lower-cost service to credit union members”.
Response:
From the Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA), Texans Credit Union would benefit the
most from the increase of the cap on Member Business Lending, the increase of the threshold for this
type of loan from $50,000 to $100,000, and the risk-based capital approach. Texas Commercial Capital
would need to become more aggressive in their marketing efforts to our current members with
businesses, and those members who have businesses in the field of our membership. The Member
Business Lending potential should be a large consideration when Texans Credit Union is determining
potential fields of memberships.
Demographics
Factor:
According to the “Demographics” section of CUNA’s 2006-2007 Credit Union Environmental Scan, it
states that “The Hispanic/Latino Population is the nation’s largest ethnic group. There are currently more
than 40 million Hispanics/Latinos living in the US (about 10 million of whom are classified as
undocumented). The 40 million figure is expected to reach 47.7 million by 2010 and 60 million by 2020,
according to the Pew Hispanic Center and US Census Bureau Projections.
Assumption:
There are many opportunities that could be realized from this group. However, it will be imperative that
the credit union take an appropriate and aggressive approach in order to be successful.
Impact:
It will be necessary to learn the cultural differences, identify the needs, and explore the opportunities of
this market. In addition, it is extremely important that we keep informed on the local immigration trends.
Response:
Texans Credit union must be willing to put in the time and money to determine the needs of this group.
Hiring bilingual staff, providing bilingual literature and communication avenues to promote our products
and services, as well as the credit union difference, is essential. It is important that we develop and
market the right mix of innovative products, financial educational programs and effective outreach
programs as well.
Demographics
Factor:
According to the Raddon Financial Group numbers from 2006, the average age of Texans Credit Union’s
members is 48.2. This is compared to the average of all the credit unions surveyed at 47.7 and the peer
group of similar sized credit unions with assets over $1B at 45.9. The credit union’s average age has
been increasing since 2004, when it was 45.5 years, 2005 when it was 48.0 and the average from the
spring 2006 Raddon study at 48.2.
The average age of the new members at Texans Credit Union falls in line with the group average, from
39.5 in 2002 to 40.4 in 2006, which compares to the 2006 average of all surveyed credit unions at 40.5.
Assumption:
The credit union population is aging, and needs are changing. The CUNA scan report indicates that
according to the life-cycle theory, the baby boom generation is beginning to retire. This group will begin
liquidating equity assets and demanding less credit. Many credit unions are ill-prepared to garner much
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SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
of the trillions of dollars in retirement money expected to flow out of retirement plans over the next few
years.
Impact:
If credit unions do not offer products and services that are suitable for these members, they will go
somewhere else that does.
Response:
Texans Credit Union will need to offer products and services that will appeal to this market, and market
them effectively to current and potential members. In order for the credit union to capitalize on this
opportunity, a sufficient amount of options must be provided to them. If not, there are numerous
institutions that will be competing for their business that will be able to provide them with what they are
looking for.
Demographics
Factor:
According to the Raddon Financial Group survey from the Spring 2006, “Upscale” current members (those
who have been with the credit union for 2 years or more) of Texans Credit Union have increased from
27% in 2002 to 35% in 2006. This is compared to the group average in 2006 of 20%. Our new
membership percentage of upscale members has increased from 13% in 2002 to 29% in 2006. This is
compared to the group average in 2006 of 12%.
Assumption:
According to the Raddon statistics, there is an above average propensity for this consumer segment to
have a need for loan and deposit/investment products.
Impact:
Texans Credit Union has a good opportunity to increase the product penetration for these members if we
provide competitive products with superior service.
Response:
Texans Credit Union will need to remain competitive in both our deposit/investment products as well as
our loan products. It is imperative that the credit union is proactive in offering the latest technologies and
services, and is successful in communicating them through effective marketing and cross selling efforts.
Demographics
Factor:
The average age of Texans Credit Union’s members, as well as many other credit unions, are increasing.
Assumption:
Many of the aging members are not at a borrowing period in their life. At this time, they are looking for
their best options for their retirement, deposit, and investment funds.
Impact:
Unless credit unions have a good balance of younger, more credit driven members, they will begin seeing
a significant decrease in their loan volume.
Response:
Texans Credit Union, in its marketing efforts to current and potential members, needs to focus on
attracting a younger, more credit-driven segment. In addition, we may need to look into other lending
options to increase our lending portfolio. Subprime lending, although risky, if implemented correctly, could
be one of those alternatives.
Economic
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Factor:
The Treasury yield will remain flat.
Assumption:
In a flat yield curve environment, ROA is projected to fall, which will reduce net interest margins and
therefore net income.
Impact:
According to the 2006-2007 CUNA Environmental Scan Report in the “Economics” section, for the first
time in credit union history, average net interest margins are now lower than the operating expenses.
Typical credit unions now earn less borrowing money short-term and lending long-term as compared to
the cost of running its business.
Response:
Many credit unions have relied on fee and other non-interest income to reduce the impact of yield curve
changes on ROA. Texans Credit Union will increasingly rely on Texas Commercial Capital and Texas
Financial, as they have been and should continue to be strong contributors to fee income during this
period of interest margin compression.
Texans Credit Union must also utilize their technology to continue offering products to members while
maximizing fee-based revenues. Most importantly, credit unions will benefit by maximizing the
relationships with the members they currently have by increasing the number of products and services per
member. Texans Credit Union is going in the right direction with its focus on sales and service, and its
“member-centric” philosophy.
Competition
Factor:
According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram from Sunday, July 9, 2006, “The Dallas Metroplex is
experiencing a booming local economy, and has an income and population growth stronger than the
national average. In the past two years, there have been more than 250 new bank branches in the
Dallas-Ft Worth area. Total deposits in Metroplex retail banks have increased 46 percent in 5 years,
three times faster than the growth of the population.”
Assumption:
Because of North Texas’ fast population growth, wealthy demographics, low cost of living, lack of state
income tax and pro-business environments, there have been and will continue to be an increase in
financial institutions, primarily large banks. These banks have been and will continue to build branches,
as they realize that most of the “banking” customers today, although equipped with computer access and
ATMs, still want their institution to be convenient.
Impact:
Increased competition will not only make it more difficult to grow our business, but it will be difficult to
retain the membership that we do have.
Response:
Texans Credit Union will have to continue to keep up with the banks and other institutions in regards to
technology and products. However, with the products and fee structures being identical, we have to
provide superior member service. We will need to build relationships with those new members that we
have, and we need to strengthen the relationships with those who are already with us.
Texans Credit Union must compete with other institutions on convenience. The Raddon Financial Group
Survey reports that benefits of branch convenience are more household growth, higher deposit growth,
more core deposits and lower costs of funds, higher checking penetration which generates more fee
income per household. Therefore, it is important that Texans Credit Union builds branches in high-growth
areas within the field-of-membership to attract potential members. In addition, Texans must continue to
identify where its current members live and work to determine where to build or acquire future branches.
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References
American Bankers Association, A Field Guide to New-Breed Credit Unions (May 2006) available at
http://www.aba.com/NR/rdonlyres/AFAE7C7C-11F7-4A27-A7B34202B80432EA/42972/cufieldguide0506.pdf
Credit Union Environmental Scan: For Strategic Planning 2006-2007, CUNA & Affiliates
Credit Union National Association, Inc. “Credit Union Regulatory Improvements Act (CURIA)” (Copyright
2006) available at http://www.cuna.org/gov_affairs/legislative/issues/2006/curia.html
Johnson, Spencer MD. “Who Moved My Cheese?” 8, Sept 1998
Mayo, Grace. Written Statement of Grace Mayo, President & CEO Telesis Community Credit Union on
Behalf of the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) Before the House Small Business Committee’s
Subcommittees on Tax, Finance and Exports. March 9, 2006.
Available at http://www.cuna.org/download/legaff_sba_7a.pdf
McGee, Marlissa. “Key Considerations for Subprime Indirect Lending” 21 August 2006 Credit Unions.com
http://www.creditunions.com/home/articles/template.asp?article_id=2072
Raddon Financial Group, Inc, CEO Member Survey Research Findings (Spring 2006)
Schnurman, Mitchell. “Banking on Texas and the Metroplex” 9 July 2006 Ft Worth Star Telegram
available at http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/business/columnists/mitch_schnurman/15000555.htm
External Analysis
2 Different Approaches
Sample
Strategic Initiatives Outline
Sample
Strategic Initiative Summary Statements
2 Different Approaches
Sample
Strategic Initiative
Human Resources
Sample
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Strategic Initiative
Users of Services
KEY RESULT AREA #2 USERS OF SERVICE
TRUSERVICE COMMUNITY FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
INTERNAL ANALYSIS
In today’s society, checking accounts have become the predominant means of conducting daily financial
transactions for the general population. Members rely on checking accounts to facilitate deposit and
withdrawal functions. Goods and services are paid for using debit transactions from these accounts, while
payroll, retirement and miscellaneous credit transactions offset the debit transactions. Share Draft
accounts were introduced to TruService members in the late 1970’s.
Free Checking has infiltrated the financial services industry. A person can get free checking at just about
any financial institution in the country. Typically members will pool their financial products and services in
conjunction with their checking account. TruService management recognizes this pattern and sees the
benefit of increasing checking account penetration.
In the 1990’s the introduction of an ATM/Debit Card program gave members convenient access to their
checking account deposits. The addition of online banking and Bill Pay services allow members more
flexibility in performing daily transactions. As an added feature TruService maintains five ATM’s and is a
member of the Credit Union 24 ATM Network. Being a member of the CU24 network allows members
with a TruService ATM/Debit card to use any ATM within the network surcharge free. There are over 300
surcharge free ATM’s in Arkansas and thousands more around the world.
Currently, TruService has 6605 members and 1430 checking accounts. With a penetration of only 21%,
TruService will focus on increasing penetration to 25% by the end of 2007 and to 30% by the end of 2008.
To accomplish this objective TruService will develop a marketing plan to promote checking accounts to
existing and potential members. TruService will also develop a financial education program for teens as a
way to market the Teen Advantage Checking Account. This program will be presented at area high
schools by credit union staff.
KRA Summary
OBJECTIVE: Increase the penetration of checking accounts from 21% of eligible members to
25% by the end of 2007 and to 30% by the end of 2008.
Strategy #1: Promote checking accounts to existing and potential members.
Action Plan #1: Develop a marketing plan to promote fee checking.
Strategy #2: Market to youth between 13 and 18 a “Teen Advantage Checking”.
Action Plan #1: Develop and implement a financial education program for teenagers to
be presented by credit union staff at area high schools.
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Key Results Area #2:
Users of Services
Objective:
Increase the penetration of checking accounts
from 21% of eligible members to 25% by the end
of 2007 and to 30% by the end of 2008.
Strategy #1:
Promote checking accounts to existing and
potential members.
Action Plan #1:
Develop a marketing plan to promote free
checking.
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Action Steps
Responsible Team
Member
Start
Date
Finish
Date
1. Compare checking services and fees
with local competition.
Marketing Director
8/06
8/06
2. Determine if current checking accounts
are competitive and propose changes if
necessary.
Marketing Director
9/06
9/06
3. Meet with Mangers to discuss potential
promotional objectives and designs.
Department Managers
9/06
9/06
4. Contact local advertising agencies for
quotes on design and production of
marketing literature and signage.
Marketing Director
10/06
10/06
5. Obtain and compile quote’s from mail
houses, printers and media.
Marketing Director
10/06
10/06
6. Meet with managers to choose design,
discuss costs of promotion and plan staff
training on cross selling. Set goals.
Department Managers
10/06
10/06
Marketing Director
11/06
1/07
Department Managers
2/07
2/07
Marketing Director
3/07
6/07
Department Managers
7/07
7/07
Marketing Director
9/07
11/07
Department Managers
12/07
12/07
13. Implement final phase of promotion.
Marketing Director
3/08
12/08
14. Monitor ongoing promotion activity.
Department Managers
Monthly
Monthly
15. Meet with managers to discuss results
of the promotion and determine additional
needs.
Department Managers
1/09
1/09
7. Work with advertising agency to produce
literature and signage. Write radio scripts
and purchase mailing lists. Compile list of
existing members that do not have a
checking account.
8. Train staff and discuss goals.
9. Implement phase 1 of promotion.
10. Meet with managers to discuss results
of promotion and make changes if
necessary.
11. Implement phase 2 of promotion.
12.Meet with managers to discuss results
of phase 2 and make changes if necessary.
Re
so
ur
ce
s:
Prod
uct
infor
mati
on
from
com
petit
ors,
listin
g of
curr
ent
me
mbe
rs
that
do
not
hav
ea
chec
king
acco
unt,
zip
cod
e
lists,
mar
ketin
g
mat
erial
s,
and
radi
o scripts. Department Managers, Marketing Director and Employees time.
Benefits:
Increase product penetration of checking accounts to eligible members.
Increase income from fees and charges.
Member satisfaction will increase through the ability of the credit union to provide a product designed to
meet their needs.
Revised 06/07
Page 71
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Increase usage by members of other products and services as a result of cross-selling opportunities and
increased product awareness.
Better educated membership regarding checking account services.
Assumptions:
Membership growth will increase as a result of outside marketing efforts to an average of 100 new
members each month. This will result in total membership of approximately 7,700 members by the end of
2007 and 8,900 members by the end of 2008.
The number of checking accounts will increase to 1,925 by the end of 2007 and 2,670 by the end of 2008.
Data processing fees per month per member are $1.60.
Checking account fee income minus expenses per month per member is $9.07.
Research cost will include items such as mileage for gathering materials from competitors and for meeting
expenses.
Purchasing a mailing list of 50,000 households for $1,500.00
Postage costs are $0.126 per piece.
Mail processing fees are $0.035 each.
Printing costs for posters and mail piece are $3,500.00.
Promotion radio advertising costs will total $3,500 in 2007 and $3,500 in 2008.
35,000 pieces will be mailed in phase 1 & 2, 15,000 pieces will be mailed in phase 3.
IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
Expense Item
2006
Research Costs
2007
2008
$ 100.00
-
-
Printing
-
$ 3,500.00
-
Postage and
Processing Fees
-
$ 5,635.00
$ 2,415.00
Mailing Lists
-
$ 1,500.00
-
Radio
-
$ 3,500.00
$ 3,500.00
$100.00
$14,135.00
$5,915.00
Total
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
PROJECTED INCOME
2006
2007
2008
Loan Income
Investment Income
Revised 06/07
Page 72
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Fee Income
$ 30,951.33 $ 74,841.03
Other Income
TOTAL PROJECTED INCOME
$ 30,951.33 $ 74,841.03
PROJECTED EXPENSES
Provision for Loan Loss
Salary and Benefits
Training/Conference
Depreciation
Dividends
Equipment Rental
Incentives
Marketing
$ (3,500.00) $ (3,500.00)
Operation Expenses
Postage
$ (5,635.00) $ (2,415.00)
Printing
$ (3,500.00)
Professional Services
Maintenance/Support
Lease/Rent
Misc. Expense
$(100.00)
Supplies
TOTAL PROJECTED EXPENSES
$(100.00) $(12,635.00) $ (5,915.00)
PROJECTED PROFIT/LOSS
$(100.00) $ 18,316.33 $ 68,926.03
Key Results Area #2:
Users of Services
Objective:
Increase penetration of checking accounts from
21% of eligible members to 25% by 2007 and to 30% by
2008.
Strategy #2:
Market to youth between 13 and 18 a “Teen
Advantage Checking”.
Action Plan #1:
Develop and implement a financial education
program for teenagers to be presented by credit
Revised 06/07
Page 73
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
union staff at area high schools.
Action Steps
Responsible Team
Member
Start
Date
Finish
Date
1. Research other credit unions that have
a teen financial education program.
Marketing Director
1/07
2/07
2. Contact area high schools to assess
needs for financial education.
Branch Managers
2/07
2/07
3. Compile information and meet with
Branch Managers to discuss curriculum.
Marketing Director and
Branch Managers
2/07
2/07
4. Beta test curriculum with a focus group
of High School Students
Marketing Director and
Branch Managers
3/07
3/07
5. Adjust curriculum accordingly.
Marketing Director
4/07
4/07
6. Print materials.
Marketing Director
5/07
6/07
7. Set schedule with area High Schools.
Branch Managers
8/07
On-going
8. Monitor success of the program.
Marketing Director
Quarterly
Quarterly
Branch Managers and
Marketing Director
Quarterly
Quarterly
9. Monitor and change curriculum as
needed.
Resources Needed:
Branch Managers and Marketing Directors Time.
Access to a computer and word processing software to develop curriculum.
Program participation from area High Schools.
Printed materials.
Credit Union Brochures on Teen Checking Accounts
Benefits:
Starting a financial education program for teens will improve their ability to manage their money
throughout their lives.
The Credit Union will benefit through the opportunity to educate these students on the credit union
movement and the products and services TruService has to offer. This will increase the number of Teen
Advantage Checking Accounts and potentially become their primary financial institution.
Assumptions:
No additional staff will be hired to conduct the education classes at high schools.
Training cost will include printing and will total $800.00 per year starting in 2007.
400 Promotional items costing $1,000.00 per year will be ordered to given to students.
IMPLEMENTATION COSTS
Revised 06/07
Page 74
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
2006
Expense Item
2007
2008
Training Material
-
$800.00
$800.00
Promotional Items
-
$1,000.00
$1,000.00
Total
-
$1,800.00
$1,800.00
Cost Benefit Analysis
2006
PROJECTED INCOME
2007
2008
Loan Income
Investment Income
Fee Income
Other Income
Reduced Turnover Expense
-
TOTAL PROJECTED INCOME
PROJECTED EXPENSES
Provision for Loan Loss
Salary and Benefits
Training/Conference
DP Costs ($19.20 per Member)
Depreciation
Dividends
Equipment Rental
Promotional Items
($1,000.00)
($1,000.00)
($800.00)
($800.00)
Marketing
Operation Expenses
Postage
Printing
Professional Services
Maintenance/Support
Lease/Rent
Revised 06/07
Page 75
SCMS CLASS OF 2009 CORE MANUAL
Misc. Expense
Supplies
TOTAL PROJECTED EXPENSES
PROJECTED PROFIT/LOSS
-
$(1,800.00)
$(1,800.00)
($1,800.00)
($1,800.00)
Strategic Initiative
Loan Growth
Sample
Two Executive Summaries
taken from Class of 2006 projects
Strength – Build On
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ATM Network/ATM Alliance
Board of Directors
Business Development
Capital
Commercial Lending Program
Community Involvement
Competitive Rates
Competitive Rates and Fees
Diverse FOM (Field of Membership)
Earnings
Earnings Trends
Electronic and Remote Access to Services
Employee Morale
Employee Retention
Experienced and Capable Management Team
Experienced Officials, Management and Staff
Experienced Staff and Dedicated Volunteers
Facilities and Locations
Fast Growth
Field of Membership
Field of Membership Expansion
Financial Soundness
Financial Stability
Financial Ratios
Revised 06/07
Page 76
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Financial Stability and Well Capitalized
Good Location
Indirect Lending Program
Interest Rebates
Leadership – Management and Staff
Loan Demand
Loan Yield
Location of Office
Low Loan Delinquency
Loyal Members
Loan Quailty
Management Team
Marketing
Marketing and the Community Image
Members Base (closed SEG/direct relationship)
Member Loyalty
Member Service/Member Satisfaction
Mix of Products and Services
NCUA
New Services
Personal Service and Accessibility
Potential of Membership SEG
Return on Assets
Sponsor Relations
Staff
Statewide Membership
Strategic Planning
Strong Capital Position
Strong ROA
Supportive Sponsor
Technology
Technology Balanced with Member Relationships
Website
Challenge(formerly Weakness) – Identify & AddressATM Locations in Branch
Markets
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ATM Network (lack of)
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Aging Field of Membership
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Branch Cost Accounting
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Board of Directors
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Capital
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Closed Membership
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Commercial Deposit and Cash Management Services
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Communication
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Community Interaction
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Convenience
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Convenient Branching Locations
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Conveniently Located Fee Free ATMs
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Cost Centers/Branch Accounting
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Credit Union as a term (misconceptions)
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Cross Selling
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Decline in Return on Assets
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Delinquency and Charge-Offs
77
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Employee Accountability (product knowledge and sales)
Employee Training
Employee Turnover
Expenses
Facility
Frontline Employee Retention
High Operating Expense Ratio
Household Product Penetration
Identity/Brand
Implementation of Technology
Information Systems
Internal Processes and Controls
Labor Intensive Membership
Lack of Branches
Lack of Competitive Products
Lack of Formal Employee Training Program
Lack of Employee Knowledge & Training
Lack of Marketing
Lack of Customer Service
Lack of Service and Sales Culture
Limited Full Time Staff
Limited Facility
Limited Products and Services
Liquidity
Loan Growth
Loan Mix
Loan Underwriting skills
Location
Low Checking Account Penetration
Low Investment Return
Marketing
Marketing with Limited Resources
Marketing Resources
Membership Growth
Multiple Routing Numbers (as a result of mergers)
New Products (many, rapidly introduced, staff having challenges keeping up)
No Branches/No Plans for Expansion
Not Willing to Change
Office Design
Operational Inconsistencies
Policies
Relationship Pricing
Sales Environment
Shrinking Field of Membership
Small Dollar Amount of Capital
Staffing
Staff Development/Training
Strategic Planning (dated and disappointed with plan as facilitated and produced)
Staying at Current Location
Target Marketing
Technology
Telephones (large number of calls not answered, at times 10% when busy)
Training
78
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Training and Development
Training and Facilities
Unknown to Community
Wallet Share
Opportunity – Capitalize On
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Advertising
ATM Network Expansion
Branch
Branch Expansion
Branch Location
Branch Productivity
Capital
Charter Expansion
Commercial Lending
Commercial Services and Lending Programs
Community Branch Expansion
Community Charter
Competitor Credit Union Charter Conversions (Opportunity to capture members who prefer to
do business with credit unions)
Consumer Awareness of Credit Unions
Consumer Education
Convenience
CUSO Development
CUSOs (utilize to expand services)
Customer Relationship Management
Debit Cards
E-Commerce
Educate Members
Establish Image
Expanding Services
Field of Membership
Field of Membership Expansion
Financial Education
Generation “Y”
Growth of Hispanic Community
Hispanic Student Population within Aldine ISD
Hispanic/Latino Population
Household Product Penetration
Improve Image
Incentive Programs
Indirect Financing
Indirect Lending Program
Internet Services
Lending Recapture Program
Lending/Service Programs for Underserved Markets
Life Stage Program
Loan Sale Participation and Portfolio Servicing Opportunities
Loan Underwriting Training
MCIF (Marketing of Customer Information Files)
Member Business Lending
Member Call Center
79
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Member Demographics
Member Education
Membership Growth / Field of Membership Expansion / Adding Select Employee Groups
(SEGs)
Merger(s)
Mobile Branches
More Branches
Mortgage Lending
New or Expanded / Improved Facility
New Branch and ATM Locations
New Location
New Markets within Field of Membership
Open Membership
Penetration of Existing SEG
Possible Mergers
Reduce Operating Costs
Real Estate LoansRisk-Based Pricing Strategy
Select Employee Group
Service Culture and Training Programs
Shared Branching
Shared Services/ Collaborations/Partnerships
Small Business Services
Statewide Membership
Student financial services and education
Technology
Training Sessions/Target Marketing
Underserved Credit Union Markets
Website
Threat (formerly Problem) – Minimize
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Aging Membership
Association Sponsor Membership (sponsor association memberships on decline)
Bank Attacks
Bank Trade Groups
Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy Laws
Bankruptcy Reform
Capital
Competition
Compliance
Consumer Bankruptcies
Consumer Debt
Cost of Emerging Technological Advancements
Cost of Technology
Economic Pressures
Economy
Economy and Global Issues
Economic Outlook
Employee Benefits
Employee Retention and Staffing
Escalating Health Care Premiums
Financial Illiteracy
80
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Fraud/Identity Theft
Fraudulent Activity
Home Foreclosure
Identity Theft
Image as Credit Unions make headlines with wrong doings by leadership or charter
conversions
Increased Local Competition
Increasing Competition
Legislative Issues
Loan Yield
Local Competition
Office Space
Membership (increased competition for)
Rate Environment
Regulatory Compliance
Rising Interest Rates
Security Threats
SEG Membership
Shrinking Margins
Sponsor Company
Taxation
Technology
Technology (System Upgrade)
Threat of Sponsor Closing
Technology Advancements
Janine note – not seeing
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Women as a demographic opportunity
Starting to see non-traditional competition
Streamlining products and services
Stopping a product or service to better position or use resources
Competitive
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Branding, positioning and the Credit Union Advantage
Checking Accounts
Check Cashing and Payday Loans
Competition between CUs
Competition for Small Business
Fraud/Identity Theft – “Phishing”
Increased competition from banks, finance companies, and other credit unions
Increased competition from credit unions, local banks, and non-traditional providers
Lending
Longer vehicle loan terms
Non-traditional financial institutions
Phishing
Service Quality
81
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Small Business Services
Field of Membership Expansion
Stagnation (all key CU stats below peer)
The Industry – Credit Unions, banks, non-traditional financial services from insurance
companies, i.e. State Farm, Allstate, USAA, and Internet based banks are all trying to
become the consumer’s primary financial institution.
Without all the outside competition, there are 21 credit unions in Austin and 649 credit unions
in the state of Texas. These numbers do not take into account all the banks and other
financial institutions within Austin or Texas.
Although, the number of financial banks and credit unions have declined from previous years
as there are more and more consolidations due to mergers and acquisitions.
Economic
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Bankruptcy Filings
Bankruptcy Reform Legislation
Borrowing and Spending
Credit Union Field of Membership Expansions
Economic Growth
Housing
Inflation
Overdraft Services
Rising Rate Environment
Small Credit Union Survival
The Industry - The economy has been slowly picking up speed. Interest rates are on the rise,
unemployment is on the decline, the government deficit continues to grow, energy prices
continue to increase, and the economic landscape continues to change.
The Credit Union – Employment in rural and urban regions is changing. Farming and
Agriculture are seeing a decline in labor. The association’s membership is declining in size,
which has had a direct correlation with the credit union’s membership decline.
Financial Products and Services

Debit Cards
Political/Legislative/Regulatory/Legal
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ABC Credit Union’s tax exemption status may be eliminated in the future.
Bankruptcy Filings
Bankruptcy Reform Legislation
Bank Attack
Check 21
Community Charter Conversions
82
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Credit Union Taxation Threat
Financial Literacy Legislation
Fraud
Loosening Restrictions on Member Business Lending
Tax Exemption
Taxation “Operation Credit Union”
Unrelated Business Income Tax *UBIT) Application to State-Chartered CUs
Getting out the Vote
Human Resources (a category or part of Social/Cultural/Demographic?)
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Training & Development
Hiring and Training to Serve Hispanic/Latino Market
Social/Cultural/Demographic
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40 Million Unbanked Consumers
Aging Membership
Financial Literacy
Generation Y (born between 1981 & 1995) – 57 million strong
Growing Hispanic/Latino Population
Growth of Home Ownership
How to Gain Market Share in the “Cash Based Society”
Identity Theft
Serving the Hispanic Population
The U.S. Population is Getting Older
Trust and Ethics
Youth and Young Adults
The Landscape of the State’s rural versus urban population has changed
Technological/Technology
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Branch Re-engineering
Changes in Technology
Changing Consumer Attitudes
83
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
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Consumer Demand/Expectations
Consumers’ Rising Comfort Level
Electronic Security
Evolution of Online Banking
Expansion of Electronic Payment/Debit Cards
Fraud/Identity Theft
The Credit Union - Having a statewide membership base with one location will not suffice in
the years to come.
Internet Delivery Channels
More Surcharge-Free ATMs
Multi-Channel Delivery
Payment Methods (checks, ACH, & debit cards)
Security Policies and Procedures
Self-service Channels
This came from one project – would like to see more students citing
sources in summary format…
Sources:
Sample One

CUNA Environmental Scan
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www.cuna.org
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Federal Trade Commission Reports
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Identity Theft Resource Center www.privacyrights.org

Industry Task Forces
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NCUA

2000 U.S. Census Bureau

CUNA School Projects of Past Graduates (always cite the graduates, year, and credit union if
possible.)
Sample Two

Political
o UBIT Steering Committee Memo
o ABC League Summary of 79th Legislative Session
o National Endowment for Financial Education (www.nefe.org)
o Jump Start Coalition (www.jumpstartcoalition.org)
o League Publication (named), Fall 2005

Economic
o CUNA Environmental Scan
o Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Southwest Economy Circulation, Issue 2
o Dr. Charles Idol’s Economic and Rate Outlook, June 2005

Competition
o Google Earth Online Service (http://earth.google.com
o U.S. Census Bureau, American Fact Finder (http://factfinder.census.gov)
o “Have a Pulse? Banks Want You”, Houston Chronicle Business, January 16,2006

Technology
o Fiscal Notes, November 2004
o ABC League, Electronic Newsletter (name of newsletter), February 7, 2006
84
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
o CU Trends, A Credit Union Technology Newsletter issued by PM Systems Corporation,
Stop “Phraud”, September 2005
o Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data report,
January 2006

Social
o “Credit Score Equals Money”, Business Saturday, January 24, 2004
o ABC League Summary of 79th Legislative Session
o CUNA Environmental Scan
o “Credit Unions Have Opportunity to Help Low Income Members Improve Financial Lives
Through Credit Reporting”, CU Times, October 12, 2005
Janine Note: Possible New Areas to Consider as separate Factor
Headings?
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Emerging Markets
Product/Service Innovations
From: Janine McBee
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2007 11:05 AM
To: Angela Head (angela.head@shellfcu.org)
Cc: 'JVardallas@aol.com'; Debbie Rightmire; Corina Balsells
Subject: FW: Project Question
Angela, Let's see if we (John, Debbie & Janine) can help:
If the employee is already on the payroll before the beginning steps of the
tactical action plan, there is no additional cost to the credit union (just additional
work for the employee) from developing or implementing the plan. This falls
under the general rule of employment to which we all are subject - "all other
duties as assigned". The cost for the employee is the same whether the cu does
the AP or not. If the AP requires that this employee - already on the payroll - now
has to work overtime and this incurs additional cost to the credit union that would
not otherwise occur without implementation of the AP, include the overtime
expense in the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA).
Only at the point where this action plan requires an additional full or part time employee to be
added to staff, it of course would be included in the CBA .
From an overall plan perspective, keep an eye on "reasonableness of using existing staff" when
adding new products and services. We would question if if entire project was based on existing
staff. However, would not automatically indicate project is incorrect. Some changes may even
allow for staff reductions.
Hope this helps.
Call if we need to discuss further,
Janine
General
85
Faculty Ideas - 7/2006 - This list taken from Class of 2006 projects – have Debbie and John
review
In addition to grow, add, innovate – seems like would be appropriate for students to include in
plans, things like:
Close Branch
Discontinue a Product or Service
On new products/services/branches – is there an assessment built into action steps to determine
if all is well or plan needs to be reassessed, even dropped?
Talent Management / HR / Talent Planning & Development – KRA thoughts
- Learning
- Talent Acquisition/Recruiting
- Reward and Retain
- Succession Planning
- Compensation
- Performance Management
- Leadership Development
- Aligning people, business goals
- Talent Management Metrics
- Workforce Planning
- Training and Development
- Assessing skills, competencies
- Career development
- Pay for performance
- Redeploy/Retire
- Create and manager HR planning, policy & strategies
- Develop and counsel
- Manage employee information
Training & Development Magazine - July 2006 - "Preparation is Vital: workplace learning and
performance professionals must use statistics to plan for the future."
Technology
Coast Capital Breaks New Branding Ground with Julie 12:54pm
CU Times 07/13/06
SURREY, British Columbia — Coast Capital Savings' new online greeter “Julie” is generating
quite a branding buzz while making the most of the country's broadband use.
Launched as part of the credit union's strategy to provide members an enhanced, user-friendly
online experience, Julie uses humor to chat up current products and services to Web site visitors.
For example, while discussing the many insurance offerings the credit union has she lines up
visual aids on her desk like a plastic car for auto insurance and says the reason why the credit
union offers such variety is “because you never know what can happen in life,” as she takes a
hammer to smash all the objects on her desk.
While not live, Julie is a real person played by an actor. The online greeter is programmed to run a
movie file corresponding to questions asked by visitors. Fully interactive, while waiting to be asked
questions Julie can be found knocking on the computer screen saying “hello?” or taking a moment
to scratch her head with a stuffed animal. She provides online skit responses to more than 580
questions.
The concept and design of the online greeter, which reinforces Coast Capital's store branches,
were a joint effort between Vancouver-based ad agency Rethink and the credit union.
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RFID Can Make Transactions Faster and Easier, Security Always and Issue 5:46pm
7/14/06
TORONTO — Large banks that have piloted debit cards with speed pay options have seen
remarkable results from the programs, but security is still a concern.
Some of the benefits of Radio Frequency Identification for consumers include convenience, ease
of use and maintaining control of the plastic, First Annapolis Consulting Senior Consultant Sarah
Phelps said, and merchants can expect a speedier check-out in addition to the increased
spending and data capture associated with traditional plastic.
However, there is still a risk of the cards being stolen and the banks that are issuing RFID cards
are doing so with a zero-liability policy for the consumers. The plastic is allegedly more difficult to
duplicate, but Phelps said she expects fraudsters to figure it out before too long.
The pilots in major cities nationwide by a number of issuers like Chase and Citi have seen
increased card usage, increased (from 20-30%) spending, and faster transactions than with cash.
Phelps said that so far a number of fast food restaurants, pharmacies, and theaters and stadiums
are capable of accepting RFID cards. — scooke@cutimes.com
3/22/07 Access Softek Partners with Online Resources to Offer Cell Phone
Banking Tools 5:58pm
BERKELEY, Calif. – Access Softek Inc. says it has partnered with Online Resources Corp. to
offer what it’s calling the industry’s first mobile OFX-compatible online banking and bill
payment solution for cell phones.
Mobile Finance Manager resides directly on the user’s SmartPhone-enabled device and allows
fund transfers, bill payments, secure e-mails and alerts and multiple account views, says
Access Softek, which developed the software.
SmartPhones are available from a wide variety of makers and the Mobile Finance Manager
software is secured by multi-factor authentication and SSL encryption against cell phone
scanning.
“Two of the biggest technology trends today are online banking and cell phone use. The Mobile
Finance Manager brings them together in a truly useful way,” says Chris Doner, president/CEO
of Access Softek.
“It has cutting-edge functionality that leaves interactive voice response far behind, and
propels online banking into the 21st century,” Doner says.
Berkeley-based Access Softek already is a partner with Microsoft, Intuit, H&R Block and Fiserv,
and its customers include Microsoft, Apple, Motorola, NEC, HP and IBM, the company says. —
mrapport@sc.rr.com
Products & Services
2/7/07 Firstmark Unveils HSAs 10:28am
SAN ANTONIO — Firstmark Credit Union is kicking off 2007 with the launch of Health Savings
Accounts.
The new offering is designed to help provide members more options in meeting their health care
needs. For added member convenience the accounts include debit card access.
HSAs are tax-free savings accounts that can be used to pay for medical expenses including
prescription and over the counter drugs incurred by individuals, spouses or dependents. These
accounts are accompanied by high-deductible comprehensive insurance policies that cover
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preventive care and larger medical bills. Unused HSA money rolls over from year to year and can
then be used to pay for medical care up to the plan’s deductible. — mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
2/7/07 News Now - Lack of transparency on fees hurts HSAs, prof says
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (2/7/07)--A lack of transparency hampers discussions about health savings
accounts (HSAs), according to Harvard business professor Regina Herzlinger, who specializes in
healthcare research.
Consumers with high-deductible health insurance plans are eligible to open an HSA at the
financial institution of their choice.
HSAs' lack of transparency is due to differing fee structures used by financial institutions to charge
for services such as account setup, transactions and maintenance.
The problem is aggravated when financial institutions fail to present thorough information to
consumers opening accounts (US Banker Feb. 1).
Fees linked to HSAs vary widely, from zero to $185 per year, according to Vimo Research Group.
Fees rise to an average of $84 when deposits in an HSA account hit $2,500.
Vimo's comparison of 84 financial institutions that offer HSAs found that Patelco CU, San
Francisco, ranks second in the "least-expensive" category. Patelco charges a $1 monthly
maintenance fee.
The $4 billion asset credit union also ranked first for interest rates on deposits, paying an industryhighest rate of 5%.
2/7/07 State Employees’ CU Rolls Out Brokerage Services 10:48am
RALEIGH, N.C. — Members of State Employees’ Credit Union will now have access to Vanguard
mutual funds.
The $13 billion CU will offer the mutual funds through its broker, XCU Capital Corp., which
provides investment and insurance services to 26 credit unions. Stocks and bonds are offered to
members by registered representatives of XCU Capital who are also salaried employees of the
credit union, according to SECU.
The brokerage services are a follow-up to SECU’s Financial Assessment Tool which was
introduced to members in January 2006. The Financial Assessment tool gives members the
opportunity to evaluate their general financial condition, including net worth and cash flow, and
identify progress towards meeting financial goals such as retirement and education funding.
SECU serves more than 1.3 million members. — msamaad@cutimes.com
2/27/07 Eastern Financial Florida CU Expands Investment Offerings 1:28pm
MIRAMAR, Fla. — To expand investment and insurance product for members, Eastern Financial
Florida Credit Union has aligned with Independent Financial Marketing Group, Inc.
Through the agreement, $2.4 billion Eastern Financial’s 950 member companies and 215,000
individual members will have access to new wealth management and retirement planning
solutions, including annuities, mutual funds and 401(k) plans.
“Our members now have new wealth management and retirement planning solutions,” said
Steve McGill, president/CEO of Eastern Financial. “This relationship allows our members to
benefit from more investment choices in-house along with Independent Financial’s industry
expertise, service administration and commitment to innovation in its financial product
offerings.” —msamaad@cutimes.com
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2/20/07 GalaxyPlus Wants Clients’ Members to See S.T.A.R.S. 9:07am
TROY, Mich. — GalaxyPlus Credit Union Systems wants members of its client credit unions to
see S.T.A.R.S.
S.T.A.R.S. stands for Special Thanks and Recognition System, an online program in which
members earn points for using CU products and services that they then can redeem for a
variety of rewards.
Ten credit unions already have signed up for the program from the Fiserv core processing unit.
The credit union chooses which products and activities it wants to promote with rewards, such
as referring a new member, opening a new account or using a new service. Members can visit
a screen on their CU’s Web site to see how many points they have and to redeem their points
for prizes that can range from gift cards to digital cameras to lower fees and preferred interest
rates. — mrapport@sc.rr.com
3/21/07 It’s BYO Accounts for Redwood CU Members 1:46pm
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Redwood Credit Union is getting personal with members.
The over $1.5 billion credit union has launched Build Your Own accounts —giving members the
ability to customize product features which best suit their needs. Currently offered in savings,
checking and certificates of deposits, plans are underway to include a BYO money market
account.
Here is how it works. BYO accounts begin with a foundation of basic features, then allow
members to add on the additional benefits that they value most.
For example, the BYO checking account requires no minimum opening balance and offers free
online banking and Bill Pay, fee-free access to 25,000 CO-OP ATMs and 1,100 Shared
Branches nationwide, and one overdraft fee waived per year. To this basic package, members
can add the options of earning dividends, adjusting debit card limits online, selecting
environmentally friendly eStatements and receiving e-Lerts notifications. —
mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
Lending
3/9/07 Leaguer
Representatives of Smart Financial CU (Houston) business development team recently
traveled to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico to offer financial assistance to Mexican
citizens hoping to become bilingual teachers in the United States. Smart Financial’s
International Teacher Program helps educators from Mexico and Spain get settled in the
U.S. by offering up to $3,000 in Signature and/or CreditLine loans. With the number of
Texas students requiring bilingual education at an all-time high, school districts in the
state continue to increase their effort to recruit internationally. To aid in this endeavor,
Smart Financial teamed up with the Region IV International Initiative, a program aimed
at recruiting qualified, bilingual teachers from Spanish-speaking countries. “The
individuals looking to make this move to the U.S. are seeking better opportunities for
themselves and their families,” said Melissa Hunt, vice president of business
development for Smart Financial. “By providing them with financial assistance, we are
able to help ease the financial burden and increase their chances for success in the
program.” Smart Financial representatives, Melissa Hunt, Luis Rojas, and Gerardo
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Esparza, had the opportunity to speak with more than 100 teacher candidates who will be
eligible for assistance when they arrive in July. Since first launching the program six
years ago, Smart Financial has seen tremendous growth in response and has provided
assistance to close to 200 international teachers. Credit unions in the state of Texas
interested in participating in this program are encouraged to contact Hunt at (800) 3925084, Ext. 1822 or mhunt@smartcu.org.
2/21/07 North Side FCU Launching Loan Program Aimed at Making Citizens
10:03am
CHICAGO — The $8 million North Side Community Federal Credit Union is rolling out a loan
program aimed at helping permanent residents of the U.S. from other countries to take the
next step and become U.S. citizens.
Permanent residents are documented immigrants who are in the U.S. legally and who want to
become U.S. citizens. The costs of applying for citizenship has increased significantly in the
past few years and is expected to do so again this year. The New American loans from North
Side will help immigrants pay the large up front cost, often between $800 and $1,200 per
couple of immigrants applying, North Side said.
Many of the Chicago area’s permanent residents live in the credit union’s field of membership,
the credit union added.
North Side has partnered with the immigrant center in the area to help with the program. The
center will make certain the immigrants are at the place in the process where they need the
money and North Side will make the checks payable to the Immigration and Naturalization
Service. The loans will carry an interest rate of 10% and will be repayable over six months.
The CU expects to make 100 of the loans in the first year of the program. —
dmorrison@cutimes.com
2/27/07 PAYjr Adds Prepaid MasterCard 10:15am
DALLAS — PAYjr, a free online money management system for teens, is hoping the addition of
a prepaid MasterCard to its offerings will go a long way in helping parents teach teens how to
manage their allowance and develop better spending habits.
PAYjr is a free, easy to use allowance and chore management system. Parents can assign
chores and associate allowance values to those chores, transferring money directly into the
teen’s account once the task is completed.
Parents can set purchase limits and view all activity on the card through the PAYjr Web site
and teens can access their funds via the Allpoint surcharge-free ATM network.
The PAYjr Prepaid MasterCard is available and managed through PAYjr.com and is accepted at
millions of locations, wherever MasterCard debit cards are accepted.
Last year, Texans Credit Union became the first credit union to pilot PAYjr for its members. —
mdigiovanni@cutimes.com
Youth
2/23/07 Security Service FCU (San Antonio) is looking for 10 students, ages 14 to 18, to
participate in its first annual Youth Advisory Council. Chosen students will assist the
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credit union in the development of new youth products and services during a ten-month
period. In addition to participation incentives throughout the year, at the end of the term,
each qualifying student will receive a $200 stipend. More than simply soliciting these
teens' opinions, the credit union will be looking to the students to help co-create a new
generation of financial products and services for children, youth and young adults. “High
school students are full of intellectual capital and creativity, and they already have
experience producing and participating in what they choose to consume via online
channels. We are excited about giving them the opportunity to have direct input to our
product development process,” says John Worthington, Security Service FCU senior vice
president. “This is a natural progression for our work with youth - moving from our
training and educating them to empowering them to teach us new things about their
generation.” Ten students will be selected through an application process. Once chosen,
they will attend four meetings at Security Service's corporate offices and at least one
youth event sponsored by the credit union.
Not Loans, Not Savings, But Life Style Financial Services (communication, home repair,
plumbers, air conditioning, fix it, super suppers, day care, clothing, cleaners, spas, GECU
member "swap meet" [not their term], resources, consultants, set up best chances of
success for members - max time and money value, family, health, beauty, education,
vacation, retirement, education, small business, financial planning, insurance, investing,
transportation, housing, auto repair. We research for you. Product / service directory.
Community based information. Reward me - discount coupon at point of sale.
CUNA News Now (06/13/07)
Two New York CUs considering cell-phone banking
NASSAU, N.Y. (6/13/07)--"Mobile banking," or banking using a cell phone or other
handheld wireless device, is quickly becoming a trend, and two New York credit unions
are working to provide this service to their members.
"Instant messaging is a way of life," said Bob Hoppenstedt, senior vice president of
operations at Bethpage FCU in Bethpage on Long Island. "(Mobile banking) is something
people expect."
Hoppenstedt told News Now that the mobile banking trend is definitely a "younger
generation" product, but that technological advances almost demand it. "We live in an
instant information world," he said. "It's difficult to remember life without e-mail and
computer."
Bethpage recently switched its online banking platform from an outside vendor to an
internal one, and it's beginning to look at the development of mobile banking.
Hoppenstedt said he hopes the credit union will be able to offer a mobile banking pilot
this year or early next.
Robert Allen, CEO of Teachers FCU in Long Island, told News Now that his credit union
also is working on internal changes to ensure that mobile banking will run smoothly.
Currently, any Teachers members with Internet access on a cell phone or handheld
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electronic device can perform transactions as they could with online banking, but the
credit union is working to improve its website so cell phone users can access it in a "text
only" format to improve speed. Allen said the changes will be made in about a year.
Bethpage users, said Hoppenstedt, cannot access the credit union website from their cell
phones.
Both Allen and Hoppenstedt said mobile banking at their credit unions would likely be
free.
"We're trying to provide the best tools possible for members to govern their finances,"
Hoppenstedt said.
He noted that the credit union has never priced online banking, and it was "doubtful" if it
would place a fee on mobile banking.
Allen agreed. "It's the same as home banking--no costs," he said. "(Mobile banking) is
just a different way of approaching it.
Currently, 400,000 people use mobile banking. This figure is expected to jump anywhere
from 10 million to 22.5 million by 2012, according to Bob Egan, chief analyst at Tower
Group in Needham, Mass. (Newsday June 12).
In 2006, 0.05% of households used mobile banking. This year, the figure is estimated at
3%. But in 2008, the figure is expected to jump to 10%, with another 10% increase
occurring each year after. Those who currently bank online are expected to adopt mobile
banking more quickly than those who do not.
The rising use of debit cards also fuels members' desires for mobile banking. This is
because of a need for "real-time" information when credit union members or bank
customers aren't near an ATM or branch, said Dan Schatt, senior banking analyst with
Celent, a research firm in Boston.
While financial institutions aren't charging for mobile banking yet, those using it will see
a hike in their cell phone bills. Schatt suggested mobile bankers sign up for plans with a
flat fee for unlimited data usage.
Mobile banking was first introduced to some banks 10 years ago. But it didn't catch on
because the Internet was sluggish, and bank customers were leery of sending their
personal information online, said Newsday.
At the same time, people weren't using cell phones and other handheld devices, such as
PDAs, frequently. Now, Egan said, cell phones and other handheld electronics have
become 'socially ingrained' and are a part of Americans' lifestyles.
CUNA News Now (06/13/07)
Hood wants a Credit Union U.
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ALEXANDRIA, Va. (6/13/07)—National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) Vice
Chairman Rodney Hood told the Big Ten Credit Union Conference last week that he
wants to form a working group to look into ways to attract more student membership,
employment, and participation in the credit union industry.
"I intend to convene an informal study group of college officials and credit unions leaders
to draft a framework that can be used to attract well-trained and highly competent new
credit union employees, board members, supervisory committee members and credit
committee members," said Hood when addressing the conference held at the University
of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind.
Calling his plan the "Blueprint for 2020: A Plan to Strengthen the Future of Credit
Unions," Hood said participants in the initiative would include accredited colleges and
universities with credit unions in their field of membership, such as: community colleges,
technical colleges, historically black colleges and universities) and MBA Programs.
In a release, he outlined his desired results as follows:

Credit union internship and mentoring opportunities for college students;

Strategic consulting projects for MBA students; working with credit unions to
perform management assessment of timely issues, such as membership growth,
marketing campaign, product analysis, and membership segmentation;

Creating relationships with representatives from college career planning and
placement offices to participate in career fairs;

Creating symposia and curricula for students to receive academic credit while
interning at credit unions;

Providing low-income designated credit unions with contributions to pay for
summer interns; and

Cultivating new board members, supervisory committee, and credit committee
members for the credit union system.
The success of this initiative, according to Hood, could be measured by charting an
increased percentage of career fairs that involve credit unions; a rise in number of interns
within the credit union system; membership growth among Gen Y; and new employees
with "core competencies for the future financial services landscape."
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