Case Study: Steps For Utah Symphony

Register to read the introduction…  Keith Lockhart might be too close to the musicians to make tough decisions; as the musicians look to Keith to protect their interests.  Symphony board and management have had issues getting along with the musicians in the past. Specifically when the board reopened the collective bargaining agreement to lower salaries. It is obvious that the musician’s leadership would be extra skeptical of any changes that would take place that might negatively impact the symphony (Delong, 2005) A1a: Steps for Utah Symphony The first and most prevalent action for the symphony is around the decrease in surplus funds heading into FY 2001. While income is increasing 1%, it is not keeping up with the increase in the expenses. There are several actions that Anne will need to take in order to reverse a continuing decrease in surplus. 1. An increase in performance revenues might be due to the increase in the number of performances; however, the revenue from those increased performances is not keeping up with the increase in salaries to perform those extra nights. Anne needs to look at why those performances are projected to have lower revenue. For example, would a location change with the same performance increase revenue. If the symphony is playing the same piece for two nights, would it be possible to play two of the five nights in different locations, such …show more content…
 Anne Ewers has a reputation of being autocratic, which seems to be proven with her reluctance to have Keith Lockhart report directly to the board so that she is not under minded when making tough decisions. A2a: Steps for Utah Opera Financially, the opera is in a better position than the symphony for long-term success. However, in comparing the two, there are some actions that the opera could take in order to share the synergies of a merger. 1. Anne needs to have the directors of finance, marketing and ticket services from both entities to get together and determine of the opera ticket prices are aligned with what they could get. Or, are the ticket prices correct for the opera and the symphony prices need to go down (which could drive up revenue with a much higher increase in …show more content…
 Critical Success Factor: Cooperation in partnership between the newly merged management and performing employees  Measure: Improving profitability with improved ticket sales.

C: Merged Company Strengths and Weaknesses Financial Strengths: The organization is projecting increased fund-raising, so the integration of the business processes strategic goal will should show a positive trend in the next fiscal