Provide a thorough SWOT analysis of the case study given: The Municipality of Any Town is typical of many small cities in the United
States. It is located at the northern point of a large urban metroplex, about 55
miles (89 km) from the heart of a major city with approximately 600,000
residents. Any Town itself has approximately 25,000 residents. It is
considered a fairly affluent small city, with a good economic mix
(manufacturing, technology, and professional services). It is also a regional
destination for tourists, sporting a vibrant downtown, proximity to the
seacoast, and a variety of city-managed parks, beaches, community centers,
and athletic fields. Any Town has one large high school that serves the city’s
residents, two middle schools, and five elementary schools. The town has its
own police force, fire department, EMS services, public transit, parks and
recreation department, and roads department. Any Town supports a number
of other community services as well.
The department of parks and recreation consists of 66 full-time staff members,
over 200 part-time staff members, and countless numbers of volunteers. The
department has a director and three functional units—programs, facilities, and
business operations—that serve the community’s recreation needs. The
department has clear lines of authority. The executive team includes the
director and her three associate directors. The director meets with each unit
head (programs, facilities, and business operations) once per week, with the
executive team meeting together on the fourth week of the month to discuss
issues and challenges. Unit heads have different meeting schedules with their
various staffs. For example, the programming unit only meets once per month
and includes the associate director and three assistant directors. The facilities
unit meets more frequently—once every two weeks—and includes the
associate director and his two assistant directors. The business unit meets
most frequently—once weekly; these meetings include the associate director
and four assistant directors. Other meetings are held at the discretion of each
supervisor. The entire organization only gets together twice per year, and both
are for social functions. No business is discussed at these meetings.
Each unit in the department of parks and recreation is responsible for fulfilling
its stated function—providing programs, managing and scheduling facilities,
and handling business and administrative decisions. Although units work
separately to fulfill their duties, many of the organization’s functions are
interdependent. For example, running the youth soccer program requires
communication and coordination between all three functional units. At this
point, the organization has allowed each unit to devise its own management
system and relies on staff members to work across unit lines to coordinate
efforts. In addition to the coordination of normal department functions, the
organization runs a number of special events that require the mobilization of
resources and staff from across all three functions. These community-wide
special events include two fireworks presentations, a Fourth of July festival,
two parades (Memorial Day and a holiday festival), a farmers’ market, and two
facility open houses.
The department has a basic technology system that provides staff members
with the ability to use e-mail and voice-mail systems. It has a basic Web site
that is mostly used to provide information, although frequently used forms are
placed online for staff and customers to download. Each unit is responsible for
its own data tracking and analysis. Each unit is required to submit quarterly
reports to its associate director for compilation into a year-end report for the
department, which is created by the director.
The department’s fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Its operational
budget is derived from a mix of funding sources, including appropriated funds
(50 percent), user fees and charges (25 percent), sponsorships (15 percent),
and grants and contracts (10 percent). To encourage innovation, units are
allowed to keep a portion of the funds that they are able to generate to use for
unit-specific expenses. For example, the facilities unit is able to keep a portion
of the money it generates on rentals of facilities, encouraging staff to be
proactive in finding new revenue streams.
The department does have its challenges. Despite the department’s ability to
generate 50 percent of its budget, the city council wants the department to be
able to do more with less appropriated funds. Rumor has it that the
department’s budget is going to be decreased by 10 percent in the next fiscal
year. The city council has also expressed concern about the size of the
department, believing that 66 full-time staff members for a city with 25,000
residents is bloated and wasteful.