Business Strategist

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR DAPH-VRI

SCOPE OF WORK

Business Strategist (Expatriate)

Title: Business Strategist

Location of Assignment: Sri Lanka, Regional

Proposed Level of Effort: 25 days

Anticipated Start Date: Nov 1, 2022

Anticipated End Date: Dec 15, 2022

The objective of this activity is to assist the Department of Animal Production and Health in developing a strategic plan for its Veterinary Research Institute.

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION

The International Executive Service Corps (IESC) is a US based nonprofit that creates and expands economic opportunities, helping to lift those we support out of poverty. We believe that helping enterprises grow is the most sustainable way for communities to have access to jobs and for families and people to have opportunities for a better quality of life. We have helped businesses in a variety of sectors, including agriculture, create or save more than 1.5 million jobs in 137 countries across the world. Our major funders today are the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), among others.

Sri Lanka’s dairy sector is currently not reaching its productivity and economic potential. This is primarily due to farmers not implementing best practices in dairy management resulting in low productivity and poor animal health, an insufficient amount of quality feed available which is subject to seasonal variation, inefficient management and utilization of available resources for livestock production, and limited extension services which lead to poor linkages between technology sources, such as research centers, and end users.

To address these challenges, the Market-Oriented Dairy Project (MOD), implemented by IESC is executing several initiatives with both public and private institutions to increase milk production and improve farm productivity and quality of fresh milk.

The Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH) is the state organization which is responsible for providing technical leadership to the livestock industry and its stakeholders in Sri Lanka. The Veterinary Research Institute (VRI), located at the University of Peradeniya is the only national level organization of its kind, which is administered by DAPH under the purview of the Ministry of Agriculture. Since its inception, the institute has been involved in production of vaccines against contagious animal diseases and has carried out disease diagnostic, analytical, and advisory services, in addition to research activities in the livestock and poultry sectors. The VRI lab located at the University of Peradeniya has the potential to provide core analytical services to dairy producers in Sri Lanka. In addition, provincial VRI labs, if strengthened, have the potential to provide basic analytical services with a short turnaround time, meeting the needs of the growing livestock sector, especially dairy.

APPROACH:

This assignment will comprise of an expatriate consultant supported by a local consultant to develop a long-term business plan and a strategy to implement it making DAPH-VRI much stronger and more competitive in the local market meeting the needs of the industry. The consultants will meet with DAPH senior leadership to better understand their expectations and vision for VRI. The consultants will also identify present and potential clients of VRI and meet with them to better understand their expectations as well as garner their support to develop VRI. They will then develop a long-term plan for VRI and a strategy to implement that plan.

The findings and proposed strategy will be presented to VRI leadership and their staff to further solicit their ideas and buy-in for the strategy. With the implementation of the strategy, the MOD project, too, will identify opportunities to support and assist DAPH to improve the services of VRI to better meet the needs of the industry and develop it to a state-of-the-art analytical center of excellence in Sri Lanka.

TASKS:

• Meet with DAPH to obtain a first-hand understanding of the services provided and resources available at VRI
• Identify and meet with present and potential clients of VRI to understand their expectations from VRI and to garner their support to develop and promote the center.
• Visit with others providing similar services as VRI to assess competition and identify opportunities to complement each other in meeting demand
• Visit VRI to gather, validate and document business requirements. Model business processes and identify opportunities for process improvements, identify issues, risks and benefits of existing and proposed solutions and outline business impact
• Identify new business opportunities by researching industry trends, identifying potential markets, and analyzing customer needs
• Develop an operational plan to ensure efficient use of Department Resources while achieving business goals.
• Develop a strategic plan that aligns with the organizational goals
• Identify areas that needs to be strengthened/improved
• Present findings to DAPH leadership

DELIVERABLES:

• A strategic plan to make VRI a center of excellence in delivery of analytical services
• A long-term business and an operational plan to support the strategy
• Presentations on strategy and the business plan
• List of persons met

ADMINISTRATION AND LOGISTICS:

The MOD Project Office will provide hotel accommodation in areas outside the consultants’ residence. MOD will meet all project travel related costs. Consultant is required to have their own computers and all written products need to be in Microsoft Word, Excel, or Power Point.

LEVEL OF EFFORT:

The assignment will commence on/about November 1, 2022 and will continue through December 15, 2022. Level of Effort 25 work and travel days

Preparation work prior to departure – 2 days

Travel days – 2 days

In country days

• Meeting with DAPH leadership and other staff – 2 days
• Meeting with other stakeholders of VRI – 2 days
• Visiting with other similar service providers – 2 days
• Assessing VRI – 5 days
• Developing a business strategy for VRI (presentations) – 4 days
• Discussing initial proposed strategy in draft and revisions – 2 days
• Draft report preparation – 3 days

Departure from Sri Lanka travel days – 2 days

Review and incorporate DAPH comments and finalize report – 2 days

REPORTING RELATIONSHIP/OTHER CONDITIONS:

The consultants will work closely with the leadership of DAPH and the MOD Project Director.

QUALIFICATIONS:

The consultant must have a Master’s degree in business administration, marketing, or finance. The consultant must have extensive experience in developing strategies and business plans, ideally for public sector institutions. Experience in developing and/or operating a state-of-the-art research and analytical institution will be an added advantage. A background in conducting research will be useful. Prior experience working in developing countries preferred. He/She must have excellent interpersonal communication skills and ability to write reports in English.