Strategy Consulting
Strategy is an articulation of how an organization will achieve its goals. The Hill Group’s strategy development and business consulting services help an organization define those strategies in the context of changing internal and external forces, navigating ever-changing complexities while positioning for sustained competitive advantage.
Our approach to strategy development helps organizations understand market forces, identify and prioritize strategy alternatives, and make decisions on strategies to achieve an identified mission and vision. We have experience developing successful strategies in numerous industries, including education, healthcare, government, manufacturing, nonprofit, and more.
Decision Support and Analysis
Decision support and analysis helps an organization identify, pursue, and achieve an optimal outcome. The Hill Group’s process for providing decision support is both an art and a science, and it begins with building a quantitative model to develop and weight evaluation criteria, identify decision alternatives, rank or rate those alternatives, and ultimately determine the optimal path forward.
Strategic Planning and Management
Strategic planning is a thoughtful and deliberate process to articulate a vision and define the steps, or strategies, to achieve it.
Our approach to planning is highly participatory and data-driven, and we spend the time required to get to know your organization and industry, its structure, its culture, and how best to identify strategic opportunities to achieve your goals. The Hill Group’s framework for strategic planning, like many strategic planning models, typically contains three phases: Situational Analysis, Strategy Formulation, and Strategy Implementation. Strategic planning helps organizations develop a roadmap to success by defining activities necessary to fulfill their mission and achieve their vision.
Strategic management includes the policies, processes, systems, and structures that an organization uses to implement its strategic plan, including revising the plan as operating environments evolve. Our consultants can translate an enterprise-wide strategic plan into divisional or departmental operating plans, equip leaders and managers for successful strategic management, and routinely scan the environment for signals that strategy and actions plans may need to be revisited.
Business Planning and Feasibility Assessments
We partner with clients to define future products, programs, or services, assess market supply and competitors, demand and target markets, and the magnitude of opportunity for the new initiative, define operational and organizational requirements to pursue and penetrate that opportunity, and model best case, worst case, and realistic financial impacts. The business plan can then be used in many ways throughout the business life cycle to secure loans, attract investment capital, and develop strategic business partners.
Market Research and Analysis
The Hill Group conducts market research and provides data analysis for a wide range of entities including government agencies, corporations, universities, health care systems, and nonprofit organizations. Our experts perform primary and secondary research and conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis to inform strategy development or key decision-making. We believe that strategic and competitive advantages arise from timely decisions informed by insights and intelligence driven by data.
Mergers, Acquisitions, and Strategic Alliance Planning
The Hill Group provides advice, counsel, and implementation support to for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations seeking to acquire, be acquired, or establish joint ventures or other forms of collaborative operating models. Through pre-transaction exploration, our consultants can help articulate decision criteria, define the most appropriate collaboration model, identify and prioritize targets or partners, facilitate exploratory conversations, and perform valuation. Once a partner is identified, consultants perform management-related due diligence to deeply investigate the administrative, financial, and operational functions of the partner, often working with outside legal counsel who performs legal due diligence simultaneously. Upon completion of due diligence and a decision to proceed, The Hill Group can work with legal counsel to prepare for and execute the transaction. Once the transaction is finalized, our consultants can develop and help execute a plan for functional integration, cultural integration, and change management.
Related Case Studies
The Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD) supports over 70 libraries across Allegheny County through funding and oversight. Two anchor institutions—Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh (CLP) and the Allegheny County Library Association (ACLA)—help manage this decentralized ecosystem. Despite its strengths, the system suffered from fragmented administrative services and inequitable operational capacities. RAD engaged The Hill Group to explore, design, and implement a shared services model that could improve efficiency, reduce duplication, and elevate service quality systemwide.
The University and its Alumni Association engaged The Hill Group to evaluate its position within the market environment, determine the desired state of the Alumni Association, assess other organizations to identify areas for internal improvement, and develop a strategy that will provide a roadmap for three to five years.
Breathe Pennsylvania (BPA), with nearly 120 years of history—from its roots in tuberculosis prevention to its current respiratory health initiatives—was approaching the end of a strategic plan cycle. Amid evolving public-health landscapes and leadership transitions, the organization recognized the need for a refreshed strategic roadmap. The goal: realign its mission, programs, and operations to boost impact, visibility, and sustainability.
With over $80 million in assets and more than $4 million in annual grants and scholarships, Centre Foundation had built a strong philanthropic presence over four decades. As the organization looked to the future, it faced a rapidly evolving community landscape marked by demographic shifts, inequality, and rising needs. Foundation leadership recognized the opportunity—and responsibility—to take a more visible, inclusive, and strategic role in fostering equity and community vibrancy. To guide this next chapter, Centre Foundation engaged The Hill Group to lead a robust strategic planning process.
The Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) was looking to enhance southwestern Pennsylvania’s economic competitiveness by identifying potential high-growth industries and related emerging workforce needs.
Approaching its 25th anniversary, the Community Foundation of Fayette County (CFFC) recognized a critical moment for reflection and renewal. While steadily growing in assets and community presence, the Foundation sought to sharpen its strategic direction, expand its donor base, and elevate its leadership role in a county marked by economic challenges and civic potential. CFFC engaged The Hill Group to guide a comprehensive strategic planning process that would ground future growth in both data and aspiration.
Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley (CFHV), serving Dutchess, Ulster, and Putnam Counties, had experienced significant growth—doubling its assets between 2014 and 2023. However, internal challenges and external perception risks persisted. Leadership transitions, staffing gaps in development, and past administrative concerns prompted the need for a renewed, coordinated fundraising strategy. With a bold goal to double assets again—to $200 million—CFHV partnered with The Hill Group to co-create a plan that would build credibility, capacity, and sustained momentum.
The Erie Conference on Community Development (ECCD) and the Erie Metropolitan Planning Organization (EMPO) wanted to more effectively manage and utilize public transportation assets to enhance economic development, improve public service delivery, reduce operating costs, and optimize revenues.
Fort Ligonier, a reconstructed 18th-century British fort, is one of Pennsylvania’s most significant historical sites. With nearly 25,000 annual visitors, the site offers immersive tours, educational programming, and historical reenactments. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted visitation patterns and revealed new opportunities in digital engagement and civic education. The organization’s leadership and board sought a transformative plan to expand its impact—by enhancing infrastructure, launching new educational ventures, and positioning Fort Ligonier as a center for leadership and civic learning.
The Hill Group also offers consulting services for organizational performance and organizational process improvement