High Performance Organization

As far as, I know that a business that can achieve HPO status is one that can effectively remain competitive in their respective industry by balancing the needs of both their internal and external stakeholders; anyone who has an interest in the organization. As current organizational behavior theories evolve, this is a model that is likely to be promoted as an effective way to succeed in the global business environment. for example, Uncommon Schools is a charter management organization currently operating 11 schools across New York and New Jersey. SeaChange Capital Partners is arranging a $30 million financing to support their growth to 33 schools over the next five years of which it is committed $2.0 million of its own funds.

Uncommon program – its 11 schools that are already open — is high impact as measured by a combination of

(i) the academic results and college enrollment rates of its students relative to the relevant comparison groups (including through the natural experiment of over-subscribed lotteries for admission) and

(ii) the opinion of well-informed experts in the field of education. This "high impact" represents a very cost effective philanthropic opportunity because Uncommon, as an operator of public schools, receives approximately $7-$10 dollar in public money for each $1 of philanthropy.

However, none of the $30 million will be used to support the historical performance of the current schools! A small portion will be used to support these schools over the next five years but most will be used to open 22 schools. In considering this grant the relevant question is: will the new schools be high impact and will the current schools stay high impact? Unfortunately, there is no magic formula for schooling; every school is different in its location, staffing, leadership, etc. so the ONLY way to judge (today) whether the future schools will be high impact is to assess whether the organization that will open and manage them is high performance.

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