Whether your organization wants to better understand the needs of its staff, determine the value of a product or service to its clients, or test the viability of proposed changes to how it does business, we can help you get the answers you need.

Needs Assessment

Needs assessments are commonly conducted in order to clarify the requirements that should be met in order to solve a specific problem. For example, a needs assessment could help you determine how to ensure that an organization-wide change is effectively implemented.

Needs assessments may also be performed in a more exploratory mode, for example, as part of outreach efforts during an initial program phase that is focused on understanding the needs of a new client population.

We have conducted needs assessments for organizations ranging from local community development corporations to state business assistance programs to the U.S. Department of Defense. Whatever the characteristics of your organization or program, our staff will work with you to determine the right questions, find the right information sources, and develop and implement the most appropriate and cost-effective methodologies for acquiring the data and knowledge you need.

Market Research

Our market research expertise lends itself to customized applications in which human dynamics play a critical factor. We have performed market research for organizations ranging from a small, parochial high school to the University of Massachusetts’ distance learning division, UMassOnline.

For example, we helped College of Our Lady of the Elms, a small women’s college in western Massachusetts, understand and evaluate a possible transition to co-education. The school’s leadership needed to better understand the impact such a change might have on its current student body, the likely response within its traditional feeder communities, and the potential for developing new markets. Through targeted interviews, focus groups, and a large-scale survey of college-bound males and females, our staff helped them determine a course of action that resulted in the intended, positive organizational outcomes. Elms College ultimately transitioned to co-education and has since experienced the growth in applications and admissions it had sought.

For more information please contact:

Eric Heller, Ed.D.
Director, Research and Evaluation
(413) 587-2402

Steven Ellis, M.P.A.
Senior Manager
(413) 587-2405