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The Atlantic Waterfowl Celebration (AWC) is an annual celebration founded in the

late 1980s in Sackville, New Brunswick. The festival's creation came about following
the establishment of a Waterfowl Park and nature preserve, with its primary purpose
being for ecotourism and environmental education (Fullerton, 1995, pp.1-2.). During
the first several years, the organisation relied on various government grants and
private and corporate donations to pay for operating costs and general expenses.
Each year from 1990 to 1993 saw the organisation roughly breaking even, though
due to the heavy reliance on diminishing government grants, by 1994, it was making
a $14,000 loss (Fullerton, 1995, pp.2-3.). The AWC, despite moderate success and
popularity during the first few years, was facing a growing issue and multiple
challenges that required a robust approach to ensure the organisation remained
healthy. The organisation's problems and the causes of these issues will be discussed
briefly before considering which alternatives and actions may be taken to rectify this
in the future.

Root Problem

Fundamentally, the problems facing the AWC are related to costs of operation
exceeding income and a heavy reliance on government funding and private
donations. The AWC received tremendous interest and support during the first few
years, but as interest waned, so did sponsorship and donations. Additionally, the
organisation's structure was not sufficient to ensure long term viability as the
organisation was not able to make adequate profits to operate without large
donations.

Problem Statement: After the initial excitement and investment of the first few years
wore off, genuine structural and operational issues arose as AWC was incapable of
generating the required interest and funding to operate independently of
government aid.

Causes of the Problems

The underlying causes of the problems, as highlighted in the case study, primarily
derived from the inability to generate sufficient revenue due to lack of interest and
poor organisation. One significant cause of the issues is the high cost of marketing
and advertising, which is essential to drum up sufficient interest and support for the
celebration. For example, the brochure redesign alone cost $12,000, while nearly
$61,000 was spent on promotions and marketing in the initial start-up phase
(Fullerton, 1995, p.2. & p.5.). Additionally, in 1994 the AWC did not qualify for the
subsidy programme funded by the department of tourism, which could have covered
certain media promotion costs (Fullerton, 1995, p.5.).

The root cause of the issue is the failure to receive sufficient sponsorship from local
companies, corporations and private donations, thus resulting in diminishing income
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and a reliance on dwindling government and local grants. Furthermore, even the
ambitious corporate sponsorship programme developed failed to raise the required
revenue, while personal donations were becoming increasingly limited and
challenging to obtain for various reasons (Fullerton, 1995, p.6.). Overall, the problems
related to an inability to generate sufficient funding, an over-reliance on generous
donations, sponsorship and the requirement to spend large sums on developing an
interest in the celebration through advertising. In addition, competition from other
festivals and celebrations, such as the Acadian Homecoming in 1994 on the same
weekend, resulted in a lower turn-out and significantly less interest than expected.
On top of these complications, there were structural issues related to the
management of the AWC. Most of the committees failed to meet regularly, the board
of directors could not provide any new ideas and Carol Currie, the managing
director, was left more or less running the entire thing singlehandedly by early 1994
(Fullerton, 1995, pp.6-7). All these issues left the AWC in a very tenuous position,
requiring a rethink of the structure and direction of the celebration for it to continue.

Possible Alternatives

Business restructuring relates to reorganising the business to improve the efficiency

and effectiveness of the operations, usually by changing the original structure
(Bondy, 2021). There are perhaps two main alternatives that are available to AWC,
restructure or reconfigure. Restructuring, as discussed above, involved relatively
wholesale changes throughout the organisation. On the other hand, reconfiguration
relates to splitting, tweaking, combing, or even dissolving business units or elements
of a business while keeping the original structure intact (Girod & Karim, 2017). The
case study demonstrates multiple structural issues with the firm, the operations and
the process. Therefore, it is perhaps most prudent to restructure the business.
Restructuring is beneficial when business costs need to be reduced and when
financial and operational challenges must be overcome (Benchmark Law Inc., 2020).
The primary reasons for small businesses and organisations to fail is cash flow
problems and underdeveloped business plans (Bihnam, 2019). Given that these
issues appear to be prevalent within the case study, they must be addressed. The
case study alludes to the failure and breakdown of the organisation structure by
1994 and a general lack of engagement from the management team (Fullerton, 1995,
pp.6-7.).

Plan of Action

As mentioned, AWC faces some rather severe issues, much of which relate to the
internal structure and operations of the entity. Therefore, the most effective plan of
action will involve some restructuring of the organisation and is consequently
structural in nature. First and foremost, at the initial stage of restructuring, a review
of the organisation's operational functions, finances, market trends and overall
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business model should be carried out (Benchmark Law Inc., 2020). This potential plan
to restructure many aspects of the business represents a reasonably large project
undertaking. The requirements of the restructuring project push it into the realm of a
large, complex project rather than a small or medium-sized project. It will involve
full-time staff and management, significant planning of budgets and general plans,
as well as the appropriate tools and experience to complete (Jessen, 2012, p.17.).

AWC faces multiple problems relating to the cost of operations, structure and
method of financial support, and general management problems surrounding the
committees and board of directors. Therefore, it is prudent to restructure in a way
that fixes these issues. Changes to the management are required to remove the
undue pressure on Claire Currie, who, for the most part, manages all of the daily
operations and planning for the celebrations. The lack of engagement from the
management board is also a concern. It is noted that the formula for the
organisation, as outlined in the local Bylaws, was not conducive to effective
operations (Fullerton, 1995, p.7.). It seems that there are too many interfering
influences who do not do a great deal to ensure the organisation's success.
Therefore, the organisation must be altered to operate more as a company does,
especially as it cannot claim charity status for reasons mentioned in the case. In
doing so, investors who contribute financially to the organisation should have some
decision-making authority. The board of directors also needs to become heavily
involved in the company's management while also providing suitable ideas and
suggestions.

Several mistakes were made in the build-up to the 1994 celebration, including last-
minute cancellations of events. The plan for 1995 must be more rigid and ensure that
successful endeavours are maximised while costs are reduced. Marketing and
advertising represent a substantial cost for AWC, so understanding where these costs
can be reduced without jeopardising quality is essential. Furthermore, as the AWC
relies on one event to make most of its profits during the year, it is crucial to develop
new revenue streams that can maximise income during different times of the year.

Rather than a complete restructuring, small changes could be made to try and
improve operational efficiency. However, it appears that too many functions are
already in need of significant modification and so minor tinkering may not be
enough. The majority of the plan would focus on the entity's structure as that is the
area where more of the problems appear. While smaller, non-structural changes
could be implemented, such as improving the marketing mix to include more
mediums or increasing ticket prices further to increase the event's prestige, they
would have only a small impact. Probably, the initial success and euphoria
surrounding the AWC in its first few years meant that ineffective strategies and plans
were implemented that did not ensure the long term health of the organisation.
Therefore, a large and complex project is needed to restructure the entity most
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effectively, especially as grants from the local town council, as well as government
grants, were to be further reduced for the 1995 celebration and only receivable once
loan payments were made to the town (Fullerton, 1995, p.8.).

Conclusion and Relevance to Business Studies

The case of the Atlantic Waterfowl Celebration and the issues raised are incredibly
prevalent, especially within small businesses. This case study offers a clear insight
into the troubles that can be faced by small organisations, particularly those that rely
on events rather than selling traditional products. For example, AWC has just one
central time during each year where it must make nearly all its profits through either
the sale of products, a percentage of exhibitors' sales, or generally through ticket
prices. The troubles for an organisation of this nature have already been discussed,
though they undoubtedly highlight how small firms can struggle when their business
model is too reliant on one aspect to make money. Students can understand the
tremendous difficulties, so many businesses face and how important it is for the
correct action to be taken at the right time to avoid disaster.

AWC faces a turning point; any failure similar to the 1994 celebration would likely
represent the company's end as it would be unable to continue operating with such
dramatic losses and disappointments. Substantial obstacles are facing the company
going into the 1995 preparation, and therefore, action must be taken immediately to
restructure the firm into the most efficient and practical form of itself. Suppose the
general structure and operational procedures remain the same. In that case, it is
unlikely, especially when reviewing the balance sheets and income statements for
AWC, that the company could survive another relatively barren year.

References

Benchmark Law Inc. (2020, May 21). How to develop a restructuring plan for your
small business. Benchmark
Law. https://www.benchmarklaw.ca/2020/05/21/develop-small-business-
restructuring-plan/

Bihnam, B. (2019). How to save a struggling small business | Keap.

Keap.com. https://keap.com/resources/how-to-save-struggling-small-business

Bondy, H. (2021, March 26). How a Business Restructures After Bankruptcy. The
Balance Small Business. https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-business-
restructuring-5119063

Fullerton, G.L. (1995).  Atlantic waterfowl celebration. Acadia Institute of Case Studies.
Acadia University. School of Business Administration.
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Girod, S. J. G., & Karim, S. (2017, February 21). A Guide for Choosing the Right
Reorganization at the Right Time. Harvard Business
Review. https://hbr.org/2017/03/restructure-or-reconfigure

Jessen, S.-A. (2012). Project leadership -- Step by step: Part I (2nd ed.).
Bookboon.com.