A new organizational structure for the Carpet & Rug Institute (CRI) recently received board approval. According to John Wells, chairman, the changes, which took effect Sept. 1, will allow for greater efficiency in addressing issues facing the carpet industry.

One key component of the restructuring is the streamlining of CRI’s committees. The new plan eliminates committees and the organization’s seven issue management teams in favor of multi-functional panels assigned to address three main categories:

• product performance and standards

• de-selection, which, according to CRI president Werner Braun, is any issue or perceived problem that could cause people not to buy carpet, such as asthma and allergies or VOCs

• extended producer responsibility and issues involving the Carpet America Recovery Effort (CARE).

Each panel, which will consist of representatives from member manufacturers with marketing, technical and government relations expertise, will be charged with identifying critical issues facing the carpet industry. When necessary, panel members may vote to form short-term task groups that will deal with target issues quickly and effectively and then disband.

“By consolidating the issues into three panels, we’re able to significantly reduce the total number of members from the mills or associate manufacturers that participate in CRI activities,” Braun said. “It basically allowed us to reduce the demand on our members to manage issues.”

Task groups will not be eternal, like the committees or subcommittees, which are standing organizations. Rather, they will have very specific tasks to perform, and once that task is over they are dissolved.

Strategic Issues

Leadership Council

The board also approved the formation of the Strategic Issues Leadership Council (SILC), a high-level executive group charged with liaising between the panels and CRI’s board of directors and policy committee. SILC members will be tasked to communicate with their respective board members on the multiple issues facing the carpet industry and finding the talent needed within the industry to develop the necessary solutions.

“With the formation of the Strategic Issues Leadership Council,” Braun said, “we now have very senior people involved with CRI. There will be 10 on the council. We will be able to work on the same issues we’ve always worked on, with some reprioritization, but it allows us to have a much better idea of how a strategy or an issue management approach could, in fact, impact the profitability and growth of our members. This is probably the biggest improvement we’ve made in the organization.”

Braun said the association is looking at all the things it is currently doing and coming up with a new prioritized list of issues on which it will work.

“Each issue will be put through the same screening process it has been put through before,” he explained. “First, is it significant; second, can CRI help to move the needle, and third, will the members multiply the message? Once we’ve done that, we’ll go one step further and decide, is it an issue that we need to actively work on, or is it something with which we just need to monitor at this time. Or, is it an issue we can stop working on altogether?”

He added the new organizational structure will make CRI a more focused and effective organization. Membership lists for the SILC and panels are currently being populated.