Player reviews from the just-completed season have been finished but the review of coaches, which should decide the future of head coach Glenn Moore, is still a few weeks away.
Highlanders chairman Ross Laidlaw said the board had come up with a recovery plan was aimed at improving performance in every respect from the "ball boy to the board of directors".
The Highlanders finished 12th in the Super 14, the sixth consecutive season they finished as the bottom New Zealand side.
An extensive review has begun, with Rugby Southland chief executive Roger Clark appointed as project manager to the franchise for the next three months. The New Zealand Rugby Union, which is underwriting the franchise until the end of the 2011 season, appointed Clark.
Much of his job will be connected with contracting players but he will be also coming up with ways to get the side humming again.
"The goal is to end up with a bloody good team that is well-coached, well-managed, that is backed by a strong and hard-working board. We want to have good playing results on the field and a sound financial performance off it," Laidlaw said.
The plan had been developed by various people, including himself, and was a lengthy document.
The Otago Daily Times would not be able to look at it, he said.
"But it goes through every component of the organisation, from players, coaches to the board of directors."
Clark would would work on the plan and come up with ideas and how the recovery would be managed before he ended his three-month stint.
The team won only three games this season.
The franchise is also believed to have made a large financial loss off the field, though Laidlaw had earlier denied it was in the region of $400,000, as had been speculated.
Laidlaw said ultimately it would be up to the Highlanders board to decide which options suggested by Clark would be followed up.
"Roger will be making recommendations but the board will have to decide on what gets done. Of course, price will come into it. You've got to determine whether it will work and whether you can fund it."
Laidlaw said it would not be easy to turn fortunes around but he was confident it could be done. He hoped to have the plan finalised by mid-August when Clark finishes his secondment.
He would not make any comment on the future of Moore. Moore was employed by the New Zealand Rugby Union, and it would make comment on the coach, Laidlaw said.
Part of the plan was to contract players, as the Super 14 franchises switch to directly contracting players.
The move could benefit the Highlanders as they have more money to spend but Highlanders chief executive Richard Reid said it was complicated with players sitting on different contracts.
Some players had contracts with just provincial unions, others had to take into account deals with the NZRU, while still others had longer deals.
Reid said it was more complicated than last year, and was a lengthy process. He could not say how many players were returning to the Highlanders next year.
Crucial players the franchise needs to sign next year include loose forward Adam Thomson, fullback Israel Dagg and lock Tom Donnelly.
Reid said talks with players were continuing "but we're not a long way away from guys making up their mind."
