Some agencies think that the plans to score well on the PMA is a strategy in itself. While other agencies think that having a budget is a portfolio strategy (i.e. rollup of many OMB 300s), and some agencies use Enterprise Architectures (and transition plans) as their strategy. (I name no names for a reason).
Nonetheless, setting strategic direction is not just a one time or annual exercise. There is the ongoin monitoring, governing, and the associated course corrections that come with understanding the feedback recieved from performance measurement systems. Hopefully, this first step of appointing performance improvement officers will come with a more standard approach to monitoring and measuring performance on a project, program, department and agency level.
FROM GOVERNMENT EXECUTIVE:
President Bush has issued an executive order requiring heads of federal agencies to set clear annual goals, lay out specific plans for achieving them, and designate "performance improvement officers" to assess progress toward meeting the goals and report on it to the public. With the order, issued Tuesday and detailed at a press briefing today, the Bush administration hopes to establish a lasting legacy for its management improvement agenda.
The performance improvement officers will be required to oversee agencies' "strategic plans, annual performance plans and annual performance reports as required by law," the order states. The officers also will review the goals of agency programs to determine if they are "sufficiently aggressive toward full achievement of the purposes of the program," and "realistic in light of authority and resources assigned to the specified agency personnel."
"The goal is greater effectiveness during this administration and beyond," said Clay Johnson, deputy director for management at the Office of Management and Budget.
Robert Shea, OMB's associate director for management, said the position of performance improvement officer could be assigned to a career employee in order to establish continuity through the next administration, although a final decision has not been made. If a political appointee is named to the role, Shea said, there must be a career official in place that is capable of carrying on the initiative during the next administration.
The full article can be read here: Bush orders agencies to appoint 'performance improvement officers' (11/14/07) -- www.GovernmentExecutive.com
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families
This article makes one pause and take stock. Why is it that such a large portion of middle class black folk are NOT doing as well as their parents? It seems almost unAmerican. This article unfortunately doesn't answer that question. But some hypothoses may touch on affirmative action roll backs, the lack of cultural support of African Americans outside the church (ie. declining membership in NAACP), or the continued fragmentation of society in general (not just black society).
Certainly the article is worth looking at. Clearly a strategy for dealing with this is necessary and something beyond the 'rising tide raises all boats' theory.
Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families
Certainly the article is worth looking at. Clearly a strategy for dealing with this is necessary and something beyond the 'rising tide raises all boats' theory.
Middle-Class Dream Eludes African American Families
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Research Findings Will Help Companies Leverage Compliance to Optimize Shareholder Value
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was introduced, the compliance strategy for many companies was simply to apply a short-term fix and meet requirements. Five years later, more and more companies are seeking ways to turn compliance into a competitive advantage. Jefferson Wells, a rapidly growing, global provider of accounting and finance-related services, was the Research Champion for a cutting-edge APQC research study that uncovered several key initiatives that will help companies leverage compliance investments into improved business performance and shareholder value.
Today, Jefferson Wells is prereleasing the results of the research study titled, “Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value.” The APQC best practices report includes details of several key initiatives that help companies leverage compliance into a strategic advantage and is now available for download from the Jefferson Wells Web site at www.jeffersonwells.com.
“Having performed more than 4,000 Sarbanes-Oxley engagements for our clients, our Jefferson Wells team was perfectly positioned to translate our SOX expertise into valuable quantitative and qualitative input for the research study,” said Rebecca Albarelli, solutions director of finance operations for Jefferson Wells. “It has been our experience that the companies that take full advantage of their compliance efforts have reduced costs, improved competitiveness, increased process efficiency and reduced overall business risk. It’s great to see this research study validate our own findings.”
As the Research Champion in the APQC study, Jefferson Wells worked with compliance leaders from the study’s best-practice partners: Intel, Marathon Oil, Microsoft and WellPoint. These successful, multi-billion dollar companies served as examples of companies that recognized early on that SOX could yield benefits beyond compliance. This research uncovered several initiatives that leading companies implemented to leverage compliance into a competitive advantage. Below are eight of the key initiatives that Jefferson Wells and APQC recommend companies implement. More details about these initiatives and the other key findings are available in the full research report.
8 Key Initiatives to Leverage Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
1. Become an Early Adopter. By not delaying compliance, companies can better leverage resources, implement continuous process improvements and develop enterprise risk management methodology.
2. Have an Opportunistic Approach. By approaching SOX as a broader business opportunity to improve processes rather than an ad hoc tactical problem, organizations can manage risk holistically across the organization and improve compliance and business performance.
3. Integrate Processes. Rather than simply having an “audit cop,” companies should bring governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) together to create a strategic partnership within the organization that will create a sustainable process.
4. Account for Change. By embedding SOX into the business plan, companies will ensure compliance programs are sustainable and can continuously evolve with changing business requirements.
5. Empower Process Owners. Approaching compliance as a business process will empower process owners to ensure they play a key role in the compliance process and understand how it fits into the overall business plan.
6. Identify Annual Metrics. As with any business process, identifying annual metrics and particularly significant cost drivers will help the organization ensure the compliance process is on track.
7. Utilize a Variety of Methodologies. To successfully leverage compliance for ongoing process improvements, companies should consider Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Performance Improvement, Benchmarking and Knowledge Management methodologies.
8. Realign Roles and Responsibilities. Define the role of each individual and ensure responsibilities are in line with companywide processes.
“While many organizations focus on the requirement to be SOX compliant, this APQC research reveals that best-practice organizations not only improved the compliance process but took a leadership role in the organization, thereby leveraging and enhancing their roles as strategic business partners rather than mere ‘compliance police’,” said Sebastian Francis, market developer, APQC.
Jefferson Wells also will participate in several APQC-sponsored Webinars. Details on dates, times and registration will be posted on the Jefferson Wells Web site, www.jeffersonwells.com, as they become available.
Jefferson Wells, APQC Research Uncovers Key Initiatives That Turn Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
Research Findings Will Help Companies Leverage Compliance to Optimize Shareholder Value
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) was introduced, the compliance strategy for many companies was simply to apply a short-term fix and meet requirements. Five years later, more and more companies are seeking ways to turn compliance into a competitive advantage. Jefferson Wells, a rapidly growing, global provider of accounting and finance-related services, was the Research Champion for a cutting-edge APQC research study that uncovered several key initiatives that will help companies leverage compliance investments into improved business performance and shareholder value.
Today, Jefferson Wells is prereleasing the results of the research study titled, “Leveraging SOX to Optimize Shareholder Value.” The APQC best practices report includes details of several key initiatives that help companies leverage compliance into a strategic advantage and is now available for download from the Jefferson Wells Web site at www.jeffersonwells.com.
“Having performed more than 4,000 Sarbanes-Oxley engagements for our clients, our Jefferson Wells team was perfectly positioned to translate our SOX expertise into valuable quantitative and qualitative input for the research study,” said Rebecca Albarelli, solutions director of finance operations for Jefferson Wells. “It has been our experience that the companies that take full advantage of their compliance efforts have reduced costs, improved competitiveness, increased process efficiency and reduced overall business risk. It’s great to see this research study validate our own findings.”
As the Research Champion in the APQC study, Jefferson Wells worked with compliance leaders from the study’s best-practice partners: Intel, Marathon Oil, Microsoft and WellPoint. These successful, multi-billion dollar companies served as examples of companies that recognized early on that SOX could yield benefits beyond compliance. This research uncovered several initiatives that leading companies implemented to leverage compliance into a competitive advantage. Below are eight of the key initiatives that Jefferson Wells and APQC recommend companies implement. More details about these initiatives and the other key findings are available in the full research report.
8 Key Initiatives to Leverage Compliance into a Strategic Advantage
1. Become an Early Adopter. By not delaying compliance, companies can better leverage resources, implement continuous process improvements and develop enterprise risk management methodology.
2. Have an Opportunistic Approach. By approaching SOX as a broader business opportunity to improve processes rather than an ad hoc tactical problem, organizations can manage risk holistically across the organization and improve compliance and business performance.
3. Integrate Processes. Rather than simply having an “audit cop,” companies should bring governance, risk management and compliance (GRC) together to create a strategic partnership within the organization that will create a sustainable process.
4. Account for Change. By embedding SOX into the business plan, companies will ensure compliance programs are sustainable and can continuously evolve with changing business requirements.
5. Empower Process Owners. Approaching compliance as a business process will empower process owners to ensure they play a key role in the compliance process and understand how it fits into the overall business plan.
6. Identify Annual Metrics. As with any business process, identifying annual metrics and particularly significant cost drivers will help the organization ensure the compliance process is on track.
7. Utilize a Variety of Methodologies. To successfully leverage compliance for ongoing process improvements, companies should consider Business Process Management, Total Quality Management, Performance Improvement, Benchmarking and Knowledge Management methodologies.
8. Realign Roles and Responsibilities. Define the role of each individual and ensure responsibilities are in line with companywide processes.
“While many organizations focus on the requirement to be SOX compliant, this APQC research reveals that best-practice organizations not only improved the compliance process but took a leadership role in the organization, thereby leveraging and enhancing their roles as strategic business partners rather than mere ‘compliance police’,” said Sebastian Francis, market developer, APQC.
Jefferson Wells also will participate in several APQC-sponsored Webinars. Details on dates, times and registration will be posted on the Jefferson Wells Web site, www.jeffersonwells.com, as they become available.
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