Choosing an MBA Program

1
HBS Executive Education Organizing Analyzing
Data to Enable Smart Planning
NCCI Conference March 27, 2006
2
Goals for todays discussion

• Describe what created our need for improvements
• Share our experience in continuously improving
  the
• Quality of our data
• Use of data as a management tool
• Share an approach of relentless incrementalism
  
• An approach that may work for you to drive
  improvements in your department
• Youre in a new role
• Same role, but needs have changed
• Same role, but other team members have changed
• New leadership
• Provoke questions discussion!

Phrase coined by John Curry, EDUCAUSE Review,
March/April 2002
3
Exec Ed is a mid-size business within a
non-profit institution

• HBS Exec Ed
• Began Educating officers for World War II
• Annual Revenue 80M
• Staff 100 administrative staff
• Programs From 2 days to 9 weeks
• 60 open enrollment
• 66 for custom clients
• Customers
• Approx. 8,100 participants (students)
• From 102 countries
• Systems
• Oracle financials
• Hyperion Pillar budgeting
• Home-grown customer dB (100k records)

4
Due to growth, we needed a more formalized
approach

• 2.5 times the number of programs as in 1997
• Strong, increasing competition
• Margins decreasing
• More mission-based programs
• More international programs
• Crippled by multiple historical databases

5
Overview Continuous, persistent efforts

• Understand
• As-is

• Prototype

• Broaden
• Polish

• Institution-alize

Support Decision-Making. Planning, and Strategy

• Build
• Under-standing, Vision,
• Goals
• Internal Needs
• Ideas from outside

• PLs
• Monthly data
• Proposed acctg changes (in Excel not G/L)
• Budget format
• Budget templates
• Key drivers for analysis

• Hyperion Reports
• Make acctg changes in G/L
• Restate prior years
• Load into budget system

• Business processes
• Planning
• Data Structure
• Staffing, skills
• Technology
• Culture

• Analytics
• Price or cost modeling
• Dashboards
• New technology investments

Management Approach

• Use the machine take advantage of existing
  committees, processes, deadlines
• Build, support ownership

• High transparency
• Prompt ideas, nurture a culture change, energize
  the team, communicate benefits

6
Getting started Understand and maintain the
financial structure

• Getting the House in Order Checklist
• Dive very deep into every process or account
  steadily over time
• Take stock of data entry points, reports, and
  audiences
• Assess technology capabilities
• Review databases
• Link related databases using account codes
• Ensure perfectly consistent definitions for
  common fields
• Establish basic data integrity and control
• Does not necessarily mean centralizing the data
  entry
• Establish operational ownership and
  accountability
• Train, re-train personnel who do direct data
  entry
• Rationalize and publicize the chart of accounts
• Do centralize data management reporting
• Close obsolete account codes
• Publicize the accounting structure
• Use professional tools for reporting

7
What we focused on.Financial vision and goals

• The basics
• Quick, clear reporting based on good data
• Synchronized databases
• Useful categories
• Effective, proper controls
• Management information
• Profit loss understanding of each program
• Reasonability tests, scenarios
• Reports, dashboards
• Longer term financial projections
• Culture of transparency ownership

8
Build understanding a vision for financial
management

• Interview audience and owners - make the process
  inclusive
• What reports do you dream about?
• What would you like to see?
• What would make life easier?
• How should we be managing? What tools are
  needed?
• Use technology and outside experts to provoke
  change
• Vendor Demos
• OLAP Online Analytical Processing tools
• Hyperion Reports module, Planning module
• Leverage related systems implementations
• iRM Intelliworks Relationship Manager
• Use prototypes
• Introduce budget templates
• Mock up account coding changes
• Mock up reporting structures in Excel use them!

9
Management approach Base efforts on routine,
familiar schedules responsibilities

• Existing committees, processes, deadlines,
  reporting
• Budget process, quarterly reporting, faculty
  reporting, deans reports
• Increase transparency
• Develop an inclusive, visible, and fair process
• Involve parties in decision-making and processes
• Internal ? semi-public ? public use of data
• Make the data accessible public within the
  whole department
• Slowly, initiate sharing outside the department
  as well
• Nurture ownership
• Individuals present results regularly to peers
  and to management
• Take advantage of turnover New eyes, new
  energy, new skills
• Its all about provoking and nurturing a cultural
  change

10
Staff resources and training

• Prior experience matters
• Database skills
• Financial, accounting management
• Project management, systems thinking skills
• Use highly skilled temps
• Can be episodic as time permits
• Long-term but low-volume commitment
• Train employees and follow up!
• Group settings helps to build commitment
  ensure accountability
• 1-on-1 ensures understanding
• Iterative and inclusive training process ensures
  appropriateness of and support for the changes
• Leverage expertise from other parts of the
  university

11
Foundations to financial improvement efforts

• Born out of necessity
• Substantial growth
• Consolidation of 2 departments (open enrollment
  programs and custom programs)
• New system implementation
• New leadership
• Strong understanding of current structure
• Perform basic maintenance - grab the
  low-hanging fruit
• Establish basic data integrity and control
• Clear vision for the future
• Vendor demos to draw out and nurture ideas
• Use prototypes
• Include users in the development
• Iterative and inclusive process and careful
  change management
• Leverage existing practices and familiar forums
• Establish clear ownership
• Training and follow up
• The right people
• Prior experience matters
• Highly skilled temps

12
Using good data to support planning

• Plan for the future
• Three year plans
• Strategic dashboard

• Live in the present
• Operational, management dashboard

• Learn from the past
• Routine financial reports

13
3-year planning efforts

• Comprehensive forward-looking strategy
• The budget evolved from planning next year to
  3-years

14
Determine core management info needed to run the
department
15
Dont perfect it just start! Then iterate.
16
A glimpse at the futureBroaden polish

• Trend reporting
• Fully loaded PLs
• Evolving and iterative strategic plans
• Projections and scenarios
• Pricing strategy
• Analysis of growth factors and potential
• Additional technology investments