• Do you rely upon a unified management and decision-making system?
• How well are your programs and budgets aligned with your organization’s strategic objectives?
• How well do users identify and track the outcomes and targets of their programs according to the strategic objectives?
• Can stakeholders easily see the actual progress vs. planned?
• How easily do your operations adapt to changes in the strategic framework?

HOLZER & Associates Ltd is able to show you how combining the right management approaches with the right software solutions will ensure a trustworthy management system. Contact us and learn about a real example of a best-in-class Results-Based Management initiative for a nonprofit organization.

PURPOSE Results-based management has become important because both Member States and the management of the United Nations want to have a more effective United Nations that is able to respond to new demands within the limits of resource constraints. And both want to be able to demonstrate this. Its purpose is to shift managerial and administrative emphasis from a process-focused approach to one based on performance and results (outcomes). The premise is that if organizations plan in terms of the results they expect to achieve and then verify that they have achieved them, resources will be used effectively and public support will be maintained. A key element is programme performance assessment, which can be defined as determining whether expected accomplishments were obtained and why or why not.

The past decade or so has seen an increased emphasis on results in the United Nations development system. This emphasis on results is part of the broader United Nations reform agenda that seeks to improve coherence of the United Nations system, its effectiveness and its accountability. Results-based management (RBM) has been part of the United Nations reform agenda for well over a decade. Since the 2007 Triennial Comprehensive Policy Review (TCPR), there have been increased efforts on the part of the United Nations development system to enhance results-based management within individual agencies and at the country level, through the UNDAF, as one of its five programming principles. The application of results-based management in the development field has gained currency and national governments and public institutions increasingly are adopting this approach. Further impetus for improving results-based management comes from demands from both programme and donor countries for the United Nations development system to demonstrate that it is achieving its objectives, that it does so efficiently and that its activities are relevant to the needs and priorities of programme countries and contribute to improved and sustainable development outcomes.

HISTORY

The United Nations began to implement results-based management through the programme budget process.  After 1998, the Organization began its transition to a results-based budget.  Results-based budgeting was defined in terms of a process in which programme formulation revolves around a set of predefined objectives and expected accomplishments.  These expected accomplishments justify the resource requirements to produce the outputs required to achieve such results. Finally, actual performance in achieving results is measured by objective performance indicators.

IN PRACTICE

In practice in the UN, the cycle is defined by specific required documents. On a high level plan everything starts with a five-year mid-term strategic plan (MTSP). This one consists in defining the whole set of Strategic Outcomes and Strategic Outcome Indicators. This step requires the involvement of and the approval by State members. The programming process in itself begins with the establishment of a two-year strategic framework which becomes the basis for defining the biennial programme budget. Once that is approved, each programme prepares an annual work plan, which is monitored on a continuous basis by programme managers. Oversight monitoring is done internally at the 12- and 18-month stages as well as at the end of the biennium for reporting to Member States. Self-evaluation should take place as needed, but is essential at the 18-month stage of the biennium so that it can influence the preparation of the strategic framework for the next cycle.

OBJECTIVE

The highest level concept in RBM as practiced in the United Nations is the objective. All work is addressed toward achieving an objective. Well-defined objectives have two characteristics: they are time limited and they describe the situation that should be observed at the end of the time period. The key to good objectives is that they specify an observable end-state. As such, they are neither vague nor a projection of activities. The achievement of well-defined objectives can be planned. Badly defined objectives are essentially meaningless.

Objectives also are defined in terms of the needs of end-users. Who these end-users are will be defined shortly.

IMPACT

The term impact is used in many contexts. However, in the international context, it refers to the changes that have occurred in the situation of a beneficiary population as a result of achieving an objective. Thus, for most United Nations programmes, impact is the overall effect of accomplishing specific results. It is useful to bear this in mind, both in planning and in evaluating programmes.

OUTCOME

The key concept in results-based management is the “expected accomplishment” or desired outcome. Like an objective, it is an end-state, something that can be seen at a particular point in time. It is a change that can be observed to have taken place. It is something that has to happen if an objective is to be achieved. And, it is something that can be shown to have happened as a consequence of producing an output. However, it is not something that is under the direct control of a programme. A programme’s outputs can -- and should -- influence an outcome, but cannot guarantee that the outcome will occur. The presumption is that well-formulated programmes, with realistic expected accomplishments, will be able to make those outcomes happen.

OUTPUTS

The lowest level result in the RBM conceptual structure is the output. In United Nations usage these are the products or services delivered by a subprogramme in order to induce outcomes. The outputs are produced by the activities. Outputs are reported at the subprogramme level. They can include such tangibles as reports, publications, training courses, advisory missions, and meeting sessions serviced. Specific goods and services produced by the programme. Outputs can also represent changes in skills or abilities or capacities of individuals or institutions, resulting from the completion of activities within a development intervention within the control of the organization.

ACTIVITY

Activity is a simpler concept. It is the action taken to produce outputs. It can include such things as doing research, organizing meetings, running training courses, reviewing the resumes of candidates.

INPUTS

Inputs are the objects of expenditure that are used to undertake activities. They include personnel, consultants, travel, equipment and the like.

EXTERNAL FACTORS

External factors should be considered at both the planning and evaluation stages. The extent of their effect should be assessed when an expected accomplishment is not fully realized. External factors should not be cited as an ‘excuse’ for non-performance.

INDICATORS

In the logical framework, each of the results should have a corresponding indicator of achievement. In practice, the United Nations does not develop indicators of achievement for the objectives. The focus of achievement is on the expected accomplishment. A significant effort has been invested in defining indicators that will show whether expected accomplishments have actually taken place. These indicators, once they have been adopted by the Member States, constitute the commitments to which the programmes will be held accountable.

RESULT

The output, outcome or impact (intended or unintended, positive and/or negative) of a development intervention.

BENCHMARKS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF RESULTS-BASED MANAGEMENT

1.  A clear conceptual framework for results-based management exists as a broad management strategy
2. The respective responsibilities of the organization’s main parties are clearly defined
3.  Long-term objectives have been clearly formulated for the organization
4.  The organization’s programmes are well aligned with its long-term objectives
5. The organization’s resources are well aligned with its long-term objectives
6. An effective performance monitoring system is in place
7. Evaluation findings are used effectively
8. Results-based management is effectively internalized throughout the organization
9. A knowledge management strategy is developed to support results-based management

Matching IT with a business’ risk profile moves IT back into the business Once a full picture of the IT estate has been built along with the dependencies between IT and the data centre facility, better advice can be provided into the business based on matching the available options to the business’ own risk profile. This way, IT becomes a trusted advisor to the business where facilitation is now key – rather than a constraint to the business where fear of change makes the IT department or facilities management far more likely to say “No” than “These are the options”. 

Granular cost models enable the business to make informed decisions With budgets under severe pressure not only at the IT level but all the way through the business, organisations have to be able to take decisions based on a whole set of variables. Only through the provision of information based on highly granular data can IT ensure that what it is advising the business can be discussed sensibly and the correct final decision reached.

To respond to the business’ needs, IT has to move towards a far more dynamic and meaningful means of predicting the impact and cost of change and in advising the business on which technologies and technological approaches make the best sense to match the business’ needs and fit within its risk profile.

With around 70% of an average IT budget being spent on maintaining existing systems, it is obvious that savings can be made. However, without a full knowledge of the technical and business impacts that any change will create, the impetus for change tends to be strangled by the inertia of the perception of safety in just continuing as things are. This then creates a spiral of problems for the business – strategic aims cannot be maintained within the timescales dictated by the market, leading to losses to competitors who are more nimble and fleet of foot in the market. Such losses mean that the business has to look to further savings, and IT can only maintain its position for so long.

By providing a set of alternatives to the business, all couched within terms of value, cost and risk, IT provides a full service to the business. Rather than being seen as constraint to the business, IT becomes a true facilitator. The business is back in control, IT makes sure that it is has the competitiveness that its business strategy demands.

Predictive modelling is the only way that this can be carried out effectively.

I had the pleasure to work with Fabrice Holzer on our evaluation of our planning solution. He was a pleasure to work with, extremely personable, very professional, and a tough but amicable negotiator. He has a very good knowledge of the business intelligences/reporting sector, and was able to provide useful, constructive input to help us evaluate the tools and the options we had, and was particularly knowledgeable on EPM stack components and Business Intelligence tools. He provided a very good model for the implementation, with well-thought out fit gap analysis as the starting point to ensure we had covered all the issues upfront and had a sound strategy for the project. His project management skills were strong, good management of the team, on time delivery and good management of the customer!

Helen Cianci, Group Systems and Processes Manager at TEMENOS

Fabrice Holzer did an excellent job on our recent financial consolidation programs, he accompanied us in the selection of the right partner. Fabrice and his team are detail oriented, innovative and careful perfectionists. They have extensive knowledge, have open-minded approach and denote a full understanding of the whole EPM/BI technology Stack and demonstrated a strong experience in areas such as program, portfolio and project management !

Marco Samarati, Global Consolidation Supervisor at SUNSTAR Headquarters

Our Advisory Board is comprised of some of the EMEA’s foremost BI and CPM experts and practioners handpicked for their sector and functional expertise. They regularly contribute thought-leadership via their editorial input into our portal, reports and surveys and help to ensure that our consultants are on the cutting edge of the latest trends emerging in the marketplace.

Having had the opportunity to experience performance management both as consultants as well as from various roles within the finance & control community, HOLZER & Associates Ltd consultants have developed an all-round and industry- and software vendor independent view on the topic. This has culminated in a deep understanding of BI/DWH/CPM concepts and the way to utilize them in a corporation so that the various stakeholder requirements fit seamlessly together. Passion for the BI/CPM discipline and a continuous drive for innovation are recurring elements in H&Associates’ daily practice.

With predictive analytics, marketing departments can analyze the success of past marketing campaigns to identify areas in need of improvement based on prior results. They can also assess the viability of new marketing venues, perform “what if” scenarios to evaluate potential changes to budget allocations or modifications to creative content, and measure each campaign’s likely impact on the sales pipeline.

Understanding the Data

A thorough collection and exploration of the data should be performed to allow those building the application to get familiar with the information at hand, so they can identify any quality problems, glean initial insights, or detect relevant subsets that can be used to form hypotheses suggested by the experts for hidden information. This also ensures that the available data will address the business objective.

Preparing the Data

To get data ready, IT organizations must select tables, records, and attributes from various sales and marketing systems; transform, merge, aggregate, derive, sample, and weight, when required; and then cleanse and enhance the data to ensure optimum results precision. These steps may often need to be performed multiple times to make it truly ready for the modeling tool.

Modeling

Once the information has been prepared, various modeling techniques should be selected and applied, with parameters calibrated to optimal values. For example, application developers can choose regression, decision trees, or other modeling methods. Choosing a modeling technique should be done according to the underlying characteristics of the data, or the desired form of the model for scoring. In other words, some techniques may explain the underlying patterns in data better than others; therefore, the outcomes of various modeling methods must be compared. In addition, a decision tree would be used if it were deemed important to have a set of rules as the scoring model, which are very easy to interpret. Several techniques can be applied to the same scenario to produce results from multiple perspectives.

Evaluation

Thorough assessments should be conducted from two unique perspectives. A technical, databased approach should be performed by statisticians, while a business approach gathers feedback from business issue owners and end users. These will often lead to changes in the model. But while the technical/data evaluation is important, it should not be so stringent that it significantly delays implementation and use of the model. The business value of the model should be the primary test.

Turning Results Into Action

Most importantly, companies must be able to transform the results of modeling efforts into actionable insight that sales and marketing professionals can apply to enhance planning and decision-making. The insight provided by predictive analysis initiatives must be shared with key stakeholders across the entire sales and marketing landscape – including any third-parties that may be involved, such as consultants and advertising agencies – to create an analyticsdriven culture.

Delivering Predictions to Business Users

By incorporating models into dashboard and reporting environments, organizations can ensure that the results are readily accessible to not just marketing analysts, but all sales and marketing professionals, whenever they need them. To maximize usability and value, these results must be presented in an intuitive way, such as a list of target customers who are most likely to participate in certain cross-sell offers, or a list of high-value clients with a high likelihood of churn who require specialized attention to ensure loyalty.

Performing “What If” Analysis

Sales and marketing strategies must shift frequently to keep pace with rapidly changing customer and market demands. To deliver the most advantage to sales and marketing departments, predictive analytics applications must enable the analysis of “what if” scenarios. This will allow professionals to understand the potential impacts of price adjustments or discounts, alterations to product positioning or messaging, and other changes – before they are implemented.

Feeding Downstream Systems

Even further value can be derived from the results of predictive models when they are dynamically shared with other applications and systems. For example, the results of proposed content changes for an e-mail can be automatically fed to a campaign management system, while the estimated impact of discounts can be sent directly to pricing systems to enable automated adjustments.

As a leading consultancy, providing our clients with sound recommendations and analysis in area such as Enterprise Architecture, Corporate Performance Management and Business Intelligence/Warehousing, addressing services to global industry as well as SMEs, HOLZER & Associates Ltd is privileged to magnetize first class analysts and consultants bringing together significant knowledge and experience in any of their specific area of expertise. Our reputation of independence from both commercial interests and dogmatic approach means for our clients that our people will provide sound advice and tough analysis, unconstrained by concession. This definitely inspires our consultants, differentiates us, and provides the greatest value to our clients in a field which is often suspected to confuse more than to clarify.

Please refer to our current openings below to learn of career opportunities in your field. If you are interested or if you know anybody that would be interested in one of the openings, do not hesitate to contact our HR department in order to obtain a more detailed job description. You can obviously apply directly on our website:

OPEN VACANCIES

HYPERION PLANNING CONSULTANT(S)

• Three to five years’ experience in providing solutions with Hyperion Planning
• Completion of three to five full lifecycle Hyperion Planning implementations in a lead role.
• Five to eight years of hands on experience with financial planning, forecasting and reporting implementations.
• Five to eight years financial reporting and accounting functional experience
• Five plus years’ experience leading financial planning and reporting implementations across all phases of the project lifecycle (requirements gathering, solution design and configuration, implementation, testing and change management
• Previous consulting experience
• Good client presence
• Excellent written and spoken communication skills in English and French (any other languages, highly appreciated)
• Bachelor’s degree in finance or econometrics required

Functional Skills

• Analytical skills, problem solving ability
• System design and solution architecture experience
• Dimensional data modeling and data sourcing
• Excellent verbal and non-verbal communication
• Ability and desire to mentor/coach others in a team environment

Travel

• Regular and expeditious travel throughout EMEA and occasionally overseas (in the US)  is required to meet client needs and timetables
• Available to be stationed at and work from an out-of-town client site for a reduced period of time 

Other

• HOLZER & Associates Ltd offers excellent benefits and career growth to all employees!
• HOLZER & Associates Ltd is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V

Job Type: Standard

Primary Location: CH (Geneva Area)

Global Region: EMEA & Americas

Organization: HOLZER & Associates Ltd

Virtual Office: To Be Determined

We cover issues ranging from Data Warehousing to Business Analytics, Corporate Performance Management, Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting, Metrics & KPIs, Open Source, SOA, Business Process Management, Data Quality and Master Data Management.

The expertise is ours; the advantage is everyone’s - Precision and certainty for decision making

The ability to correctly size and select all BI/CPM components right from the start leads to greater efficiency in the end. The same is true concerning the suppliers selection. Everything and everyone work better because everything and everyone are made to work together.

Performance and reliability for contractors

High-quality solutions made for years of service protect performance levels and reputations. Having one trustworthy advisor for all vital areas of a BI/CPM Architecture helps keep the project organized and well managed throughout the process.

Speed and simplicity for service providers and owners

An integrated range of components designed for easy connection and integration makes implementation faster and more straightforward. The knowledge that each component is made to work harmoniously with the overall system ensures your peace of mind and a reduction, if not eradication, of implementation downtime. 

Efficiency and comfort for owners & stakeholders

Increasing a BI/CPM Architecture’s efficiency increases its monetary value and the respect stakeholders have for it. By optimizing processes and data quality it not only means extra comfort but also a reduction in overall downtime, thus resulting in increased revenue.

Our Advisory Board is comprised of some of the EMEA’s foremost BI and CPM experts and practioners handpicked for their sector and functional expertise. They regularly contribute thought-leadership via their editorial input into our portal, reports and surveys and help to ensure that our consultants are on the cutting edge of the latest trends emerging in the marketplace.

Having had the opportunity to experience performance management both as consultants as well as from various roles within the finance & control community, HOLZER & Associates Ltd consultants have developed an all-round and industry- and software vendor independent view on the topic. This has culminated in a deep understanding of BI/DWH/CPM concepts and the way to utilize them in a corporation so that the various stakeholder requirements fit seamlessly together. Passion for the BI/CPM discipline and a continuous drive for innovation are recurring elements in HOLZER & Associates’ daily practice.