Results Report
January, 2008
Latin America and Caribbean Process Enabler
A successful creation of increasingly higher value levels for our constituents requires a combination of vision, firm focus on our customers and their customers’ needs, and excellence in the execution. A key driver in strengthening our organizational execution capabilities is the ability to effectively streamline and integrate internal administrative processes, facilitate compliance, achieve better turnaround times, improve controls, accelerate time-to-market delivery and ensure business continuity. LAC Process Enabler encompasses all these attributes. Richard Hartzell Latin America and Caribbean, President
LAC Process Enabler Overview
The LAC region undertook the task to perform a deep and integrated review of some of the most recurrent administrative processes in order to strengthen organizational capabilities across the region. Under this initiative, focus was provided to three important sets of processes, Contracts, Purchasing and Deals (Member Business Agreements), thus creating the LAC Process Enabler. In essence, LAC Process Enabler is a regional initiative implemented to develop bridges between MasterCard Corporate Policies and LAC Business Units to facilitate compliance, achieve better turnaround time, improve controls, time-to-market and business continuity without challenging current corporate policies. LAC Process Enabler looked for opportunities to facilitate the integration of our new corporate realities (which include compliance with a body of interrelated corporate policies and regulation, new stakeholders, etc.), our day-to-day activities and business responsibilities, taking into account the unique restrictions that differentiate the LAC region. These restrictions are geographical dispersion of our offices, different legal entities and regulatory environments, language barriers, headcount limitations, etc.
Several actions were taken in order to achieve the above mentioned goals: o A group of consultants was hired to map the former processes and prepare documentation to help MasterCard identify primary challenges. o 130 interviews in 7 different countries were held with LAC staff where problems and improvement opportunities were indicated by LAC employees. o A multidisciplinary team integrated by 20 employees, representing all LAC sub regions, including the Finance and Law Departments, met for four days in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, to provide follow up of the documentation presented by the consultants as well as to analyze, discuss and prioritize potential solutions. o The main accomplishments obtained in Playa del Carmen were the identification and the development of 21 action plans which address some of the concerns underscored by employees and management throughout the region. o As a result of the meeting in Playa del Carmen a multidisciplinary team was created to oversee and implement the agreed upon action plans. Implementation started in May 2006 and has continued during the first three quarters of 2007.
This document summarizes the achievements attained through the LAC Process Enabler initiatives. It provides an account of tangible and measurable results obtained after the implementation of the action plans and describes key opportunities to be addressed.
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Results: Contracts process section Federico Caivano
Project Manager
Malvina Longoria Champion
Results: Contracts process section Initiatives agreed upon in the Contracts process section: 6 Fully delivered initiatives: 6 (100%) Estimated present value of dollars savings for the LAC region: $1,082,106 US dollar Estimated time savings per year: 2,207 hours/year
Initiative
Status Result
Qualitative results
Quantitative results Savings Time savings (US Dollars) per year (Hours)
Empower Country Finance Directors to approve contract approval forms.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$55,690
152
Simplification of the contract drafting approval process in the Brazil office.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$19,460
56
Provide country managers with the power of attorney to execute contracts.
Fully delivered
Negative (No - Go)
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$835,859
1,770
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$153,097
230
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
Replace current manual contract approval form (CAF) with an electronic web based tool (CAR). Evaluate the likelihood of issuing Purchase Orders under $10,000 US dollar with terms and conditions. Improve contract templates for the region.
Total
None
No baseline
$1,082,106
2,207
Source: Estimates as documented according to each business case. Note: In some cases result quantifications were limited due to the lack of statistics or historical data for comparison purposes. Readers are encouraged to review the list of “measurable and tangible results� in the initiatives’ description.
Santiago Martinez Initiative Leader Review: A potential opportunity to simplify the Contract Approval Process was identified by eliminating the LAC Controller’s signature in all CAFs. The Finance Department had originally assessed the need to have the LAC Controller’s signature in all Contract Approval Forms (CAF) with a value above $10,000 US.
Outcome: Effective September 19, 2006 only contracts with a value over $75,000 US require the LAC Controller’s approval. All other contracts, $75,000 US or less, only require the Country Finance Director’s approval to obtain the Purchase Order and the contract. Additionally, it was agreed upon that the Accounting treatment required for all contracts would be prepared by the Country Finance Department. A copy of the fully approved Oracle purchase requisition (disclosing the Oracle string, the approval workflow, the name of the vendor and the PR number), is now required and must be included in every Contract Approval Requisition.
Action plan 1 Empower Country Finance Directors to approve contract approval forms without additional LAC Controller validation.
Tangible and measurable results The measure simplifies 82% of all purchasing transactions carried out on a yearly basis in the region. The average response time to get the Contract Approval Form fully approved was reduced in 2.04 days. The net present dollar savings are $55,690 US and include: a) at least 76 working hours saved for the LAC Controller on an annual basis; b) at least 76 working hours saved for contract sponsors across LAC region.
Paulo Pinotti Initiative Leader Review: This initiative was undertaken so that the Contract Drafting Approval Process in the Brazil Office would match the one used in the rest of the LAC region where Legal Counsels approve the drafts of contracts via email before the Contract Approval Form (CAF) signature process begins.
Outcome: Effective August 1st, 2006 the authorization of contracts will be granted via email, before the CAFs signature process begins, as in the rest of the LAC region.
Action plan 2 Simplification of the contract drafting approval process in the Brazil office.
Tangible and measurable results The net present dollar savings are $19,460 US and include: a) at least 18.5 working hours saved by the local Legal Counsel on an annual basis; and b) at least 37 working hours saved by contract sponsors in the Brazil Office.
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Results: Contracts process section Malvina Longoria, Paulo Pinotti & Wes Rivel Initiative Leaders Review: Contract execution in the region represents a major challenge for all local offices when the signature needs to be provided by the regional office (Miami). A request was made to evaluate the feasibility of granting power of attorney to some Country Mangers in LAC to execute contracts locally on behalf of MasterCard International Incorporated. Currently, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela are the only local offices where contracts can be executed in situ, whereas Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Puerto Rico still need their contracts to be signed in Miami.
Outcome: The Legal and Finance Departments resolved that the existing local legislation (tax, labor, trade, etc.) in Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru and Puerto Rico have restrictions, restraining the offices of these countries from signing agreements as MasterCard International Incorporated Representatives or agents, given their current legal structure. These local offices can only sign on their own behalf, which unfortunately is not applicable, not allowing the proposal to enter in effect. Action plan 3 Provide country managers with the power of attorney to execute contracts when local legislation allows for the above.
Tangible and measurable results Although no positive conclusion was reached through this action plan to expedite the processing of contracts for these offices, it is important to underscore that: a) a professional, informed and serious evaluation was conducted to establish feasibility; and b) the result of the action plan does not limit the development of other creative approaches which could lead to the required time savings related to contract processing. Other alternatives should be considered and evaluated during the second phase of LAC Process Enabler.
Armando Huitr贸n & Gerardo Rodriguez Initiative Leaders Review: Contract Approvals represent a major challenge given the amount of authorizations required, geographic dispersion, the burden of shipping back and forth hard copies of support documentation, etc. For Vendor deals over $10,000 USD a Contract Approval Form (CAF) is required. A significant amount of efficiencies could be gained through the incorporation of an electronic tool to obtain the approvals.
Outcome: A web based electronic approval workflow tool for the LAC region was developed and fully implemented effective August 2007. The tool merged two requirements into one, namely the Contract Approval Form and the Electronic Top Sheet. The tool tracks the approval history and facilitates communication and the sharing of supporting documentation during the approval process. A tighter control of the environment which mitigates risks and strengthens accountability among users and approvers has also been achieved with the implementation of the new system. The tool will store all contract requisitions, approved contracts and supporting documentation, facilitating their retrieval later on. A module to manage and measure the overall efficiency of the process was also created which will provide a justification to implement future improvements. A second version of the tool has already been designed. It incorporates solutions to identified problems and provides an improved environment with new interfaces. The new version will be released during the first quarter of 2008.
Tangible and measurable results
Action plan 4 Replace current manual contract approval form (CAF) with an electronic tool to obtain approvals and notifications via internet.
In the pre-testing environment it has been estimated that a reduction of at least 10% of the time spent in the overall process should be achieved by implementing this tool. However, the results surpassed this expectation. During the first weeks after the implementation, we were able to observe that approval time frames have significantly been reduced in average across all LAC offices. Roughly 54% of all contract requisitions have been approved on average within a 3.5 working day timeframe. At least 1,770 working hours will be saved per year; 6,580 follow-up phone calls will no longer be necessary on an annual basis and 1,416 courier services per year will be eliminated generating dollar savings of $835 thousand US dollar for the region. A more controlled environment for the contract approval process.
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Malvina Longoria & Wes Rivel Initiative Leaders Review: Vendor quotes are currently being used as the written document where terms and conditions are established. These quotes provide an opportunity given they are not complete, or they do not properly mitigate potential risks. Incorporating a minimum set of terms and conditions in the purchase orders (PO) and using it as the written contract could facilitate and expedite small ticket purchases.
Outcome: Terms and conditions documents for the LAC region were reviewed and approved by LAC Law and Finance Departments. The documents will be shortly incorporated in the PO through the Oracle system. It is presumed that this initiative will be completed before the end of first quarter of 2008. Since POs are signed by the LAC Buyer, this will expedite processing these types of transactions saving the time it currently takes to some LAC offices to get the quote signed by the regional office.
Action plan 5 Evaluate the likelihood of issuing Purchase Orders with terms and conditions, to be used as the written agreement for purchases under $10,000 US dollar.
Tangible and measurable results The measure will reduce execution times and generate dollar savings of approximately 11% of all transactions carried out during the year (roughly 115 transactions) in those countries where there is not power of attorney to be signed on behalf of MasterCard International Incorporated. Dollar savings represent $153,097 in present value and time savings of 230 working hours per year. The risk mitigation for all transactions under $10,000 US dollar, which represent around 42% of all transactions, or 459 transactions per year.
Wes Rivel Initiative Leader Review: Opportunities were identified through the creation and maintenance of a database in Miami’s share drive containing authorized templates for contracts. Templates will reduce the amount of resources invested in the preparation of legal agreement drafts. In the case of Brazil, an additional improvement opportunity was identified to include a two columns format in the template where incorporating the Portuguese to English translation, would facilitate revisions, modifications and approvals.
Outcome: Templates were collected throughout the LAC region and distributed to business teams to get their feedback. Comments and opportunities were mapped and incorporated in the templates allowing us to obtain new updated versions. The use of templates has reduced, the Law Department’s average response time and enhanced the service provided to the contract sponsors. In the case of Brazil most of the templates (namely: vendor, purchase, standard sponsorship, NDAs and consulting agreements) are in dual column format (English and Portuguese), allowing for time savings during the obtention of internal and external agreements on the contract. The Law Department determined that placing templates on the shared drive and making them available for general use would be potentially disruptive of internal controls. Presently, templates are made available to business team/contract sponsors as needed on a case by case basis.
Tangible and measurable results The initiative should help reduce response times by the Law Department and enhance the services provided to contract sponsors, as well as contain costs associated to the engagement of external counsels. Action plan 6 Improve contract templates for the region.
It is expected a more controlled environment for the Contracts Process with the reduction of risk exposure by using a standard base document for initiatives with similar characteristics within a country. At present it has not been possible to quantify the impact, given there is no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
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Results: Purchasing process section Annabelle McDermot Project Manager
Wes Rivel
Champion
Results: Purchasing process section Initiatives agreed upon in the Purchasing process section: 8 Fully delivered initiatives: 6 (75%) Estimated present value dollar savings for the LAC region: $72,862 US dollars. Estimated time savings per year:128 working hours/year.
Initiative
Status Result
Qualitative results
Quantitative results Savings Time savings (US Dollars) per year (Hours)
Develop functionality in Oracle to attach complementary documentation to approved purchase requisitions.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$1,260
-
Centralization of suppliers’ maintenance activities in every local office (SM Champions).
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
$71,602
128
Establish and incorporate “response times” in the purchasing process.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Negotiate service level agreements for supplier maintenance activities between LAC and GSS.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Replace current manual sole source form with a web based electronic tool.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Redefinition of the payment process. Development and delivery of training across the region. Increase the quality of planning activities between areas across the region.
Total
Fully delivered Partially delivered Pending opportunity
None
$72,862
128
Source: Estimates as documented according to each business case. Note: In some cases, result quantifications were limited due to the lack of statistics or historical data for comparison purposes. Readers are encouraged to review the list of “measurable and tangible results” in the initiatives’ description.
Annabelle McDermot Initiative Leader Review: Several offices in the LAC region elaborate the Purchase Requisition parallel to the negotiation and execution of the contract. Once the Purchase Requisition is approved, the executed contract with the legal stamp has not been uploaded in Oracle with the rest of the supporting documentation required to release the Purchase Order by the LAC Buyer.
Outcome: Effective July 2006, through the rollout of the new version of Oracle, a functionality to include a fully executed copy of the contract to its corresponding Purchase Order was incorporated in the system, allowing for a more secure and controlled environment.
Action Plan 1 Develop functionality in Oracle to attach complementary and/or final documentation (such as executed contracts), once the purchase requisitions have been approved.
Tangible and measurable results Better control environment across the LAC region: a) The risk of losing or misplacing documentation has been mitigated. b) Improvement on our ability to fully respond during audits or revisions and time reductions when finding and retrieving files. c) Reduction in the number of cases where the regional office has to call local offices to get copies of supporting documentation one more time. $1,260 US savings at net present value in enhanced management and storing costs of supporting documentation of over 2,000 transactions.
Annabelle McDermot Initiative Leader Review: The main objective of this initiative was to reduce the number of people involved in suppliers’ maintenance activities and leveraging economies of scale by centralizing these activities in one specialist per local office (Champion).
Outcome: Effective December 1st, 2006 the local Champions of Suppliers’ Maintenance Activities started centralizing in every local office all the requests related to Supplier Maintenance (SM), including but not limited to: Receiving and reviewing documentation from new vendors for completeness, reviewing vendors’ performance, assisting with vendor certification processes, and facilitating bidding processes. Additionally, the corresponding desk top procedure was issued.
Tangible and measurable results
Action Plan 2 Centralization of suppliers’ maintenance activities in every local office.
Instead of having 168 employees across the region acting as suppliers’ maintenance specialist any time there is a need to engage a vendor, we will now have champions facilitating all SM requests. It is estimated to reduce at least 42.3 working hours from the LAC Buyer, and 84.6 hours from the business owners on an annual basis. The dollar savings to be achieved with the implementation of this initiative are $71,602 US dollar at present value. A more controlled environment: SM Champions will have the responsibility to track all SM requests and feed a database with this information.
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Results: Purchasing process section Suemi Kavamukai & Annabelle McDermot Initiative Leaders Review:
The lack of predetermined response times and commitment to honor them by the services and supporting areas involved in the Purchasing process made an adequate planning and control over this process more difficult. Proper planning requires the identification of standard response times.
Outcome:
A number of Service Level Agreements were created as a final result of this action plan using different procedures that became part of the Purchasing process effective December 19, 2006. In order to attain a standard throughout the region, response time agreements and baselines were negotiated with the different areas involved in the process.
The agreed upon Service Level Agreements include the following tasks: – Competitive bidding activities: Analysis and conclusion of all bidding support documentation and its release in order to be sent to GSS by the LAC Buyer. – Sole source requests: Feedback on business cases by LAC Buyer and validation of the pre-numbered SSR form. – Supplier maintenance: Evaluation of all supporting documentation before submission to the LAC Buyer, analysis and feedback of all documentation sent by the three levels, release of documentation to be sent to Supplier Maintenance – Global and vendor inclusion in the Oracle system. Action Plan 3 & 4 Establish and incorporate purchase process “response times” in the purchasing process and negotiate service level agreements for supplier maintnance activities between LAC region and Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS).
– Contract process: Approval of contract approval requisitions by Business and Finance. – Purchase orders issuance and return.
Tangible and measurable results The benefits obtained throughout the region as a result of these two initiatives will include: a) time reductions in the overall process; b) certainty related to response times from all the areas impacted by the initiative and better planning tools; c) a more controlled environment for the Purchasing Process; and d) an increased number of subject matter experts within the LAC region. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
Annabelle McDermot Initiative Leader Review: A Sole Source Request (SSR) form is required for purchases equal or higher than $100,000 US involving a vendor that is the only available supplier in the market. The SSR form was manually completed and submitted for various authorizations. A significant amount of efficiencies for this process could be obtained by incorporating an electronic tool which will help LAC employees to complete the process.
Outcome: An electronic tool to perform the sole source authorizations process on-line was developed and implemented during the first quarter of 2007. The LAC Buyer is responsible to submit the information in the tool based on business owners’ requests. The business owners acting as sole source requestor are still required to send to the LAC Buyer the supporting documentation. Requestors are able to track the process and obtain the approvals without having to act as a process catalyst. The approvers will be able to review and approve the request on-line, without the burden of hard copies.
Tangible and measurable results Action Plan 5 Replace current manual sole source form with an electronic tool to obtain approvals and notifications via internet.
Time reductions throughout the overall process, mainly in getting the proper approvals. Request record and follow-up (status, history, authorizations flow). A more controlled environment for the SSR process where supporting documentation will be easier to store and retrieve. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
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Santiago MartĂnez Initiative Leader Review: Currently there are cases where proper invoice handling and payments are not being followed. In order to achieve a proper procedure that is clear and executable by both employees and account payable staff, accurate accounting processes will be strengthened and timely payment management will take place based on policies and contract obligations, reducing to a minimum accounting related internal and external conflicts.
Outcome: Effective March 22, 2007, the LAC Controller issued a revised desktop procedure for the accounts payable team in the LAC region. The document covers in detail ten different activities such as bank reconciliations, cash funding, tax payments, prepaid, fixed assets, accounts payable, accruals and reclasses. To view the desktop procedures refer to your local finance department.
Tangible and measurable results The initiative should help ensure a more transparent and smoother accounting process, avoiding risks related to inaccurate reporting and problems with vendors. Action Plan 6 Redefinition of the payment process.
A standard and compatible procedure throughout the LAC region was obtained, to be used as reference for all Finance and Accounts Payable teams. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
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Results: Deals Process Section Alexandre Magnani
Project Manager
Kenneth Najour Champion
Results: Deals process section Initiatives agreed upon in the Deals process section: 8 Fully delivered initiatives: 3 (38%)
Initiative
Status Result
Qualitative results
Quantitative results Savings Time savings (US Dollars) per year (Hours)
Create a MC deals best practices manual.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Develop a template letter to reduce risk exposure in deals involving payments made by the customer.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Improve contract template providing incentive options & updating financial terms.
Fully delivered
Positive
Yes
No baseline
Development and implementation of an “Incentives committee”.
Pending opportunity
None
Development of customized preapproved business deals (by market).
Pending opportunity
None
Provide guidelines to help solve the trade off between dealing with initiatives and Marketing expenses.
Pending opportunity
None
Incorporate MIS initiative into Process Enabler.
Pending opportunity
None
Improve the financial models.
Pending opportunity
None
Total
-
-
Source: Estimates as documented according to each business case. Note: In some cases, result quantifications were limited due to the lack of statistics or historical data for comparison purposes. Readers are encouraged to review the list of “measurable and tangible results” in the initiatives’ description.
Alexandre Magnani Initiative Leader Review:
Inefficiencies happen because there is a lack of a common identification and understanding of best deal practices or because the enforcement of general guidelines are not aligned with local practices.
Outcome:
A benchmarking exercise was carried out across the LAC region related to the deals process in order to document best business models and practices in each market. The results of this initiative were summarized on a best practices manual which was presented to the Finance Department for its review and implementation.
Tangible and measurable results: Action Plan 1 Create a MasterCard deals best practices manual.
A better and more regulated environment across the LAC region related to the deals process. Documented best practices and business knowledge that will outlive any change in the local offices sales departments. General deals guidelines aligned across the LAC region. Trend setting to generate the best deal under specific circumstances. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
Malvina Longoria Initiative Leader Review:
A risk was identified in the LAC region regarding payments to third-parties on behalf of the member against MBA obligations. To address this issue, Legal and Finance Regional Departments presented a proposal to the Senior Management to help mitigate possible risks in these types of situations.
Outcome:
After a thorough evaluation, the Regional Legal Department decided to temporarily rule against payments to third parties on behalf of any customer for new deals. Existing contracts with this terms will be honored. The Senior Management will assess if this initiative should be permanent or otherwise, allow payments to third parties on new deals. Action Plan 2 Develop a template letter to reduce risk exposure in deals which involve paying on behalf of the member against MBA obligations.
Tangible and measurable results: Risk mitigation for all LAC regions with regards to this situation. A better and more controlled financial environment. Increase in transparency and accountability on all deals across the LAC region. Risk mitigation of legal breaches during audits or revisions. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
Malvina Longoria Initiative Leader Review:
An opportunity was identified to create standard templates that would reflect the best practices of deals carried out in the LAC region. Different incentive and financial term options of specific deals would be incorporated in the original single template to speed up the process.
Outcome:
A single template for the long form MBAs was drafted by the Legal Department reflecting the knowledge retrieved from the best deals performed in the LAC region. The template includes wording for various incentive options. In addition, the Law Department developed several forms for simplified incentive deals (Diamonds) which are in use in the Region, primarily by the MasterCard Direct group. The use of templates and forms reduce the Legal Department and the Business areas average response times. Action Plan 3 Improve contract template laying out different incentive options as well as updating financial terms of any deal.
Tangible and measurable results: Response time reduction by the Law Department and service enhancements provided to contract sponsors. A more controlled environment is expected for Deal Processing, by using a standard base document for initiatives with similar characteristics within a country. Stronger and better contracts and a more profitable outcome in each individual deal are expected. No dollar amount figures can be assigned at present given there was no previous baseline to compare the new enhancements against.
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Key opportunities pending to be addressed
Some opportunities identified in the original project plan have not yet been fully attended due to lack or partial implementation of certain action plans. There is a need to review and account for all pending opportunities to be addressed or completed.
1.- Training and strengthening organizational capabilities Review: Comprehensive training on policies, procedures, as well as other tools such as risk identification/mitigation, negotiation, Oracle, etc., is required to allow and facilitate compliance. Special attention should be paid to specific training items such as job role transparency, employees’ responsibilities for each approval process phase, detailed description and roadmap to get things done, among others. LAC Business Administration and Human Resources will include these requirements during the development and implementation of the new curricula which will be rolled out throughout the year.
Outcome: The LAC Process Enabler team undertook and delivered the following actions: a) LAC Legal Road Show: More than 24 sessions on the new Electronic Contract Workflow Tool took place across the region covering every single local office. Personnel from Peru and Colombia joined respectively the Chile and Venezuela meetings. The road show was complemented with 5 sessions on MC Contract Policy and LAC Contracts Procedure which were provided in local offices by the Law Department. Employee participation and engagement rates were over 80% in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. Brazil reached 66% while Miami stood behind with 26%. b) Purchasing Process Training: Training sessions were conducted by the LAC Buyer which included Brazil and Mexico. Topics covered include Purchasing Policy and Procedures, Oracle, Suppliers’ maintenance, Bidding and Sole Source Procedures and Financial Approval Matrix, among others.
Opportunity Although many policies and procedures are interrelated and make reference to each other, training has been provided in a not integrated manner. Employees need to gather all this separated knowledge and have confidence that their understanding is comprehensive and strong enough to ensure clean and time-to-market execution of initiatives. The Project Office of the LAC Process Enabler presented before the Steering Committee a proposal to provide an integrated training to every local office supported by third party professional instructors in an integrated way. The training agenda covered the policies and procedures related to purchasing, contracts and deals. However, the Steering Committee did not reach agreement around the proposal, and decided to continue providing the training separately in order to do not postpone the implementation of the Electronic Contract Workflow Tool. As a result, the opportunity to provide employees with a comprehensive training and roadmap related to how to conduct business in the region was not fully delivered, as suggested by the team which identified this corresponding action plan. Additionally, there is still an opportunity to strengthen organizational capabilities by implementing diverse training schemes to cover topics such as: Negotiation, risk identification and mitigation, financial basics to construct business cases, etc., which are also important capabilities which could substantially improve the way we conduct our business.
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Key opportunities pending to be addressed
Some opportunities identified in the original project plan have not yet been fully attended due to lack or partial implementation of certain action plans. There is a need to review and account for all pending opportunities to be addressed or completed.
2.- Increase the quality of planning activities among the various business areas across the region. Review: Opportunities have been identified to move away from a culture where everything is urgent and most of all must be solved in a short period of time. Proper and timely planning and involvement of the Law and Finance Departments can be very helpful to reduce bottlenecks and improve response times.
Outcome: One of the biggest challenges during the planning and execution of the LAC Process Enabler project was the lack of strong statistical data to support business cases and measure the impact of the implemented action plans. This lack of information and discipline to analyze, plan and manage accordingly based on information limits our capabilities to move away from a culture of putting fires off. In order to be able to start gathering this type of data, and monitoring the performance of the Contracts Process across the region, a tool was designed within the Electronic Contact Workflow Tool to track an important set of variables such workloads, time of responses, etc.
Opportunity Considering that no additional activity was conducted in connection to the LAC Process Enabler to tackle this opportunity, it should be clear that this is an issue still pending to be addressed. The LAC Process Enabler team was unable to integrate a clear proposal on how to improve planning capabilities and provide the necessary resources to make it happen.
Some opportunities identified in the original project plan have not yet been fully attended due to lack or partial implementation of certain action plans. There is a need to review and account for all pending opportunities to be addressed or completed.
3.- Improve the deals process Review: Originally, the Deals section of the LAC Process Enabler Project included seven action plans which were reviewed and fine tuned in August 2006. During that revision eight new commitments were identified. The opportunities identified covered several aspects related to the process such as contract templates, financial models, clarification of rules and guidelines, the establishment of benchmarks and best practice references as well as a new body to regulate and monitor the overall deals process.
Outcome: Although some steps were taken to streamline the Deal process as they were described above, important opportunity areas remain to be addressed. The results obtained so far in the Deals section are behind the schedule versus those reached in the other two sections. Employee turnaround and the amount of time invested in filling the Financial Incentive/Deal position can partly explain this outcome. The potential benefits to be obtained from the LAC Best Deal Practices Manual are subject to its confirmation, enforcement and implementation across the region.
Opportunity The deals process still presents significant opportunity areas. Considering how critical this process is under a corporate mandate of customer focus, certainly more resources, attention and prioritization should be provided in order to effectively streamline it.
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LAC Process Enabler Team Steering Committee Lizbeth Hasfield, Mexico Malvina Longoria, USA Kenneth Najour, USA Wes Rivel, USA
Project Managers and Initiative Leaders Federico Caivano, Mexico Armando Huitron, Mexico Suemi Kavamukai, Brazil Santiago Martinez, USA Annabelle McDermot, USA Alexandre Magnani, Brazil Paulo Pinotti, Brazil Gerardo Rodriguez, Mexico
Participants at Playa del Carmen Meeting Breno Andrade, Miami Federico Caivano, Mexico Franco Di Pietro, Mexico Javier Garcia, Colombia Juan M. Gudi単o, Mexico Armando Huitron, Mexico Suemi Kavamukai, Brazil Malvina Longoria, USA Alexandre Magnani, Brazil Sonia Manrique, USA Santiago Martinez, USA Annabelle McDermot, USA Maximo Morel, Chile Kenneth Najour, USA Ivan Ochoa, USA Paulo Pinotti, Brazil Pedro Rangel, USA Wes Rivel, Brazil Karem Sanchez, Mexico Jorge Vigil, Chile HDO, Consultant, Mexico Integration Consulting, Brazil
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www.mastercard.com
Latin America and the Caribbean Process Enabler Results Report In essence, LAC Process Enabler is a regional initiative whose main objective is to create bridges between MasterCard corporate policies and LAC business units. The above, in order to facilitate compliance, better turnaround times, improve controls, time-to-market and business continuity, ensuring compliance with current corporate policies. LAC Process Enabler looks for opportunities to facilitate the integration between our new corporate reality (which includes compliance with a large array of interrelated corporate policies and regulation)
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and our day-to-day activities and business responsibilities, provided the particular restrictions that characterize the LAC region such as geographical dispersion of offices, different legal entities and regulatory environments, language barriers, staffing limitations, etc. This document summarizes the achievements accomplished during the LAC Process Enabler initiative. It provides the tangible and measurable results obtained with the execution of the agreed upon action plans and describes key opportunities still pending to be addressed.