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The business processes of ING: The integration of budget allocation, resource planning and registration of working hours in Clarity 8

Bulut, Stefan (2010) The business processes of ING: The integration of budget allocation, resource planning and registration of working hours in Clarity 8.

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Abstract:This Master thesis consists out of two subjects that are elaborated through this research. The first subject concerns the three processes budget allocation, resource planning and registration of working hours. With reference to project management, an element of ING’s ERP system, these three processes play an important role: budget allocation is important for knowing whether a project can be executed (are there enough funds), resource planning is important for composing a team that executes the project and registration of working hours is important for keeping the budget within tolerances and adjusting resource planning if necessary. A change in one of the three processes means it will have its impact on the other two processes. These three processes operate separately in the current situation, but from January 2010 they will be integrated into Clarity 8. The implementation of this new and mandated program has already started. Therefore this second subject is incorporated within this research. Possible bottlenecks need to be found in order to optimize the three processes so that they can be integrated successfully in Clarity 8. The following main research question will be answered through the answering of several sub questions: Investigate and analyze the three processes of project management in order to solve the bottlenecks so that they can operate as one integrated process in Clarity 8, matching employees’ preferences? In chapter 1 the research plan is developed where background information about ING, the problem description, the objectives, the research questions and the plan of approach are described. In the second chapter a theoretical framework is developed. The three processes are described from top management’s perspective using several internal documents. Furthermore, technology acceptance models of Venkatesh & Davis (2000), Nah et al. (2004) and Venkatesh (2000) are used to develop a constructed framework that serves for testing whether or not the new and mandated program is symbolically adopted by its end-users. Guidelines of top management are used to describe in chapter 3 how the three processes should be put into action when a project is executed. The importance of Clarity 8 is described and what this implementation means for employees and management. In chapter 4 ING’s employees are specified into four groups, namely team members, project managers, line managers and the Business in order to find out through half standardized interviews how these three processes and the implementation of Clarity 8 are put into practice. In chapter 5 bottlenecks with reference to the three processes and the implementation of Clarity 8 are derived from the half standardized interviews. In chapter 6 the preferences of the various groups are described that are needed to come up with solutions for the bottlenecks. But first the bottlenecks are analyzed in chapter 7 in order to find a pattern in the bottlenecks of the three processes. By breaking this pattern, the majority of the bottlenecks can be solved. The constructed framework is discussed in order to analyze whether the end-users symbolically adopt Clarity 8. In chapter 8 solutions are described with reference to the pattern found in chapter 7. Solutions for the remaining bottlenecks of the three processes and the implementation of Clarity 8 are also mentioned in chapter 8. In chapter 9 recommendations and a final conclusion are given. When the bottlenecks derived from the interviews with the various groups of employees were described and analyzed, a conclusion was that due to the indistinctness about the requirements and the budget a lot of bottlenecks arose in project management. A main point was to solve the issue of unclear requirements and budget. It was important to take potential risks into consideration and rule them out in order to have a solution based on strong arguments. The solution is to organize the process of project management with reference to the assignment of two new roles, namely a requirement engineer and a cost estimator. The motivation of this new set-up of project management is to relieve the project manager from the pressure of the Business. The two new roles will take over some of the responsibilities of the project manager, namely the formulation of qualitatively well requirements and the cost estimation. The approval of qualitatively well requirements and the budget will result in less Exception Reports. A potential risk lies in the approval of the cost estimation. To ensure the approval of the cost Master Thesis Financial Management: The business processes of ING and the implementation of Clarity 8 By Stefan Bulut 5 estimation, it is important to have a balance from top-down and bottom-up in composing a Change MTP. This preference is mentioned by line managers and the Business because they experience in the current situation that this is not the case. By ensuring the approval of the budget and the requirements, money can be saved on overhead and major losses can be prevented. Although there are some issues in the implementation of Clarity 8, the end-users will accept this new mandated program because one of their preferences was to eliminate other programs. This will be achieved due to the integration of the three processes budget allocation, resource planning and registration of working hours. To ensure the elimination of other programs, the use of standardized reports is necessary. It is advisable that top management should give the right example by also using this standardized tool without accepting reports in other templates. The risk lies in the fact that line managers and project managers revert to the old tools. To overcome hurdles after Clarity 8 goes live, the end-users prefer improvement of top management’s communication. A clear end vision of top management, the impact of this change on end-users’ jobs and the participation degree of end-users are key elements to take into consideration to prevent resistance. A survey among the end-users after Clarity 8 goes live can contribute to overcome hurdles. Last but not least, effective training, clear manuals and support teams are mentioned preferences of end-users to get acquainted with Clarity 8 and overcome hurdles.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Clients:
ING
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:85 business administration, organizational science
Programme:Business Administration MSc (60644)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/60032
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