UK Financial Services - managing an international programme

 

Programme execution; planning complex programmes in a short timeframe; applying a team approach to programme management; managing an international programme; tracking benefits.

 

Opportunity

This UK financial services subsidiary of a US conglomerate had grown rapidly through acquisition in a number of countries across Europe. However, costs were beginning to outpace revenues, with the result that the US parent instructed the UK subsidiary to develop and implement a plan to restore margins to 12% from their current position of 5%, or come up with a plan to close the business.

Any recovery plan had to be implemented within 12 months and would be funded by the US parent to the tune of $40m, only on the basis that the plan was felt to be robust by the US parent and that 50% of the savings could be realised within 6 months of the plan being approved.

Approach

Having worked with a number of executives of the organisation in the past, CITI were asked to support the management of this international cost reduction programme. Within the first week, the date for presenting the recovery plan was brought forward, leaving just 3 weeks to complete the planning for the programme across 6 countries.

The original team of 2 CITI consultants was doubled, with additional part time support from CITI headquarters. Having had experience of developing complex plans in a short timeframe, CITI employed proprietary planning techniques to develop a plan that would (a) stop the run on costs in the short term and (b) permanently revamp the processes to maintain the costs at the new level. 

The client agreed to appoint an in-house programme management team for this cost reduction programme that would be supported by (1) a senior CITI programme manager with experience of large scale international programmes; (2) a senior CITI project manager who was assigned to ‘force the pace’ across the 6 countries, and (3) an experienced programme management officer who used CITI’s monitoring and control tools to track programme costs and benefits.

Working to highly compressed timeframes requires more sophisticated management and monitoring practices than usual. Supplying accurate and up to date information on costs and benefits on a weekly basis across 6 countries presents its own challenges, and yet without close monitoring and control, programmes such as these can rapidly spiral into inaction. The problem itself was not complex, but the programme’s environment and need for speed made the management of it requiring the expertise CITI brought to it.

Outcome

The programme successfully completed, delivering the agreed benefits in line with the profile in terms of value and timing, i.e. in advance of the next financial year. There was a budget variance, but it was agreed in advance with the US parent. The UK CEO wrote to the parent organisation saying that, “Without the discipline and control brought in by CITI, I am convinced that the goals would not have been reached.”  When the planning had been initiated, CITI, using its own tools, implemented the monitoring programme in respect of costs and benefits.