Business Management System

Business Management system is the term used to describe a framework for strategic planning within the business management practice. Business Management System (acronym “BMS”) is a set of tools used for the implementation of policies, guidelines, practices, processes, and procedures used in the development, deployment and execution of business strategy and its underlying management activities.

BMS provides a foundation for leading important business activities, making decisions, and introducing business solution that successfully implement both tactical and strategic management decisions. It enables senior management to meet existing business goals and objectives, satisfying customer needs and value proposition.

Organisations require BMS to help evaluate the performance of their business functions and how they can continuously improve over time, adhering to both internal and external policies. BMS composes of several functional areas that together, drive the goal of the framework. It provides senior management team with the right tools for planning, managing, monitoring, and controlling management activities, enabling business performance measurement, and providing an opportunity to implement continuous improvement processes.

BMS is used to describe the tools that businesses use for the implementation of industry standards and procedures, processes, guidelines, and practices enabling businesses to rate the maturity of its business functions on the following:

• Policies and legislation
• Alignment to executive priorities, plan, and strategic objectives
• Organisational Roles and RACI
• Decision Model
• Risk Management & Assessment
• Process and Standard Operating Procedure
• Communication and Consultation
• Contingencies and Business Resilience
• Training and Competencies
• Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation
• Accident and Incident Management
• Governance and Assurance
• Continuous Improvement

 

Business Management System, composition

BMS provides a prescriptive approach on how private and public sector organisations will operationalise different functions within their businesses to achieve their goals. This includes Staffing, Training, IT delivery, Sales, Marketing and Procurement. Business Management System leverages 3 key areas namely Strategies, Tactics, and Implementation.

BMS Strategy

The Business Management Strategy focuses on the scoping and planning of the overall business management directive in relation to organisation policies. This directive is incorporated into the corporate strategy which usually forms part of the organisation executive committee priorities for the business.

Depending on the industry in which the organisation operates, there are usually industry wide policies such as people policy, data policy (GDPR) and financial reporting policy (IFRS). Additionally, there are also other external policies from regulators and legislation.

Most organisations use policies as a vehicle to drive and prioritise strategic objectives and initiate a plan of action to influence business management decisions, processes and procedures and decisions. Business management policies are the tools used to formulate and inform business strategy for most organisations and helps establish standards and plans for achieving their strategic goals and objectives.

BMS Tactics

Business Management Tactics define the approach and technique for implementing the business plan linked to the business strategy and aligned to the organisation’s policy.

The strategy and strategy evaluation teams in organisations typically consider a 3–5-year strategy and business functions individually need to translate and align to the corporate strategy when developing their annual business plan. BMS Tactics refers to the stage that comes after the business standards are identified in the policies and are used to implement business plans to meet the prioritised business objectives outlined in the corporate strategy

BMS Implementation

This aspect of Business Management System focuses on the execution and realisation of the business strategy. It identifies the approach for implementing the business plan which is fed from the overall corporate strategy and aligned according to internal and external policies.
Here, the implementation technique and road-mapping should be outlined and presented during the management decision making phase and put in practice based on the delivery timeframe. It includes guidelines for developing business management plans. These guidelines compose of directions and instructions to show the senior leadership team how to manage the tactical solutions.

The BMS Implementation comprises of operational processes and procedures that provide instructions on how to accomplish the day-to-day operational tasks. The goal of BMS Implementation is to direct colleagues on the execution of the business solution.

The BMS is industry agnostic, applying to all organisations across all industries. However, the content of each area can vary depending on organisation’s sector, product, or services.

 

Business Management System, so WHAT

The goal of the Business Management system is to help organisations realise value across all business functions by delivering a model and framework that creates transparency across the entire business ecosystem. The Business Assurance or the Internal Audit function in organisations are mostly responsible for developing and assuring the framework.

These departments will develop the plan for rolling out BMS and set out the key priorities. All functions across the organisation use the BMS framework as a baseline for their self-assessment.

Once the framework is rolled out, business functions will perform a gap analysis and present their position and plan to the leadership team via the Business Assurance/Internal Audit function using the key priorities set by the Executives. Upon the execution of the roadmap, the Business Assurance/Internal Audit function will start with ongoing monitoring and support, working closely with the rest of the business functions.

 

Business Management System, addressing today’s challenges

As organisations strive for growth, they need to become increasingly agile, efficient, consistent, and effective. Based on recent research conducted by our team of researchers, 80% of organisations have multiple ways of working and store contradictory information. This hinders their ability to achieve common strategic objectives, collaborate, have cross functional alignment, stay consistent, current, and compliant to regulations.

Currently, energy and resources are wasted in organisations as business functions are duplicated, working in silos and disengaged in delivering organisation objective and goals.

The goal of BMS is to have a common way of working that will make businesses more efficient and enable them to deliver consistently high performance and outcomes. It’s framework will enable organisations have a single set of information that is current, reliable, usable, secured, compliant and easy to access.

The framework will support employees so that more time can be spent on delivering great business services to customers and external stakeholders. It makes organisations more efficient by defining and capturing their standard ways of working, enable accountable leaders to establish simpler and joined up practices, remove waste and duplication, and become the common baseline for business assurance, compliance, and continuous improvement.

 

Business Management System, the Framework

Business Management systems act to build operational controls and governance to support the organisation. The key element of these initiatives is centred around planning, executing, verifying, and validating and improvement.

• Planning
• Execution
• Verifying and validating
• Implementation

 

Planning

Policies and Legislation refresh should happen periodically, with the functions updating and reviewing policies that apply to their function in line with industry standards. All functions should regularly engage with their legal advisers to monitor any changes in applicable legislation.

The strategy team, through executive priorities, plans and strategic objectives and outcomes, ensure that business function priorities and objectives are clearly communicated and available to all within the function.

It documents enterprise roles and RACI, ensuring that the current operating model are clearly articulated, gaps and opportunities for improvement and challenges are factored into the design of the target operating model. Conduct a quarterly risk review and incorporate Information Security Risk Management standards, such as ISO 27001.

 

Execution

During communication and consultation, identify, create, and update processes, standards, operating procedures, and templates, and make them available to the wider team. Define the different ways of communication (skype, teams, yammer, email, instant messaging) and frequency (Weekly, Monthly & quarterly).

Ensure relevant assessments are performed by the health and safety team and regular continuous assessments are in place. Perform a structured training needs analysis and address any skills gaps in line with the operating model. This includes ensuring all colleagues attended mandatory training.

 

Verifying and validating

For Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation, review and develop a set of metrics to evaluate process effectiveness and maintain supplier Performance KPIs. Maintain departmental KPIs as they have been defined by internal Change management or Portfolio function.

Collate all Incident Management related documentation and metrics such as processes, procedures and guidelines for reporting incidents, metrics, and SLAs. Develop a self-assurance approach in line with the Business Management System

 

Implement

Introduce a continuous improvement objective across the business function and update the structure of the Risk & Assurance team to focus on continuous improvement activities for the business management system.

 

Leveraging BMS framework for Gap Analysis, the 5-process maturity level

 

Business Maturity vs Target

Carrying out maturity assessment using the BMS framework is a way organisations assess the maturity of each business function against a baseline. This framework leverages the industry best practices and standard process maturity levels namely Initial, Managed, Established, Advanced and Leading.

 

Characteristics of BMS maturity levels

Level 1 (Initial)

This is the initial rating for the planning stage of the BMS framework. Processes are unpredictable, poorly controlled, and reactive. There are no functional strategies, policies, risk management processes or a long-term action plan in place.

At the execution stage, operational plans are not linked to strategy and there are limited operating procedures. Minimal training is provided. Processes are characterised for projects and is often reactive.

At the verification and validation stage, no governance structure or monitoring is in place to ensure compliance to policies and procedures. Processes should be proactive and characterised for the organisation and initiatives should tailor their processes from the organisation’s standard.

The technical, business, or design authority in organisations is responsible for these activities. Most government organisations that serve as a digital spine for the industry they work in or regulate have Design Authority capabilities or functions within the enterprise. At this stage, processes should be measured and controlled.

At the implementation stage, continuous improvement is not part of day to day working. Organisations should focus on optimising the processes and business services and build continuous improvement into the fabric of the organisation.

 

Level 2 (Managed)

At this stage, processes are characterised for projects and are often reactive. This is the managed stage of the planning phase where strategies and policies have been developed from bottom up at the team level. These are independent and do not represent the size of the function. At this stage accountabilities seem to be unclear.

At the execution stage, there is little linkage of operational plans to strategy. Operational planning occurs. However, it is static, at the team level and contingency plans are still in development

At the verification and validation stage, there is limited governance structure in place and their authority in the function is not clear. The approach to measuring and assuring performance is developing.

At the implementation stage, the need for continuous improvement is recognised but this is not acted upon.

 

Level 3 (Established)

At this stage, initiatives tailor their processes from organisational standards. There is a recognised need for a coherent strategy within the business function and a unified strategy is in development Policies are in place but not updated regularly, however accountability and risk management is somewhat understood. Processes provide compliance and are standardised.

Most organisations have a set of processes and procedures already in place and business functions are required to follow the processes as part of the governance process. There is a proactive approach to ensure consistency and a common way of doing things across the organisation

At the execution stage, there is some integration of operational plans with strategy. Standard operating procedures, critical operating procedures and contingency plans are in place, but not updated regularly. Also, ad-hoc training is provided. Processes provide compliance and are standardised.

At the verification and validation stage, there is an established governance structure in place. In this case the authority is generally understood but not seen to actively enforce compliance to functional policies and procedures. Processes provide compliance and are standardised

At the implementation stage, continuous improvement requirements are addressed occasionally on an ad-hoc basis but not broadly embedded into management practice. Processes provide compliance and are standardised.

 

Level 4 (Advanced)

At this stage, processes are measured, controlled, and quantitatively managed. An integrated strategy has been developed for individual business functions and roles and accountabilities are clearly understood. Functional policies are in place and renewed regularly. An implementation plan has been developed and clear methods for value tracking identified.

Organisations typically will have methodologies for small changes (maintenance releases) and medium to large changes (transformation initiatives). Both methods will align to the organisational change management method and governance. Here processes provide protection and have been simplified.

At the execution stage, operational plans are driven from strategy and the Standard Operational process and contingency plans are in place and renewed regularly. Risk assessments are conducted regularly at a business function level. Project and functional plans are tracked closely for results and supported by a training plan.

At the verification and validation stage, the governance structure for the function is well established. Practices are regularly monitored for compliance to policies and processes, driving performance.

At the implementation stage, continuous improvement techniques are implemented and used on an ongoing basis. Colleagues are encouraged to contribute to continuous improvement and are recognised for their innovation.

 

Level 5 (Leading)

At this stage, the focus is on process improvement and an integrated strategy has been developed for the function that is aligned to corporate strategy and measured periodically with a balanced scorecard. Corporate strategy, policies and risk management are well communicated and understood within the function. Individual and functional actions are aligned to a single functional strategy.

At the execution stage, operational plans, procedures, risk assessment and training are fully integrated with strategic planning processes, and well communicated and understood within the function.

At the verification and validation stage, there is a very effective governance structure firmly embedded in the business function and it is well communicated and understood. Performance is continuously monitored, and practices allow the function to anticipate challenges and opportunities.

At the implementation stage, continuous improvement is embedded in the culture and approach of the function. Colleagues are recognised for continuous improvement initiatives and the number of improvement actions is followed and monitored.

 

Business Management System Framework

At I-MORAN Consultancy, our team of highly trained experts and consultants will work with your business domain expert to build a bespoke Business Management solution platform that will enable your executives to make critical decisions, identify, and resolve existing challenges across business functions and deliver solutions proactively.

To find out more about how your organisation could benefit from our Business Management System solution, contact I-MORAN Consultancy at info@i-moran.co.uk or call 02045386562