eBrisbane Electronic Commerce Strategy

Understanding Business

MBA & Associates (MBA) engaged Council's senior managers in discussions both to verify the published corporate plan, and to better understand the real drivers and obstacles to change within their respective divisions and branches. By revalidating the links between corporate objectives, corporate targets and key business processes, and developing 'plain English' business outcomes, MBA created an informed and trusted information platform for the remainder of the project.

Identifying Opportunities

Clear, measurable business objectives are the basis of Brisbane City Council's corporate plan. Within the plan, specific objectives and corporate targets had been agreed and in many cases work had begun on initiatives to satisfy these objectives. MBA reviewed the entire set of corporate initiatives that was to be undertaken across Council, and came up with a list of 23 electronic commerce initiatives that would, overall, satisfy 29 corporate objectives.

Redefining Processes

MBA determined that the key to ongoing success and momentum within Council's eBusiness Project was stakeholder enrolment and governance. Appropriate governance and accountability was identified. Work commenced on policy frameworks for information management, business risk assessment and budget requirements.

Some of the key initiatives identified in phase two were scoped and work commenced. These initiatives were simple in technical complexity, but required substantial change in the way the process owners and stakeholders undertook their work.

Creating Value

Rapid implementation of initiatives allowed key stakeholders to see, for themselves, the benefits that come from well planned and controlled deployment of electronic commerce. Maintaining and developing key skills within the Council was recognised as a key contributor to building momentum, and lessons learned on the implementation of early initiatives were fed back into planning cycles for subsequent projects.

Also, as the implemented projects added to Council's competitive and service excellence benchmarks, the momentum built as more staff saw the opportunities to improve their work. A cycle of process review was initiated and became a central driver within Council.

Supporting Objectives

Maintaining focus on the key business requirements was essential. Linking some electronic commerce outcomes to measured Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) ensured such controls were in place.

As initiatives came to development and the integration of new tools into old processes began, MBA's design of the necessary framework and resources ensured that the key business objectives and linkages were not lost. The risk of losing perspective was identified and managed.

Improving Performance

The key objectives identified early in the project, as supported by the Corporate Plan, clearly required an improvement of Council's already excellent service delivery standards. Measuring this improved performance was again recognised as important in maintaining momentum for change within Council. The corporate processes within Council already ensured process measurement was completed, but the monitoring of initiatives allowed the most critical lessons to be shared internally and for better planning and implementation in the next cycle of projects.