camisetas replica futbol -
By: Kathy Schroeder & Joey Mixon,? co-Chairs of the Marketing and Communications Committee,? Wal-Mart Shared Services Division
In February 2006, Wal-Mart's finance executive leadership team began strategizing about transforming the numerous accounting processes for Wal-Mart Stores and Sam's Clubs in the US and Puerto camisetas replica futbol Rico into a shared services organization. As part of this process, a Shared Services Advisory Committee was formed, consisting of open-minded corporate leaders from the accounts payable, accounts receivable, general accounting and human resource areas. The committee developed a strategy that led to a vision of becoming a source of support to our internal customers, and providing them with business solutions and value-added information that would allow them to focus on their specific business plans and initiatives. Selling this message was key.
Because of the size and volume of accounting transactions processed at Wal-Mart, efficiency had already been worked into our environment. However, the plan was to offer additional value to our shareholders by lowering costs and allowing the business units to focus on their strategic priorities through resource sharing, increasing span of control, and integrating all accounting functions from different operating areas. Our strategy centered on developing the concept of "People?, Process? and Technology?" and communicating and marketing it to the company.
Marketing
The first marketing initiative was to create signs with our mission statement ("to deliver valuable financial services to Wal-Mart's business and support units at a cost and quality better than competitive alternatives") and post them throughout the shared services building, including the lobby area, to ensure our business partners understood our focus.
The Advisory Committee researched different shared services concepts via publications in the marketplace (such as this one) and by networking with practitioners at SSON-sponsored conferences. The key thing was to learn how to effectively market and communicate our mission and achieve a smooth transition.
In benchmarking with other companies utilizing shared services and outsourcing support, our Advisory Committee traveled to Costa Rica to tour Procter & Gamble, Hewlett Packard and IBM facilities. One of the key takeaways from our benchmarking visits and conference attendances camisetas replica futbol was the use of metrics to define process cost and measure productivity and how those metrics could be posted visually for all associates (our term for "employees") and customers to see. While many SSCs charge internal business units for their services, this was not in our transition scope as we were seeking ways to prove the value add our SSC could provide.
One of our greatest challenges was selling the value add of the shared services concept to other areas within the company that were still running their own F&A transactional processes. Shared services was not mandated from the executive level for all business areas, which made our focus on marketing a vital part of the transformation.
Communication
Our initial communication to the management team defined "success," and the "keys" to achieve that success. Success was defined as:
reduced cost
improved controls
initiation of best practices learned through benchmarking
improved customer service
Keys to success were identified as:
including the right people
developing the right culture
incorporating efficient support systems
a Results-Only Work Environment (ROWE)
The Advisory Committee identified gaps that existed between the environment as was and our vision, and developed a plan to narrow these. Another major challenge was overcoming resistance to change. The previous structure had been in place for more than 25 years; we knew that we would only win the divisions over if we could prove the implementation of the proposed changes would work and would create opportunities for associates to grow, learn new business concepts and remain engaged in the change.
Organizational Structure
An organizational structure was developed to support each major process within the shared services division. Both new and existing resources were utilized in this restructure. Centers of Excellence (COEs) for all major transactional processes were created to promote efficiencies, develop our people, enhance career paths, promote sustainability, and improve controls. The Centers of Excellence are marketed in our "Shared Services Wheel":
Initially, five such COEs camisetas replica futbol were established:
Internal Disbursements (payroll, payroll tax, and travel & expense payables)
External Disbursements (merchandise payables, warehouse, asset & expense payables, freight payables)
Receipts (accounts receivable, billing and collections)
Controls (reconciliations, master data, transactional controls, post audit)
Support (imaging, data entry, record retention, technology and Six Sigma continuous improvement)
In 2007, an additional COE for General Accounting was added as the integration of new processes from that area of finance began to accelerate. Once we identified and realigned our existing processes and associates into individual COEs, we were able to utilize resource sharing and identify process efficiencies. A Continuous Improvement team was developed which utilized Six Sigma principles in its review of processes for all COEs. Several successes resulted from the reallocation of resources and the streamlining of processes that were deemed inefficient by our associates.
Such process changes had a positive impact on business units, both inside and outside our division. These positive changes created an avenue to market and communicate the value add our transition would have, not only to the business but also to the associates throughout the business. The largest impact for change within the organization was realized in the development of our Governance Committees. These committees were created because we understood that people were the key to our success and giving them a voice in decisions made would create the "buy in" needed to make our transition successful.
