Four questions to…

Saad Bennani, managing partner, and David Frazier, IS&T Management Consultant at Karistem

« How project portfolio management improvements increase corporate profitability and contribute to cost effectiveness »

Why should firms invest in project portfolio management (PPM) improvements even if their project management practices are not optimal?

PPM is comprised of two linked disciplines: project management and project portfolio management. Many decision-makers understand the benefits of project management, because project management is a discipline that helps organizations to effectively realize business value by delivering projects and programs on time and within budget. However, some decision-makers may not recognize the benefits of project portfolio management, which goes beyond project-specific benefits to deliver business value across a portfolio of project investments. It is tempting for some to think that PPM focuses primarily on effective reporting across project portfolios. While effective reporting is certainly important, PPM actually helps organizations to realize business value, optimizing project portfolios by selecting and investing in the right projects. In other words, portfolio management helps you to select the right things to do while project management ensures you do things right. Successful organizations invest in both the tactical and strategic elements of project portfolio management.

If decision-makers in organizations understand the importance of project management to their bottom line, why don’t they also associate PPM improvements with their bottom line?

Business executives more readily grasp the tangible aspects of project management improvements designed to ensure projects are delivered on time and under budget. Once a business manager feels that any deviations from project schedule and budget targets are being addressed, they next focus on quality and customer satisfaction. This natural progression occurs because of the tangible nature of individual project results, and because such factors are more easily measurable. Understanding PPM and taking steps to improve PPM practices requires a leap in both understanding and sophistication due to the strategic nature of PPM. PPM helps organizations to align the right resources with the right activities at the right time. Resource management strategies feed the projects and programs that comprise portfolios. Therefore, it is critical for successful organizations to harmonize their decision-making apparatus in a proactive effort to maximize project portfolio benefits. Corporate strategy must be reflected in project selection and delivery processes to ensure alignment between a project portfolio and the bottom line. Executives and middle managers often miss the importance of this alignment process by focusing almost exclusively on firefighting and correcting project delivery issues. Additionally, PPM helps mature organizations correctly prioritize among the many demands on business leadership, which is very helpful in the current context, where IS&T budgets shrink in the face of increasing business pressures.

How can executives and middle managers effectively transition from a project-centric to a portfolio-centric organization?

First, it is important to continually improve project management processes to ensure any observed issues with project delivery get addressed. Next, it is important to raise awareness of PPM by assessing PPM maturity as well as project management maturity. PPM improvement occurs in tandem with project management improvement activities, starting with project selection. Project investment decisions must not only be based on the perceived value of delivering a specific project result, they must be made in the context of a project portfolio which considers project selection, project delivery, project results and continual realignment of the project portfolio as strategic direction shifts. Executives must invest in PPM in order to move away from reactive project-centric resource decision-making to enable more proactive portfolio-centric investment decisions. Smart Executives invest in the bottom line by making PPM a priority without diminishing the importance of project delivery.

And one last question. What are three key questions to ask in order to assess my firm’s PPM maturity?

Before answering, it is important to recognize that the PPM discipline is mature, comprising best practices, standards, methods, processes, tools designed help organizations to move forward. Examples include P3M3, ITIM and CPIC (*). In our experience, the most efficient and effective approach to adopting PPM is “don’t reinvent the wheel” by harnessing the benefits of proven models and methodologies. To assess PPM maturity in your organization, three questions to ask are:

• Is there a “PPM Board Instance” to ensure selected projects align with Corporate business objectives?
• What are the criteria used to select or prioritize among projects? Example criterion–a potential project’s level of alignment to strategic objectives.
• Assuming the value proposition of a project is based on an objective business case evaluation, who monitors project performance/achievements against initial baselines and rollout objectives?

(*) Portfolio Programme and Project Management Maturity Model (P3M3), Information Technology Investment Model (ITIM) and Capital Planning and Investment Control (CPIC)

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After starting his career at BNP, Saad Bennani joined Capgemini in 1996, then Capgemini Consulting, in the “Business Transformation Practice.” He conducted numerous projects dealing with strategic planning, governance and skills assessment, all within the framework of profound reorganization of corporate functions such as Sourcing, Supply Chain, Information Systems, etc… In 2004, he co-founded Karistem, where he works primarily on assignments scoping transformation projects for the support functions or projects to improve performance.

David Frazier, a project management (PMP) and ITIL certified professional, has over 28 years of experience providing strategic management consulting support to Chief Information Officers in multi-national and government organizations across the U.S and the EU. He left Booz Allen Hamilton in 2001 to start his own consulting business, and he moved to France in 2013 after serving as the Deputy Policy Director for the Office of Logistics and Acquisition within the National Institutes of Health. Since 2014, David Frazier provides PPM and ITIL expertise as an affiliate of Karistem Corporate Expertise (KCE). He conducts maturity assessments of project management and PPM conformity to industry best practices as well as ITIL process maturity. He works directly with KCE clients to provide analysis, advice and training designed to improve operational efficiencies in project and portfolio management as well as ITIL processes.

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Karistem Corporate Consulting briefly.
Karistem Corporate Consulting (KCC) is a consulting firm specializing in strategy, transformation and operational excellence. Since 2004, KCC develops and implements major transformation projects supported by the Exectutive Managament to improve the competitiveness of the heart of business and / or support functions to align the business strategy. KCC’s approach is results-oriented and puts people at the heart of each transformation. KCC is committed (1) the involvement and ownership of the change by the largest number of people and (2) on fast, major and lasting results.
www.karistem-consulting.com

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Press Contact
Sebastien de Boisfleury
Head of Communications & Marketing
Mail : sebastien.de-boisfleury@karistem.com

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Karistem moves to new offices in the centre of Paris

Paris, 5 January 2015. Karistem, a consulting firm in strategy, transformation and operational excellence, moves to new offices in the centre of Paris. Now located at 36 rue Laffitte in the 9th district of the capital, Karistem benefits from a central location and is well served by public transport. “For us, it was very important to stay close to the centre of decision-making, not only to move around more easily and more quickly, but also to receive our customers and partners in our own offices”, says Saad Bennani, Managing Partner at Karistem. “We therefore looked for offices in Paris, with humans dimensions, to welcome new employees as part of our development.”

Beyond branding, choosing an address and spacious offices in Paris was also an important criterion in terms of employability. “We want to attract and recruit the best consultants. Beyond the variety and the interest of the missions, the location and the quality of life in the office are usually part of the criteria used by the candidates to choose a consulting firm. Karistem can now offer them that”, welcomes Hervé Borensztejn, Managing Partner at Karistem.

Besides open space working and traditional meeting rooms, a creative room was specifically fitted to create a collaborative space for both consultants and their clients. A multifunctional meeting room lets us organise almost any type of internal or external events. Even though the teams have already started to work operationally, the official opening of the offices will take place at the end of the first quarter, during the ten-year celebration of the firm.

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Karistem Corporate Consulting briefly
Karistem Corporate Consulting (KCC) is a consulting firm specializing in strategy, transformation and operational excellence. Since 2004, KCC develops and implements major transformation projects supported by the Exectutive Managament to improve the competitiveness of the heart of business and / or support functions to align the business strategy. KCC’s approach is results-oriented and puts people at the heart of each transformation. KCC is committed (1) the involvement and ownership of the change by the largest number of people and (2) on fast, major and lasting results.
www.karistem-consulting.com

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Press Contact
Sebastien de Boisfleury
Head of Communications & Marketing
Mail : sebastien.de-boisfleury@karistem.com

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Karistem wishes you a great 2015…

…and would like to present its new address in the centre of Paris !

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CIFFOP working session

“Consultants Methods : sharing with Karistem”

Paris, 29 October 2014. CIFFOP and Karistem Corporate Consulting invite all the CIFFOP students or former students to attend a working session on strategic and transformative methods used by consulting firms.

These rigorous methods and tools are particularly interesting because they allow the consulting companies to effectively meet their customers’ variety of problems (organizational, structural, strategic or tactical), even when consultants have little experience in these topics when starting their assignments.

At this session, you will learn consulting methods (which you can then implement in your business), understand the mechanisms and methodologies and demystify them if necessary, and have the opportunity to see if HR consulting may be a career option for you.

Hervé Borensztejn (Associate Professor at Paris 2, Associate Director of Karistem and former corporate HRD) and some of the Managing Partners from his firm invite you, along with the CIFFOP Executive and French Master’s tracks, to attend this event on Thursday, 27 November from 18:00 to 20:00 in the large auditorium at Centre Guy de la Brosse. The session will be conducted in English.

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Karistem Corporate Consulting briefly
Karistem Corporate Consulting (KCC) is a consulting firm specializing in strategy, transformation and operational excellence. Since 2004, KCC develops and implements major transformation projects supported by the Exectutive Managament to improve the competitiveness of the heart of business and / or support functions to align the business strategy. KCC’s approach is results-oriented and puts people at the heart of each transformation. KCC is committed (1) the involvement and ownership of the change by the largest number of people and (2) on fast, major and lasting results.
www.karistem-consulting.com

CIFFOP breifly
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Training in Personnel Function (CIFFOP) was created in 1973 by Nicole Catala, within the Panthéon Assas Paris II. The centres’ work includes a Master 2 (formerly DESS) in Management of Human Resources and Labour Relations. It also supports multiple HR Master 2 and coaching. With its success, the CIFFOP created the International Human Resources Management Master in 2007 whose teachings are exclusively taught in English. To support corporate executives who feel the need to deepen their knowledge or develop their skills in managing human resources, CIFFOP also opened an Executive course in 2009 in Paris and 2011 in Luxembourg.
www.ciffopexec.com

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Press Contact
Sebastien de Boisfleury
Head of Communications & Marketing
Tel. : 01 44 50 39 12
Mail : sebastien.de-boisfleury@karistem.com

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Karistem officially approved by the “Médiation Inter-entreprises”,

the “Médiation des Marchés Publics” and the “CDAF”

Paris, 15 october 2014. Karistem, consulting firm in strategy, transformation and operational excellence, was officially approved by the “Médiation Inter-entreprises” (Mediation Inter-enterprises), “Médiation des Marchés Publics” (Mediation Public Procurement) and CDAF (Compagnie des Dirigeants et des Acheteurs de France – Company executives and buyers from France), to help companies and public operators sign the Responsibles relations Suppliers Charter and help them implement their commitments.
“Obtaining this authorization confirms Karistem’s expertise in sustainable procurement, purchase-to-pay process (P2P) and Corporate social responsibility (CSR)”, welcomes Saad Bennani, Managing Partner of Karistem. “We are especially proud that few consulting firms and vocational training institutions are accredited, in a market where many firms avail themselves of delivering consultancy in responsible purchasing “
Indeed, the authorization granted by the Mediation Inter-enterprises, Mediation Public Procurement and CDAF is awarded to a limited number of consulting firms and training, after special training, filing and review of an application and a defence before a jury. Now, Karistem can actually rely on this authorization in its institutional and commercial documentation, and on its website, including via a special logo with the words “consulting firm”. A description of Karistem will also be posted on the website of Charter (www.relations-fournisseur-responsables.fr).

Supporting everyday business and public entities
“It’s been a decade that we support everyday business and public entities, some of which are already signatories to the Charter, at their CSR initiatives and sustainable purchasing” shares Peter Ravenel, head of responsible purchasing practice in Karistem. “We deal with the branches and sourcing management who are convinced that sustainable procurement creates value and contributes to the procurement organization performance.” For example, Karistem’s teams believe that a purely defensive approach (focused solely on risk management, for example), a responsible supplier’s charter without real commitment or resources, CSR schedules in contracts mainly recalling regulations, etc. are counter-performance.
The effectiveness of the purchase-to-pay process (P2P) is also part of the areas of Karistem expertise, particularly the timeliness of payment providers, a key principle of the Charter. According Altares, almost 70% of companies pay their suppliers late, a percentage that rises to 90% in the ETI and large enterprises. But the risk of failure of suppliers is multiplied by 6 beyond 30 days late payment. In many cases, non-payment at the time of subcontractors results from organizational and behavioural issues. “Sometimes, accounting-provider accepts sole responsibility while the causes of these recurrent delays are also searching upstream from the purchase request and control, says Anne-Frédérique Burgaud, Karistem manager in charge of the P2P offer. We help our clients to identify and to overcome these problems, for more sustainable and responsible relationships with their suppliers. “

Ten commitments for sustainable purchasing
Designed in 2010 by the Mediation Inter-enterprises and CDAF, the Charter is shaped to encourage companies to adopt responsible purchasing practices with their suppliers. Today, the promotion and facilitation of the Charter are guaranteed by the Mediation Inter-enterprises and CDAF.


The Responsibles Relations Suppliers Charter, includes 10 commitments for responsible procurement:

• Apply the LME law (Loi de Modernisation de l’Economie : law of modernization of the economy);
• Create a sustainable relationship between the prime contractor and the supplier, for example in terms of financial fairness or transparency of the order book and production capacity while ensuring control risks of too much interdependence ;
• Foster collaboration with strategic suppliers, to improve performance, the client works with the subcontractor should be regarded as a strategic partner;
• Choose a provider taking into account the total cost of the purchase, not just the apparent price, integrating logistics costs, risks in terms of replenishment, quality problems and image;
• Take into account the environmental impact of its business and operations, including outsourced activities;
• Ensure the territorial responsibility of the company seeking the territory in which it operates, to contribute as much as possible to develop the economy.

The Charter has now 475 signatories, representing a purchasing volume of almost € 450 billion. We find many organizations, both from the public and private sector: large companies, ETI, small and very small suppliers, socio-professional organizations, federations, etc.

The idea of an official certification for consulting firms as Karistem arose from the fact that the signatories of the Charter may need to resort to consulting compenies or training in order to:

• Professionalize their purchases teams, in particular to update skills on 10 commitments for responsible purchasing in the Charter;
• Help them raise communicate to their collaborators in the buying process, especially when dealing with suppliers in order to improve the construction of sustainable and balanced relationship;
• Help them raise their organization to mediation or to professionalize their internal mediators.

Thus, the Mediation Inter-enterprises, Mediation Public Procurement and CDAF wanted to create a formal approval for referencing firms that can assist signatories to the Charter. Karistem is now one of them.

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Karistem Corporate Consulting briefly.
Karistem Corporate Consulting (KCC) is a consulting firm specializing in strategy, transformation and operational excellence. Since 2004, KCC develops and implements major transformation projects supported by the Exectutive Managament to improve the competitiveness of the heart of business and / or support functions to align the business strategy. KCC’s approach is results-oriented and puts people at the heart of each transformation. KCC is committed (1) the involvement and ownership of the change by the largest number of people and (2) on fast, major and lasting results.
www.karistem-consulting.com

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Press Contact
Sebastien de Boisfleury
Head of Communications & Marketing
Tel. : 01 44 50 39 12
Mail : sebastien.de-boisfleury@karistem.com

All our press releases