"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them" Albert Einstein
THE GIMSI METHOD IN 10 QUESTIONS/ANSWERS
Driving the cooperative performance
Gimsi is a method for designing decision aid systems and more precisely driving assistance systems with cooperative performance scorecard.
Well structured in 10 successive stages, the GIMSI is part of a modern management method favoring cooperation and knowledge sharing. It is true that this's the only way to conceive an efficient decision aid system. In this way, GIMSI grafts a bottom up dimension on the traditional top down approach and focuses on the essential question :
How decisions are really made on the field?
Implication and suitability are in the heart of the method.
The GIMSI ® Method is entirely discribed and explained in details in the reference book
"Les nouveaux tableaux de bord des managers", true road map in the 10 stages of the project.
1
Building the cooperative performance scorecard
The decisional computing project, like all the strategic information systems projects, marks a total break with the classical management of informatic projects. It is not anymore a question of rationalizing the flow, automating process or improving productivity by encreasing processing capacities. It is not either a question of replacing man, the actor of the company.
With the accelaration of change and the resulting complexity for companies, excesses of automation are resolved and the decisional system aims at a totally different goal.
It is here for providing help and assistance to the actors of the company at the time of the decision making process.
Let's study the
GIMSI ® method, an approach perfectly adapted to this new issue and to the cooperative performance scorecard design.
2
Which are the kinds of projects concerned by the GIMSI method?
The decisional system answers the needs of two different populations : analysts and experienced decision-makers. Analysts, as is indicated by their names, analyse datas for market, client profile, segmentation or product impact researches. They use statistic and datamining tools to study masses of datas. Decison-makers, much more numerous, are in crucial situations and have to decide very quickly. They hope to be able to have at their disposal cooperative performance scorecards presenting key performance indicators showing the state of the system to be checked according to their respective preoccupation.
Nowadays, all the operational persons in charge are concerned. With the increase of responsabilities for the actors of the company, in a continuous research of improvement of reactivity towards pro-activity, the cooperative performance scorecard, true assistant of the decision maker in situations, will be on all the work stations.
3
Beyond myths, what is the real contribution of technology?
To make the right decision, we must :
1. Have a clear and precise view of the situation and the context.
2. Have at our disposal informations and advices for the instruction phase.
Technology contribution is significant for each of these two points. It allows us to design a system to manage collection, consolidation and presentation of significiant informations for the decision-maker. The new technologies of information sharing, groupware, intranet, are particularly efficiant to counter isolation of the decision-maker.
4But the GIMSI method isn't exclusively concerned with the technological aspect
Present technology is quite mature to design a high performance decisional system and it would be a great pity to loose the purpose of the project by focusing exclusively on technical specificities. The error is easy to make and unfortunately very common. Let's not forget that they are men, actors within an organizational structure, who make decisions according to axles of development or strategy more or less expressed. Decisional computing technology is here to serve and assist them. Our entire approach turns on these four dimensions.
5 The GIMSI methodology puts forward the cooperative performance scorecard long-standing notion. What are the new contributions?
It is not a question of new contributions but a complete redefination of the concept to fit the present reality. In the Taylorian company's time, Key performance scorecards presented exclusively costs and productivity key performance indicators. In a steady and not very competitive environment, with long-term monopolies, the only company 's preoccupation was to produce "more" at always "less costs". Nowadays, we aren't anymore in that situation. To react quickly, there are more and more decision centers in companies. They are closer to the plant and managers aren't anymore the only ones to have the exclusive decison making. On the other hand, the ways of success aren't anymore restricted to an essentially productivist research. The control of internal and external process in terms of quality, time limit, cost, regularity, the following up of supplier-partners, subcontractors or social climate and internal communication are all ways of success to be measured for the client satisfaction.
6Actually, measuring productivity and costs isn't anymore enough. The list of the spheres to be measured is getting longer ...
It's not at all an exhaustive list. We are living through a real revolution of our ways of working. Let's just consider the current change of the client-supplier relation as it is initiated by on-line banks and e-commerce. To lead to success such an undertaking, it is obvious that the ways of driving a company has to be continuously adapted. In this particular case, among other things, we'll have to be very careful with the performance definition of the information system, genuine keystone of integrated companies.
7The various persons in charge, computing managers, production managers, sales managers don't have the same needs. How to build each one's cooperative performance scorecard?
Each actor, in his own context, adapts at his level the ways of success selected by the company. The cooperative performance scorecard will be adjusted to the performance measure according to the selected main lines. We manage only what we measure. For beginning we are going to define what we want to manage before defining the measurement indicators. This approach is adaptable to all situations. For example, if the main preoccupation is the reduction of the cycle time, it is not with a cooperative performance scorecard showing only produced quantities and cost prices that we'll reach our goal. It is not either by presenting too global performance indicators, on which the concerned actor can't take action, that we'll bring any assistance to the decision process.
8The decision-maker isn't isolated. What are the GIMSI method contributions as regards decision making in teams ?
Responsability is more and more shared by a work team.
GIMSI ® methodology is based on the problematics of efficient decision making in groups and suggests well proven tools for choosing goals, for selecting and building key performance indicators in teams.
9 What to think of standard key performance indicators?
Standard key performance indicators don't exist. A key performance indicator is pertinent only when measuring the distance to a defined goal and when it has been selected by the concerned actors. We must know what we measure and why.
- Is it a question of improving the time limit?
- Reducing costs?
- Reducing the number of failures, controling complains?
Whatever the goals that have been selected, we'll choose, according to a participative method, the key performance indicators that are the most adapted to the goals, the company context and the concerned decision-makers.
10Which technological infrastructure has to be set up?
4 aspects have to be considered :
- Data collection
- Data coherence and consolidation
- Key performance indicators construction and presentation
- Global consolidation
The two first aspects are handled by a datawarehouse/datamart solution + ETL.
Aspect 3 is an integral part of the key performance indicator.
Aspect 4 is solved by the communication setting of the key performance scorecard with the help of a groupware or intranet software package
GIMSI© is a trademark belonging to Alain FERNANDEZ
keywords : Gimsi, cooperative performance scorecard, measure perspectives, quality key indicator, performance measure, business intelligence, data warehouse,Olap, datamining, management, performance,ETL,business intelligence, CRM, ERP, SCM, EAI, balanced scorecard
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: Alain FERNANDEZ ©1998-2006- Tous droits réservés
