ABP awareness - NEXT DELIVERY - May 6,2021

This ½-day online workshop, delivered by Landmark Decisions, covers the basics of activity-based planning (ABP) and how it can be used to enhance resource deployment, cost management, and operational planning. Through use of a case study, participants will learn how to apply ABP principles to gain better insights into resource consumption and utilization. Operational models created using ABP concepts show how resource costs can be traced through business processes to develop detailed service delivery information for the determination of true product costs, service fees and budgets. These models can also be used for “what-if” analysis to better forecast the cost and impact of changes in business processes or client demands.

The workshop pre-work will employ a short case study to help with understanding of the concepts. It will also demo Collaborative Business Planning (CBP), which provides users across the organization with a highly-visual and interactive ABP solution to develop and understand the operational and cost flows of any service delivery process. CBP provides a shared environment for operational, financial and strategic managers and planners to develop a common understanding of the key factors influencing costs and operational budgets.

• Understand operational models to help manage budgets, develop realistic product costs and service fees, and implement meaningful cost recovery strategies
• Recognize the impact of resource constraints on product or service delivery costs and budgets
• Appreciate the value of collaborative scenario-playing to evaluate efficiency improvements that align with LEAN or other business process improvement initiatives

  This workshop provides foundational training on developing high quality business process/cost management content. It also demonstrates how leading-edge ABP software like CBP can be used to help organizations better collaborate to improve organizational performance. It will benefit:

• Financial and resource management professionals responsible for program/service costing or budgeting
• Operational managers, planners and analysts challenged with optimizing business processes impacting service delivery
• Strategic managers, planners and analysts responsible for charting future organizational direction and performance 

Fundamentals of Activity-Based Planning (ABP)

• Common challenges in operational costing and budgeting
• The evolution of cost management methodologies
• CAM-I’s Closed Loop methodology concepts
• Key benefits of an ABP approach to better costing and budgeting

Key Techniques for Implementing ABP

• Identifying major hurdles to successfully implementing ABP
• The use and value of a structured 8 Step implementation methodology
• The importance of aligning ABP projects with other organizational initiatives
• Tips for initiating and sustaining ABP projects

The Role and Value of ABP Technology

• How technology enhances organizational engagement for ABP
• The value proposition for implementing ABP technology
• Applying ABP concepts using Collaborative Business Planning (CBP)

Workshop pre-work

• A short case study will be provided to participants for review in advance of the workshop

Mike Haley, M.Sc., is President of Landmark Decisions Inc., a Canadian niche consulting firm providing worldwide “performance alignment” facilitation, training, and implementation services. Mike has over 25 years’ experience in developing and delivering professional training on strategic and operational planning and cost modeling techniques which help public-sector organizations improve their business decision-making capacity. 

Public sector clients have included Canadian Coast Guard, Health Canada, Transport Canada, Treasury Board Secretariat, Veterans Affairs, University of Sydney (AUS), US Navy, and various departments in the New Zealand government. Mike has also worked with private-sector clients such as Air Canada, Bell Aliant, Kroger Foods, Maersk-Sealand, Pfizer, and Telekom Malaysia. 

A frequent speaker/lecturer on topics of operational costing and performance reporting, Mike also serves on the Board of the Nova Scotia Chapter of the Financial Management Institute of Canada (FMI.ca), a Canadian not-for-profit volunteer association focused on knowledge sharing in all aspects of public sector financial management.