The CUNA Mutual Group implemented a major integration project that applied standard methods of business process modeling, requirements management, project management, change management, and organizational design.
Peter Gilbertson is a Process & Quality Consultant at CUNA Mutual Group in Wisconsin . His primary focus is establishing corporate standards for process design and improvement methods as well as supporting large corporate strategic projects.
CUNA Mutual is the leading provider of financial and insurance product and services to credit unions and their members worldwide. There are currently 6000 employees with annual revenues of $2.4 billion.
In his talk, Gilbertson discussed how CUNA inplemented multiple methodologies using the three themes of strategy, people and processes to execute a large corporate project. He pointed out that focusing on these things would help any organization with any corporate project.
The problem at CUNA was how to distribute direct marketing more effectively to credit union members. The direct marketing group mails product offers to members and calls members for sales. It used old technologies with undefined processes and inconsistent people practices. The total cost of the project was $6.5 million and incorporated two new software systems and a new database. The project took 18 months and involved 85 staff members, two consulting companies and three vendors.
The multiple methodologies were:
- Project management
- Process modeling
- Requirements management
- Organization design
- Change management
The deliverables included:
- Project plan
- Process models
- Requirements
- New organizational charts
- Communication and change control plan
- Test and integration plan
CUNA Mutual’s process and quality philosophy was to apply quality management principles to a system, the key to having sustained performance. The business units achieve better execution from managing day-to-day processes after the project is over resulting in a more effective organizational design linked to the business strategy. The three parts are quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. The processes are developed, measures are established and then continuously improved.
The process modeling approach provided a roadmap for both business owners and analysts. The approach included:
- Business concept / Chevron diagrams
- SIPOC diagrams
- Top-down or node tree diagrams
- Activity diagrams
Gilbertson provided a number of slides showing the various steps and how all of the above fit together. To improve project execution CUNA developed a strategy and remained committed to it. The company assigned the right people to the project. The processes were the backbone of the effort. CUNA’s approach to process modeling is hierarchical, with continual emphasis on the processes.
