Benefits Management: it works, so why isn’t everybody doing it? Webinar, 10th May 2016

Benefits Management: it works, so why
isn’t everybody doing it?
Dr Richard Breese
Senior Lecturer
Sheffield Business School
Sheffield Hallam University
r.breese@shu.ac.uk
John Thorp,
President
The Thorp Network
Victoria, BC, Canada
john_thorp@thorpnet.com
Both Committee Members of the APM Benefits
Management SIG

Outline of the session
 Definitions
 25 years of the development of Benefits
Management
 Evidence that BM works
 Benchmarking the current position
 Barriers to the adoption and embedding of
BM, and possible solutions
 Your questions

Terminology
Disbenefit
Capability
Critical success factors
Impact

Definitions
Benefit ‘positive and measurable impact of change', (APM Body of
Knowledge 6th Edition, 2012 p124)
Benefits Management ‘the identification, definition, planning,
tracking and realisation of business benefits'. (APM Body of Knowledge 6th
Edition, 2012 p124)
Benefits Realisation Management ‘the process of organising
and managing, so that potential benefits, arising from investment
in change, are actually achieved’, (Bradley, 2010, ‘Benefit Realisation Management’, 2nd
Ed. p29)
Benefits Realisation Approach ‘A business oriented framework,
supported by a set of processes, techniques and instruments
which enables organisations to select and manage a portfolio of
programs such that benefits are clearly defined, optimised and
harvested'. (Thorp, 1998 & 2003, The Information Paradox)

Translation of benefits management as a
‘management idea’
The theoretical lens of translation is a way of examining and
attempting to explain the spread of benefits management and
the barriers to its adoption and embedding
Translation focuses on the processes through which
management ideas spread and influence management
practice (Czarniawska and Sevon, 2005, Global Ideas: How Ideas, Objects
and Practices Travel in a Global Economy).
Translation emphasises the changes which occur to
management ideas as they are spread, involving both actors
(people) and objects (guidance and other forms of
documentation)
Breese,R.,Jenner,S.,Serra,C.,Thorp,J.(2015).Benefitsmanagement:Lostorfoundin
translation.InternationalJournalofProjectManagement,33(7)pp1438-1451.

Stages
1 2 3 4
1980 1990 2000 2010
Consultancy, Training,
Research Key Players -
consultancies and universities
Incorporation into project
management and IS/IT
guidance Key Players - gov'ts
and professional bodies
Networks and maturity
models
Key Players - diverse
Accreditation in BM
Key Players – trainers and
educators
The layers and stages model of the
development of BM (Breese et al., 2015 (see previous slide))

Evidence that 'it works‘ (Recent studies)
‘Our results show BRM practices being positive predictors to project
success on the creation of strategic value for the business ‘ Serra, C. E. M. and
Kunc, M., 2015, Benefits Realisation Management and its influence on project success and on the execution of
business strategies, International Journal of Project Management.
‘most organizations are missing major opportunities to add strategic
value because they lack a formal and focused approach to benefits
management’. PMI, 2016, ‘Pulse of the Profession’ report, The strategic impact of projects: identify benefits
to drive business results.
[organisations mature in benefits realisation] ...’are in a position to truly
manage business value, even in the face of significant internal and
external change and uncertainty’. Gartner, 2011. Benefits Realization: The Gift That Keeps On
Giving
BM helps organisations achieve their goals,
gives a better chance of success

Evidence that 'it works‘ (Earlier studies)
“Managing IT from an investment perspective — with a continuing focus on
value, risk, cost, and benefits — has helped businesses reduce IT costs by up
to 30%, with a 2x-3x increase in value.” Source : Meta Group White Paper: The Business of IT
Portfolio Management: Balancing Risk, Innovation, and ROI. 2002
‘......organizations which are more successful at delivering benefits from their
IS/IT investment projects are more likely to have a comprehensive approach to
managing benefits from them’. Ward, J., De Hertogh, S., Viane, S., 2007. Managing the benefits from
IS/IT investments: an empirical investigation into current practice. Proceedings of the 40th Hawaii International
Conference on Systems Science.
“Companies with a business process-centric approach to delivering and
measuring value succeed - 73% realize value on time or early” Source: ASUG/SAP
Best Practices Survey, SAP Analysis, February 2008
BM helps organisations achieve their goals,
gives a better chance of success

Poll – ‘where are you at’ in BM
Which one of the descriptions below most closely describes the
overall state of benefits management (BM) in your enterprise?
1. Limited - focus on cost & delivery of investments
2. Awareness - ad hoc with no formal approach
3. Understanding - BM reqt’s documented for all investments
4. Commitment - roles, responsibilities and accountability accepted
5. Institutionalized - benefits management is part of the culture

APM Benefits Management SIG
Response 2014
(%)
n = 44
2015
(%)
n = 57
Benefits management is very relevant to the key challenges facing
my organisation in using P3M to achieve its goals
66% 69%
Benefits management fits quite easily or very easily into the way
that my organisation undertakes P3M.
47% 31%
There is a consensus throughout or in most parts of my
organisation that benefits management should be an integral part
of P3M.
43% 38%
My organisation finds benefits management to be very useful or of
some use in practice in improving the contribution of P3M to
organisational goals
65% 56%
There is a strong or very strong benefits focus in the wider
approach to management in my organisation, from strategy to
operations
36% 24%
Surveys, 2014 and 2015
https://www.apm.org.uk/news/bm-survey-2015

Poll –’ what is working’ for you
Which of following have been effective in your organisation in
moving BM forward? (Tick all that apply)
1. Senior management “walk the talk”
2. Workshops or other stakeholder engagement processes
3. Benefits modelling/mapping
4. Complete and comparable business cases
5. Taking a portfolio view

What issues would facilitate adoption and
implementation of benefits management of IT
investments in Norwegian municipalities?
Factors were identified as
1. ease of use,
2. straightforward results,
3. clarity of goals,
4. clear responsibilities to conduct benefits management
5. inter-professional co-operation for realizing benefits in
municipalities.
The main issues were perceived to be
cultivating an organisational culture towards BM,
organising the BM process
how to choose appropriate methods and tools.
Paivarinta,T.,Dertz,W.,Flak,L.S.,2007.IssuesofAdoptingBenefitsManagementPracticesofItInvestmentsin
Municipalities:ADelphiStudyinNorway.Proceedingsofthe40th HawaiiInternationalConferenceonSystem
Sciences

Factors influencing the adoption and
effectiveness of BM
Factors which influence the adoption of BM,
industry sector,
company size,
the scope of IT investments.
Factors which will influence the effectiveness of BM,
clear roles and responsibilities,
governance structures for cross-boundary collaboration
an organisational culture conducive to BM
Hesselmann,F.,Mohan,K.,2014.Whereareweheadedwithbenefitsmanagementresearch?
Currentshortcomingsandavenuesforfutureresearch.22ndEuropeanConferenceon
InformationSystems,TelAviv.

Poll – ‘what are the constraints’ for you?
Which of the following factors have constrained adoption of BM in
your organisation? (Tick all that apply)
1. Leadership commitment
2. Business planning & budgeting processes
3. Lack of acceptance of accountability for benefits
4. Lack of knowledge of methods and tools
5. Varying commitment across departmental boundaries

“After all is said and done, more is
said than done”
Aesop

Challenges of achieving change
“Coming up with the ideas is the easy part, but
getting things done is the tough part. The place
where these reforms are going to die is…down
in the trenches”
Michael Hammer, 1993 http://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/08/us/washington-takes-
leaf-from-business-manuals.html
“Faced with the choice between changing one’s
mind and proving that here is no need to do so,
almost everybody gets busy on the proof”
Kenneth Galbraith, Economics, Peace and Laughter (1971), p. 50
People
We need to evolve from a Technology
Delivery Mindset to a Business Value
Mindset

Why isn’t BM common practice?
• NOT a lack of books, articles, frameworks,
methods, techniques or tools
• The challenge is adoption and sustainment –
bridging the “Knowing-Doing Gap”1
• Human behaviour – or rather our inability to
change it - from a delivery mindset to a value
mindset - from the Boardroom to the front line
- is at the core of the challenge
• Technology creates greater expectations while
at the same time requiring increasingly
significant changes to behavioural habits, or
norms if those expectations are to be met – all
this within an increasingly complex and
interdependent “ecosystem”.
©2016 The Thorp Network Inc.1Source: Pfeffer & Sutton, 2000. HBS Press

Keys to Success with BM
Benefits management goes beyond project management - &
beyond programme & portfolio management - it is an
organisational mindset shift focus towards value creation &
sustainment - it can dramatically threaten and disrupt the
power structure of the organisation - it is essential:
• Before starting, to:
– Enlist senior executive sponsorship - CXO active
involvement is essential & the #1 CSF!
– Recognise that introducing benefits management is about
behavioural change - it is a significant change management
programme!
• In Managing the Journey, to:
– Chart the destination & decide where to begin.
– Take an incremental approach - start “Lite” with small steps.
– Avoid excessive bureaucracy.
Source : Adapted from Peter Harrison and Sarah Harries article “Five Critical Success Factors for Introducing Val IT” – ISACA journal Volume 3, 2009

“Be prepared for a long journey
and don’t embark alone”
Peter Senge et al., The Dance of Change, 1999

Further research
how do organisations first find out about BM, and how is
knowledge about BM spread within that organisation?
what are the key factors which determine whether and how
BM is explicitly used in an organisation and who makes the
decisions?
how easily does BM fit within the approach to project,
programme and portfolio management in organisations?
how easy do organisations find it to build commitment to BM
over time, and embed it in their processes?
what is the relationship between organisational culture,
specifically one orientated towards value, and the use of BM
methods and practices?

ForthcomingAPM Benefits Management
SIG events
14 June Benefits Management : a core theme in
management research and education?
Sheffield
https://www.apm.org.uk/event/benefits-management-core-theme-management-research-and-
education
23 June APM Benefits Summit 2016 and SIG Annual
General Meeting
London
https://www.apm.org.uk/event/apm-benefits-summit-2016

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at an APM webinar
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our website
www.apm.org.uk/events

Benefits Management: it works, so why isn’t everybody doing it? Webinar, 10th May 2016

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