ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ingenuity is more necessary than ever in this economic climate. To
recognize and honor insightful, groundbreaking practices, the Corporate
Executive Board (NASDAQ:
EXBD -
News) launched the
Force of Ideas Awards
in Procurement, Strategy, Internal Audit, and Corporate Finance – key
drivers for corporations in today’s economic environment.
Over 50 Fortune 500 companies from around the world submitted
applications for the award. A team comprised of the Corporate Executive
Board’s researchers and C-Level executives from leading organizations
selected Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Volksbank, Wells Fargo, and RTI
International for their leadership in Procurement, Strategy, Audit, and
Corporate Finance respectively. The work submitted by each winner is
highlighted below.
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Submitted by:
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Lockheed Martin
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Terrain:
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Procurement
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Award Topic:
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Supply Risk Management
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Practice:
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“Show Me” Supplier Verification Standard
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Lockheed Martin reduced surprises in supply risk management by
closing gaps between claims and reality – both for its suppliers and
for its own staff. Lockheed Martin accomplished this by developing a
“show me” standard for claim verification. This is especially
critical when those claims are related to whether or not the actor
will be able to complete tasks as promised.
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Results:
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The financial risk profile of Lockheed Martin’s supply base has been
40% lower than that of the D&B supplier index since the financial
crisis began in Sept 2008.
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Submitted by:
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McDonald’s
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Terrain:
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Strategy
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Award Topic:
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Business and Product Portfolio Strategy
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Practice:
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Growth Framework and Planning Process
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To improve its growth prospects, McDonald’s strategy group built a
portfolio management framework illustrating the idea that “not all
opportunities are created equally.” This framework allowed
McDonald’s to link opportunities at the business unit level to those
at the enterprise level. By clearly aligning resource allocation
decisions to corporate goals, McDonald’s is able to more easily
prioritize opportunities and make hard decisions across the
organization.
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Results:
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From 2004 to 2008, total global sales increased 41.1%, operating
income increased 81.3%, and net income increased 89.3%.
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Submitted by:
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Volksbank
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Terrain:
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Strategy
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Award Topic:
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Business and Product Portfolio Strategy
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Practice:
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Bottom-Up Assumption Calibration
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Faced with unprecedented uncertainty in the financial sector,
Volksbank’s corporate strategy team developed a new approach to
assumptions management that allowed them to measure the level of
uncertainty for each of their strategic assumptions, thereby
ensuring a more robust business portfolio. They began with a
bottoms-up approach documenting the individual assumptions held by
each of their senior executives. The team then used disagreement
levels between the executives over each assumption as a highly
credible proxy measure for uncertainty.
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Results:
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Using this method, the chief strategist facilitated a series of
portfolio review deliberations that were highly collaborative,
productive, and took less than a third of the time of a typical
review.
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Submitted by:
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Wells Fargo
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Terrain:
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Audit
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Award Topic:
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Refocusing Internal Audit in a Downturn
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Practice:
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Leveraged Assurance Process
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Wells Fargo Audit Services, by creating a reliable assurance process
for other internal assessment groups, reduced redundant work among
governance partners, expanded their risk coverage, and provided the
executive team with an enterprise view of the internal control
environment for each line of business.
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Results:
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The new approach resulted in 50% reduction in auditable units and
refocused 1,600 testing hours representing 6.5% of total FTE
Internal Audit requirements.
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Submitted by:
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RTI International
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Terrain:
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Corporate Finance / CFO Executive Board
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Award Topic:
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Strategic Risk Management
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Practice:
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Key Risk Indicator Dashboard
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RTI uses specific qualitative and quantitative metrics to indicate
and detect early signs of emerging risk vulnerabilities, their root
causes, and the potential impact to the organization.
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Results:
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The use of these metrics allowed RTI to reject several project and
business unit decisions that were not deemed to fit the overall
mission and strategy of the organization.
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The Corporate Executive Board is currently selecting a topic for next
year’s award based on pressing issues that companies in the four
practice areas are facing. For more information on the award, please
visit The Corporate Executive Board’s Force of Ideas awards page
at www.forceofideas.com.
About the Force of Ideas Award
The Force of Ideas recognizes corporate executives, functional
teams, and engaged consulting houses for the design and implementation
of exemplary business ideas that:
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1.
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Fundamentally redefine best demonstrated practices, functions or key
business processes, and
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2.
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Create sustainable, measurable value for internal/external
stakeholders or advance the development of professional communities.
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More than an award, the Force of Ideas is a dialogue that enables
leading executives to elevate their trade, improve organizational
performance, and groom the next generation of leaders in the field.
About Corporate Executive Board
The Corporate Executive Board (NASDAQ: EXBD - News) drives faster, more
effective decision making among the world’s leading executives and
business professionals. As the premier, network-based knowledge
resource, it provides them with the authoritative and timely guidance
needed to excel in their roles, take decisive action and improve company
performance. Powered by a member network that spans more than 50
countries and represents more than 80% of the world’s Fortune 500
companies, the Corporate Executive Board offers the unique research
insights along with an integrated suite of members-only tools and
resources that enable the world’s most successful organizations to
deliver superior business outcomes. Based in Washington, DC, the company
employs more than 2,500 professionals in offices around the world. For
more information, visit www.exbd.com.
