Campus Financial Systems for the Future

II. Articulating a Strategic Framework

Establishing Planning Principles

The effective implementation of such a high-level vision depends on the existence of a set of principles to guide downstream decisions. An exercise to develop such principles for the new system should be the next order of business for the steering committee. Principles are typically developed in the form of declarative statements of design intentions. For example, planning principles recently adopted by the University of California as part of its process of establishing a strategic framework for implementing a financial information system include the following:

Design for the future
Design for effective and efficient internal control
Leverage existing investments in the financial management infrastructure
Design for ease of use by the primary stakeholders

(These principles are elaborated in the Sample Planning Principles table; additional examples of planning principles from other institutions are included in Appendix A.)

When partnerships with external vendors or other institutions are anticipated, the steering committee will need to develop principles that define desired partner behaviors and parameters, as well as expected partnership outcomes.

Principles, like vision statements, have the potential to create powerful consensus and good will for the project. They often appear to be simplistic or superficial in nature. While this can be the case, it rarely is. Principle statements that are developed in an atmosphere of commitment, trust, and mutual respect are often compellingly simple, rather than simplistic. The process of establishing these fundamental statements often creates the glue that holds projects of this kind together for a successful conclusion. Most important, these principles form much of the yardstick against which elements of the future system are judged and against which design decisions can be evaluated.

The vision and principles of the steering committee form, in essence, a touchstone for the project. They also define -- with project budget and scheduling performance -- the basis on which key project milestones and outcomes can be evaluated. Throughout the project and especially during major milestone reviews, project design and implementation decisions should be reconciled to the stated vision and principles. On an informal and ongoing basis, steering committee members must always ask how a recommendation or choice will move the project closer to realizing the stated vision.

During formal reviews of project milestones, elements of the vision and principles can and should be translated into formal measures to help assess the outcomes of the project. If, for example, there is a vision of robust electronic commerce, the percentage of payroll, purchasing, and other transactions performed electronically can be measured. Some of these measures should be devised early in project planning, for even successfully implemented projects can fail in the minds of some campus constituents for lack of effective communication of project success in measurable terms.

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