Mott MacDonald define and drive a comprehensive programme radically altering the approach to the planning, management and control of a £2.0 billion annual development programme.

Telecommunications is both the most capital intensive and rapidly evolving industry in the world today. Fast developing technology, market demands, increasing competition and regulatory demands mean change is continuous and the ability to manage and control the impact of change becomes critical.

Mott MacDonald performed several pivotal roles for Cable & Wireless plc in the design, development and delivery of a major programme enabling them to respond rapidly to the above pressures and maximise the use of limited capital and operational resources.

Called the Capital Efficiency Programme it re-engineered how Cable & Wireless planned, governed and controlled its substantial capital deployment programme. The capital processes and frameworks introduced balanced the need to encourage local initiative with maintaining corporate direction to deliver greater efficiency, increased control, improved value and informed investment decisions at every level. They also provided a global management solution to match the global demands of international customers.

At the highest level Mott MacDonald provided the Manager for the overall programme who led a “virtual team”, representing all Business Units and corporate functions. Together they defined the objectives and solutions and then secured the agreement and support of the Executive and Business Unit Management Teams prior to scheduling and implementing the strategic changes required. The “Hearts and Minds” issue was addressed throughout to ensure people recognised the need for change and became advocates for the recommended solutions.

Working at the Group level Mott MacDonald also:

• Audited and analysed existing methodologies to identify the good practice and established benchmarks for improvement.
• Defined the business planning framework, governance framework, the programme and project management processes and the reporting needs.
• Developed process documentation and established Intranet/Internet website for publication and communication.
• Defined training needs, developed the training resources, materials and trainers to provide the required training and implemented training for over 1,000 personnel.
• Quality assured the implementation of the programme within the operational business units.

The key features of the programme, completed in November 1998, and which is already providing a measurable improvement in the Return on Average Capital Employed included:

• Integration of the capital performance objectives with the corporate strategy.
• Re-alignment of rewards and incentives with capital performance objectives.
• Consistent framework and processes for Business Planning, Governance, Programme and Project Implementation and Control and Reporting.
• Revenues and benefits linked to capital programmes.
• Clear accountabilities for programme/project performance and delivery of benefits.
• Adoption of “one company, one process” philosophy.
• Higher standards and profile of project management.
• Rigorous application of risk and value management
• Succinct accurate reporting providing clear visibility of project status and overall programme status.

In addition to operating at the Group level Mott MacDonald carried out key support roles in several Business Units. Example activities included:

• Secondment of “Project Directors” to Hong Kong Telecom and Cable & Wireless Communications (UK) to provide coaching and mentoring to Project Managers and direction to local management for the control of their own elements of the Capital Programme.
• Development of supplementary process documentation to facilitate operation of the Group processes at the local level.
• Development and delivery of Project Sponsor and Project Management training.
• Preparation of the Capital element of Business Plans in recently acquired Business Units - Panama and Optus Communications, Australia.

As a result of the extensive involvement with the development and delivery of Project Management training Mott MacDonald was retained by the Cable & Wireless College on a partnership basis to provide this training throughout the group on a long term basis.

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