Large Enterprise Management - Higher Quality and Lower Burden through Better Relations

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1 Large Enterprise Management - Higher Quality and Lower Burden through Better Relations Anna-Greta Erikson Data Collection from Enterprises and Organisations, Statistics Sweden Abstract Good quality data from the largest enterprises are essential to achieve good quality in economic statistics. At the same time, the response burden on the largest enterprises is very large, and their willingness to provide good quality data may decrease as the demand for statistical information increases. Furthermore, the collection of data from global enterprise groups that continuously reorganize their operations poses special challenges. To solve this problem in Sweden, a group of dedicated contact persons has been established. The group has a broad scope of tasks, ranging from following and understanding the enterprises, profiling the statistical units and keeping the Business Register up-to-date to working extensively with actual data collection and coherence analysis. The paper describes the work at Statistics Sweden and discusses some of the advantages and pitfalls of the broad scope of work. Keywords: Relations to Respondents, Higher Quality, Key data providers 1 Background At Statistics Sweden; the responsibility for the data collection process has been decentralized since the early 1990s. Each unit has been responsible for their own data collection. While this has been beneficial in many ways, the drawback of decentralized responsibility is that there is the risk for a lack of coordination and that the work is not carried out in a systematic manner. In March 2004 a new organisational unit was created at Statistics Sweden. The new unit had four main tasks: 1. To manage the key providers of economic statistics, i.e. the largest enterprises in Sweden, to encourage better coherence and quality in data from these main providers of economic statistics. 2. To coordinate the activities of burden reduction at Statistics Sweden. 3. To simplify the data provision process for 4. To improve and coordinate the use of data collection methods and data editing methods in business surveys. This paper will focus on the process of building up the Large Enterprise Management programme at Statistics Sweden. 2. Large Enterprise Management in Sweden 2.1 The largest enterprises The main reason for creating a new unit focusing on the 50 largest data providers among businesses was to improve the quality of statistics dependent on these main data providers. The improved management of the largest enterprises would result in higher quality and better coherence in the system of National Accounts. The objective of the Large Enterprise Management group in Sweden is to manage the most important data providers among businesses. This is because any problems that arise in data collection or data provision from these businesses have a large impact on National Accounts. The largest enterprises were identified by the main economic indicators (turnover, value added, exports, employment etc.). In 2005 the 50 largest enterprises accounted for almost 30 percent. 2.2 Step-by-step approach In several countries, specific resources have been divided to treat the largest enterprises, or the key providers of statistics. At Statistics Sweden it was decided to gradually establish the work and the tasks of the group of managers The first nine months Once it was decided to establish a new organisational unit, the recruitment of personnel started. In April 2004, there were four Large Enterprise Managers who started to form the tasks and the practical work. The work started on the basis of 10 enterprise groups and, among them, 13 large enterprises to focus on. The practical work started for three of the most important sources of the definitive annual calculations in National Accounts, concerning production, intermediate consumption and investments. These sources were the Structural Business Statistics, 825

2 Production of Commodities and Industrial Services Statistics (Prod Com) and the survey concerning intermediate consumption of raw materials and consumables in the manufacturing industry. The work for these main sources involved the managers taking control of three of the main sources of National Accounts. At the same time, these sources formed the basis of the hypothetical system of coherence analysis. The managers also started to work practically with the Business Register at Statistics Sweden to get an overview of the units of the largest enterprises and of the restructuring of organisations The second year At the beginning of the second year, there were five Large Enterprise Managers and, by the end of the year, this had expanded to seven managers in the group. During the second year of work, the group managed 18 enterprise groups and, among them, 26 The practical work with the three annual statistics and in the Business Register continued. The focus of the second year was to try to initiate co-operation with short-term statistics as a complement to the work already ongoing for the annual statistics. The objective of this strategic work was to streamline the use of information at the statistical office. Shortterm statistics are of the utmost importance as a source of up-to-date information, and it is essential to better use and process the information at the statistical office in general. General information and changes indicating ongoing restructuring obtained in one specific statistical survey can be used to improve and update the information in the Business Register and in the data collection process generally. The benefits of using information in a more effective way are higher quality and also a reduction of the administrative burden on During this second year of work, the managers also started to work with the specification of requirements concerning the forthcoming tool for coherence analysis The third year During the third year, the group of Large Enterprise Managers grew from seven to eleven persons and, since June 2006, the group is complete. During this third year of work, the group managed 45 enterprise groups and, among them, 56 The practical work with the Business Register and the three annual statistics continued as in the previous years. There was also a continuation of the work concerning the setting up of routines for the cooperation between the different statistical surveys and the group of Large Enterprise Managers. As the group was complete in terms of personnel there was a need to confirm the routines of the managers of the group. Two internal projects were carried out to this end. The first project concerned the demands and tools for documentation of the work of the managers. The other project concerned communications and the effective use of information at the statistical office and the knowledge coming out of the managers work. There was also intensive work carried out during the year in the project of building a customized tool for coherence analysis. In December 2006, the very first version of this tool was presented Current situation Since January 2007, the group of eleven Large Enterprise Managers administers 51 enterprise groups and 65 enterprises in these groups. This means that the work is in full scale, both in terms of the number of managed enterprise groups (and enterprises) and the number of personnel. Practical work is ongoing with both annual and shortterm statistics. In addition to the daily work with the enterprises, the focus is on implementing the new tools and routines for documentation and communication of the work. There is also a focus on getting a complete version of the tool for coherence analysis (also a tool for the monitoring of the data collection process) Expanding gradually advantages One advantage of the gradual expansion approach has been that the managers built up knowledge about one enterprise at the time and thereby had the opportunity to customize the routines for each enterprise. The enterprises have felt that the relationship is built on their actual demands and needs, rather than on a standardized concept. Resources have been devoted to current and important problems and issues. For example, some enterprises have had problems in providing data at the required level of detail and other enterprises have experienced restructuring that has caused problems both for data collection and data provision. Another advantage has been the opportunity to form the tasks to fit the real When forming the tasks during the ongoing work, the managers have been able to take into account the diversity of 826

3 The complexity differs from one enterprise group to another. In some groups, there are complexities in the structure of the enterprises, i.e. several kinds of activity units or hundreds of local units; in other enterprises, the complexity comes from the fact that they are large and important Enterprises can differ in the level of centralization, also with regards to data provision. There are also differences in the routines and data provision capacity and capability between enterprises and enterprise groups. For example, there are differences in accounting systems and other administrative systems as well as differences in the level of detail available at various levels of the enterprise. A third advantage has been that the group of Large Enterprise Managers has gradually been building up competence in different statistical areas. There has been an opportunity for strategic recruitment, to ensure diversity in experience, to establish a broad scope of managers overall and to ensure that they cover different statistical areas. The process of a gradual expansion has also allowed us to make a more precise specification of the requirements for the tools for the work, as the managers have learnt what they need through their practical work Expanding gradually - pitfalls One of the risks of expanding gradually is that it takes long time to reach maximum efficiency. As there are always current problems in the largest enterprises, it is often necessary to find temporary solutions. At the same time, the development of tools and routines takes a longer time and, in the meantime, there is a risk that similar problems are solved in various ways in different The risk with a gradual expansion of personnel is that it is necessary to repeat the process of building a team of the Large Enterprise Managers several times. It has also been necessary to organise training on several occasions, to ensure that the managers have the same platform on which to build their work. As it takes time to reach maximum efficiency, there is also a risk for impatience within the organisation. 2.3 Broad scope of work At Statistics Sweden we have also chosen a broad scope of the work for the Large Enterprise Managers Building relationships One of the most important tasks of the managers is to start to build a relationship with the largest enterprises: to establish a dialogue with the enterprises in different areas, such as human relations and accounting. In this process, it is important to visit the enterprises and to present the work of the Large Enterprise Managers and to point out the significance of the enterprises data for the statistics Single contact point The Large Enterprise Managers represent a single contact point between the statistical office and the enterprise. This involves being both an intermediary and communicating the statistical needs and demands of the specific enterprises and spreading information of changes in the enterprises within the statistical office. It is also essential to identify major problems that may arise Getting to know the enterprises It is fundamental in the work to really get to know the enterprises and their enterprise group. This means becoming familiar with both the legal and operational organisation and being continuously updated on changes in the organisation. It is also important to know the enterprises data capacity and other unique characteristics, such as accounting systems and other administrative systems Updating of the Business Register and profiling of statistical units Another task of the Large Enterprise Managers is to continuously ensure that the Business Register is updated. Furthermore, through monitoring of the legal and statistical units, they should decide on the relevant and possible reporting units (enterprise units, kinds of activity units etc.). As the managers work only with a few enterprise groups, it is possible to use all available sources in the process of updating the Business Register and the profiling of statistical units. They do not have to rely on the general sources of the Business Register. 827

4 2.3.4 Data collection and editing The experts in the group of Large Enterprise Managers work on a day-to-day basis with data concerning the largest In some specific annual surveys, this means direct work and regular contacts with data providers. For short-term statistics, and other annual statistics, the managers are prepared to be an advisor and a resource to help solve problems arising in the statistical processes. This practical work in the collection process ensures a better understanding of the system of surveys. The task involves continuously monitoring the ongoing data collection process and using this monitoring as a tool to identify forthcoming problems both in the data provision and the data collection process. If there are problems in either process, managers may agree to set up customized solutions concerning data provision for specific Coherence in data The most important objective of establishing a group of Large Enterprise Managers at Statistics Sweden was to improve the quality of statistics in the system of National Accounts. The managers have been given the responsibility to ensure quality and coherence in the data from the largest The managers training focused on the fact that surveys (in the field of economic statistics) are linked together and the different indicators are related to one another. In the customized tool for coherence analysis, the Large Enterprise Managers have the possibility to monitor the process of both short-term statistics and annual statistics. This means that the managers will detect any lack of coherence in the system at an early stage. The tool also provides the opportunity to monitor whether changes, due to restructuring or reorganization, appear as expected. In the long run, it is supposed that the data editing, as a result of coherence analysis, will decrease. Working closely together with the enterprises, and establishing if necessary specific solutions for each enterprise, will probably mean that the enterprises will provide high quality data in their normal data provision process and that the need for post-collection editing will decrease Broad scope of work advantages and pitfalls With the broad scope of work, the Large Enterprise Managers really get to know the enterprises they are responsible for. They get an overall view and the broad perspective of the work prepares the managers for dealing with all tasks. It is also easier to understand the perspective of the The coherence analysis is also easier when the managers are already familiar with the figures and the problems from the data collection process. The managers also learn to recognise the patterns and to trace phenomena between the enterprises they manage. When it comes to the profiling of statistical units, the broad scope of work allows the managers get a feeling for the data provision capacity of reporting units and how well actual data collection is functioning in different statistical surveys. If the managers would only work with the profiling of statistical units, they would probably never get such a feedback on the work. This broad and deep knowledge of the enterprises is invaluable in the profiling process. The largest enterprises like the possibility to talk to their specific managers regarding all kinds of problems and they always knows who to turn to. The work of the managers shows the enterprises that the statistical office really uses the data they provide and they get a more continuous response on their data provision. Through these experiences, the enterprises realise the importance of their data and the importance of coherency in data they provide. It is an ongoing process to educate the enterprises in how the statistical system of data is linked together. It takes time to see a change in attitudes but the managers have learnt that there really is a willingness to provide consistent data. In the short-term, coherence analysis may lead to an increasing amount of work for the enterprises when previously unnoticed inconsistencies are highlighted. However, as the enterprises start to focus on their data provision process and the lack of coherence, there will also be gains from the restructuring and coordination of the data provision process within the enterprise. The broad perspective of the work also presents the risk of getting caught up in the continuing operations instead of working strategically. Sometimes it is also difficult to draw the line between the tasks of the Large Enterprise Managers and the ordinary work in the data collection process. As the managers get to know the data providers, and their workload, there is a risk to get caught between the enterprise and the statistical office. A situation of double loyalties may arise, where the managers already know the data providers calendar of internal and external reporting but still have to ask for new or faster data provision. On the other hand, there is also the opposite situation, where the data providers are likely 828

5 to feel loyalty towards their own managers and are more inclined to accept deadlines and requirements. 3 Conclusions The Large Enterprise Managers at Statistics Sweden are convinced that: Their work will result in better relations with the largest and most important data providers. Among the data providers, the work of the managers will lead to a better understanding of the needs of data collection and hence less frustrated data providers. At Statistics Sweden, we will reach an understanding of the complexity of the data provision process in large and complex organisations. These improvements will in turn lead to better quality in the system of National Accounts. 829