FOREWORD
In all my undertakings, | have made it a point to see to it that all
the factors necessary to make an informed decision, are on hand. |
have also factored in all the possible problems that may arise even
before a decision is made, and ensured that all necessary steps are
taken to prevent these problems from arising.
As the number of concerns | have had to attend to increased
through the years, much as | had wanted to, | no longer had the time to
personally go over voluminous documents nor carry out all the research
work personally. That is why I had to, as all good executives have to,
delegate this work to my management staff. However, I have ensured
that the standards | set in making a decision — thoroughness, due
diligence, in short, completed staff work, are met.
The standards set in completed staff work, and the culture it builds
in an organization through continuous use, have been proven to lead to
good decisions and to avoid potential problems.
This book on Completed Staff Work, by Dr. Leonora Vasquez-De
Jesus and Dr. Benjamin Espiritu is a concrete step to helping improve
governance and management processes whether it be in business,
government, or any other organization. It is a solid contribution to
governance and management literature. More importantly, if the
Processes mentioned in the book are followed, thus, leading to good
decisions, it will directly or indirectly, redound to the nation's good
Congratulations to the authors and may the culture of completed
staff work spread!
HENRY SY,
Founder and Chal .
SM Group of CompaniesTABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 3. The CSW Study... 2... 9
Chapter 4 Statement of the Problem or Issue... 14
Chapter § Background of the Study... 16
Chapter 6 Analysis of the Problem 21
Chapter 7 Conclusion and Recommendation of the
Chapter & Annexes, Action Documents,
andthe Final Testfor CSW a
Chapter 9 Communication and Monitori
Appendix Examples of Completed Staff Work
Bibliography
xCHAPTER 1
oo
The Need for Completed Staff Work
Introduction
Board directors/trustees and managers of organizations, whether they
be in the private or public (government) sector, make decisions based on
information they have at hand. In.an ideal situation, the board directors and
the managers would have all the information they require, submitted to
them early so as to give them enough time to make a thorough and careful
evaluation of the problem or issue requiring a solution and decision.
However, not all situations are ideal. In many instances, the information
is not available, or is incomplete, or worse, wrong. In other instances, the
information is given without sufficient lead time, thus preventing the decision-
maker from studying the issue well. At other times, though the information
given is complete, correct, and submitted on time, it is the decision-maker
who is unable to find time to study the issue well. A board director or manager
may have the intellectual capacity to study an issue or problem thoroughly
but is unable to do so because of time constraints brought about by a tight
work schedule and various concerns.
Another not very ideal situation is wherein a board director or manager,
trying to be conscientious about studying issues and problems, ends up
spending more time in analysis rather than on governing or managing.
This makes him both ineffective and inefficient.
The absence of complete and correct information thal is carefully
Studied prevents a thorough and intelligent discussion of complex issues
both al board and management levels.
The consequences of a board director or manager making a decision
relying on data that is incomplete, wrong, not studied sufficiently, or not
studied at all, can be costly, disastrous, even fatal. At worse, for the
individuals involved, it can even lead to criminal lability.
The horror stories of decisions made without sufficient information
and study abound. There is the case of a board of directors of a
manutacturing company that increased the price of the company's product
without the required information on the price sensitivity of its market, The
price increase caused the loss of customers to competitors and the
company’s later decision to roll back the price to its former level did not
recover whal was lost. Loyal customers were also disappointed at the
insensitivity of the manutlacturer to their needs.
veelA school board that raised its tuition fees without having accurate
information about the fees charged by competing schools offering the same
quality of education greatly reduced the number of new entrants to the
institution.
financial institution granted a huge loan to a borrower who had loans
outside of the usual banking circles which were hidden in their books. The
lack of sufficient credit check and analysis made the board grant a loan to
this company that collapsed in less than a year after the loan was released.
A consumer company launched a new product for a very specific age
market segment. The information provided by the corporate planning stall,
not validated well by both the board and top management, was wrong. The
market was much, much smaller. Sales were well below estimated volume,
resulting in the product's eventual withdrawal from the market due to
unprofitability.
There is also the case of a corporate board that decided to enter a
new market, All the information required for a thorough study of the issue
was on hand. However, the papers were given only at the board meeting.
The decision to enter the new market stretched the company's resources,
resulting in cash flow problems. The problem could have been avoided if
‘the board of directors had received the documents well in advance, giving
them enough time to study the issue well and prevent the problem from
occurring.
‘On the other hand, there are instances when the information required
for decision-making are complete, correct, and submitted with sufficient
lead time for study. However, the board director or manager, because of a
hectic schedule is still unable to find enough time to study the information
well, particularly if it is raw and unprocessed information.
A board of a service company secured a loan to finance what it
considered a lucrative contract. However, the spread per service rendered
was minimal and the burden of the financing cost practically zeroed out the
gain onthe contract. All the information was on hand, but was unprocessed.
The members of the board did not devote time to do some pencil pushing
and really study the profitability of the contract, while management was too
busy with everyday operational concerns to do the same. The contract
‘caused opportunity losses for the company. Both the board ol directors
and management could have studied how to try to reduce costs to get a
better return or goitten into other more profitable ventures.
Studying issues and problems, particularly complex ones, always takes
time. There are board directors and managers who really spend time
Studying each and every case. Despite their diligence, there are many times
that they are unable to cover all the items on the agenda, simply because
of time constraints.
“2 leesA bank director friend goes over each and every loan on the agenda.
However, he complains that he is seldom ever able to finish everything
because there is “not enough time.” Thus, in board discussions, he is only
able to participate actively and discuss well on issues that he has studied,
and is usually weak on all the rest.
Amanager of an agricultural company spent most of his time analyzing
‘the technical part of the company's business, not being able to attend much
to the other functional areas of the firm, also because there is “not enough
time." This resulted in the firm having very good products but low sales due
to poor marketing and high cost.
Both the bank director and the manager of the agricultural company
mentioned were not thal effective and efficient, because they were unable
to look at and study alfissues. Governance and management are never
piecemeal and partial. They must always be total and holistic.
The public or government sector also has its share of stories of
decisions made without sufficient information and study. Decisions made
in the public sector have to be made even more prudently because of the
fact that public funds are involved, and the stakeholders of a public institution
are more numerous than that of a regular private organization.
In one government institution, a newly-appointed CEO was surprised
to find oul thal a program was set up and implemented without the benefit
‘of an honest-to-goodness analysis of its feasibility and sustainability. The
financial projections for the program indicated net incomes for the first five
years. Had the projections been conducted for the entire life of the program,
the institution would have been forewamed about the net loss that it would
incur atter the first five years.
In another government corporation, the President was heard
complaining about memoranda sent to his office which did not give clear
recommendations or slate concrete actions that needed to be taken about
a Current issue they faced, In the end, he had to ask his own office to
undertake the necessary research work and to prepare the documents that
should be signed.
In another instance, a high-ranking government official was giving a
speech on government projects in a certain local government unit. In the
middle of the speech. a staff member sent him a note stating that a highly
desired project for the area had been approved and funded. Elated, the
official immediately made the announcement — to the great joy of many in
the audience. After the speech, it turned out that the information had not
been verified and was incorrect. The office of the high-ranking official had
to issue a clarification to the media to correct the mistake. This kind of
embarrassment could have been avoided if the official's stall checked the
veracity of the information before having it announced.
woe 2The experiences in both the private and public sectors have shown
how costly uninformed or misinformed decisions can be, It is also a fact
that the members of the board and top management of an organization,
given their numerous concems, will seldom have enough time to gather all
the data required and study all the problems and issues themselves.
There is aneed for competent staff to collate information and undertake
the studies for the board directors and top management. The staff members
in turn need to employ an elfective and efficient system for undertaking
studies on issues to be decided on.
The system exists.
The military has long employed a tried and tested system which staff
officers use to study issues brought up to the commander for decision. The
system has also been employed effectively in civilian government and is
increasingly being used in the private sector.
Itis called Completed Staff Work (CSW).
(llustrations by
Icon V. De Jesus)CHAPTER 2
ee
What Is Completed Staff Work
Completed Staff Work (CSW) is the process by which a staff member
‘or organization officer thoroughly studies a problem or issue requiring a
decision by a superior officer and makes a recommendation of the best
‘solution or option, such that all that remains to be done on the part of the
decision-maker is to indicate approval or disapproval of the recommended
action. Its formal output is the CSW study, a formal paper with a thorough,
holistic, and concise analysis of a problem or issue with its recommended
‘solution or option.
Staff work is a tool for timely and informed decision-making,
and an aid to good governance and management. It provides the decision-
maker with answers to specific problems or issues. It protects him from having
an inadequate analysis of the problem and saves him the time and etfort of
having to go through voluminous documents and unprocessed information.
The doctrine of completed staff work states that it is the duty of the
‘Staff member or officer out the details and not bother the decision-
maker with having to sift through documents and process the details. It is
the job of the staff member to advise the decision-maker on what he ought
to do, and not to ask him what he (the staff member) ought to do. The
decision-maker needs answers, not questions.
Itis a basic tenet in CSW that the staff member or subordinate officer
has no right to pass.on a problem to his superior, or worse, to be the problem
himself. Instead, it is the staff member's duty to provide a solution to the
prablem.
The staff member should research the problem or issue in detail, look
at all the relevant facts and make an informed discussion of alternatives.
He should thoroughly study the options available and propose the adoption
of the best course of action. The CSW study must be clear, brief, accurate,
coherent, and complete so that all that will be required from the decision-
maker will be to approve or disapprove the recommended course of action.
Completed staff work includes the preparation of implementing
instruments such as board resolutions, memoranda and the like that will
formalize and cause the implementation of the decision. This prevents either
‘the non-implementation, or a delay in the implementation, of the decision.
CSW does not end with the submission of the study for decision. It
goes on to the communication of the decision and the monitoring of such.
ee St