Executive Decision-support

Decision Support: Business Rules, Metrics, & Reporting

Sustained success, as opposed to short-term good fortune, is most often based on having the right information obtained at the right time supporting the right decision.

InterEd advocates the aggressive use of metrics-driven intelligence blended with professional judgment to support decision-making.

Metrics-supported management has always been a good idea but, going forward, those who want to be players in the adult-centered and professional education markets must be agile in a way that can only be informed by the right metrics, delivered at the right time. These leaders must make decisions quickly and base them on sound intelligence rather than uninformed collegial consensus.

InterEd has developed and refined an integrated, intelligence-driven decision-support system that subsumes enrollment and retention management, learning environment processes, learning outcomes and impact, and integrates all of them with financial and quality management. Such systems present key metrics to relevant leaders in daily, weekly, and monthly dashboards.

A Note on Infrastructure

While technology firms may be able to build and deploy a physical system (assuming you can define it for them), InterEd has the experience to know which metrics matter for adult-centered and professional programs. Our experience in this area began in 1986, when our principals developed the first comprehensive assessment and process management system for the nation’s largest university. We can help you select a technology vendor (we know them all) and in the process save you tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Financial Models & Financial Modeling

Most university leaders are forced to operate with antiquated accounting systems that prevent them from making informed strategic and tactical resource allocation decisions. A first step in addressing this shortcoming can be as simple as to create a comprehensive financial model for a target program and, from there identify the new or revised sources of information necessary to drive the model. Initially, the model can be fed by hand (i.e., brute force calculations) eventually leading to a more systematic solution. We can guide you through the process and help your team see the wisdom of doing so.

Your Options

Hire a big box software firm that claims to understand your business rules but quickly demonstrates that they do not.

Or, before you seek an infrastructure solution:

Let InterEd help you create and refine the right business rules and, especially, create a concrete view of the end product. You need to know what each stakeholder's report needs to look like before you work with a software vendor. There is also a good chance that we can save you a great deal of time and money by assisting in your software vendor selection process.

Or, if you are not ready for a decision:

Ask InterEd to conduct an audit of your current systems and decision-support. The audit is quick, inexpensive, and will mitigate most of your risk in the planning process.

Or, if you are not ready for an audit:

Ask more questions to help you decide. We will also let you know the next time we offer an Executive Briefing on this topic.

Contact Us

When the time is right, contact us to begin planning your next phase of decision-support to manage growth and quality. InterEd can help you develop the policies, procedures, standards for performance, and metrics that will make you an even more effective leader.