Portfolio Drift at NorthBridge Bank
NorthBridge Bank has publicly committed to cutting SME account-opening time from 9 days to 5 days within 12 months, a goal tied to a 15% deposit-growth target. The BPM team of 11 people has a €2.4 million annual budget and a portfolio of 14 initiatives. The steering committee, chaired by the CIO, has just approved a further €600,000 to automate the mortgage application process, because the workflow tool is already licensed there and the mortgage director is vocal. The SME onboarding process has no assigned owner, its 40 handoffs span four systems, and its last redesign was in 2019. Frontline staff report that 30% of applications are returned for missing documents and that average touches per application are 22. The CEO has asked why BPM spend is not moving the deposit metric. The BPM lead must prepare a portfolio review for the next steering committee.
1. Explain why the current portfolio is misaligned with enterprise goals, using a business motivation model and a process architecture lens. What evidence would you put in front of the steering committee?
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Reasoning path:
- Separate ends from means. The enterprise end is deposit growth; the goal is 5-day SME onboarding; the means are process changes, automation, and policy changes. Mortgage automation may support a different end, such as mortgage volume or risk control, so it cannot be justified by the deposit goal unless an explicit link is shown.
- Locate the process in the value chain. SME onboarding is a core, customer-facing process that directly gates deposit acquisition. Mortgage application is also core but serves a different customer segment and value proposition. The issue is not portfolio balance; it is causal proximity to the stated goal.
- Test contribution with a benefits dependency network: initiative to process change to KPI to enterprise goal. For SME onboarding the chain is plausible: reduce returns from 30% to 10%, reduce touches from 22 to 12, cut cycle time. For mortgage automation the chain to deposits is indirect and unquantified.
- Show governance evidence. No process owner for SME onboarding means no accountable benefit owner. The mortgage sponsor is vocal but has not produced a benefits case.
Evidence for the committee: a one-page strategy map, initiative-to-goal contribution scores, the €2.4m spend split by goal, cycle-time and rework baselines, and a risk statement that the public commitment is off-track. Avoid presenting generic best practice; present causal and financial evidence.
2. Recommend a decision rule and re-prioritization for the 14 initiatives, including how to handle the CIO-sponsored mortgage project.
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Use a weighted portfolio scorecard with explicit gates rather than a single ranking. Criteria and example weights: contribution to the 5-day SME goal, 35%; value at risk or benefit size, 20%; compliance or risk reduction, 15%; feasibility and time to benefit, 15%; capability building and reuse, 15%. Score each initiative on evidence, not sponsorship.
Decision rule: fund in tranches. Any initiative above a threshold score enters a discovery tranche with a defined benefit hypothesis. Release of full funding depends on a stage gate with a measured baseline and a named benefit owner. Initiatives below threshold are stopped or parked, with a documented reason.
Handling the mortgage project: do not kill it politically. Separate the decision into the licensed tool investment, which may have residual value, and the process change. Ask for a benefits case linking mortgage automation to a stated goal. If no causal link can be shown, re-scope it to a smaller pilot or defer it, and redirect part of the €600k to the SME onboarding owner and rework reduction. Offer the mortgage director a role in a cross-process reuse decision so the tool license is leveraged where it fits. This preserves the relationship while protecting the portfolio logic. The test is whether every funded initiative can be traced to a goal in one page.
3. What governance changes would keep future funding decisions aligned with strategy?
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Three changes, each addressing a root cause rather than the symptom.
- Strategy-to-process traceability. Maintain an enterprise process architecture with a value-chain view and assign each core process an owner at executive level. The owner is accountable for the process KPI and the benefits case, not just for project delivery. SME onboarding currently has no owner, which is why no one defends it.
- Portfolio governance with a business chair. The steering committee should be chaired by a business executive, such as the COO or head of retail, with the CIO as a member. Include a standing portfolio review that uses the weighted scorecard and stage gates, and publish decisions with reasons. Require a benefits dependency network for any request above a threshold.
- Benefits realization and funding model. Move from annual lump-sum funding to tranche funding tied to measured outcomes. Require a baseline, a measurement method, and a post-implementation review. Add a quarterly stop/continue review so misaligned spending is corrected early.
Also add a lightweight demand-intake process so initiatives enter through one door, and a BPM maturity check so the organization knows whether it can deliver what it funds. The test of success is not more governance meetings; it is that the next €600k request can be traced to a goal in one page.