'account on us' - Médecins Sans Frontières Australia .: Chartered Accountants Student Challenge :.

'account on us'

Team members:
Andrea Rosanes (Charles Sturt University) ,
Katy Luo (Charles Sturt University)

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Synopsis

SEVEN KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÉRES AUSTRALIA
By Andrea Rosanes & Katy Luo
Charles Sturt University

The report and power point presentation(contains voice narration) displays seven key performance indicators that will assist MSF Australia’s current and future development.
On the basis of the nature of the organisation as a non-operational sector of MSF International, we have developed the seven key performance indicators based on efficiency, human resources, independence & ethics, awareness and growth.

Seven KPI’s for MSF Australia:

- Efficiency
- As an international organisation, MSF aims to achieve the ‘80/20’ rule, which means 80% of donations is directly distributed to the programme activities and only 20% of funds distributed towards administration and fundraising costs.

- HR (Experience)
Staffing Experience–First time staff/ returning
– Total Numbers
– Ratio
Staff members are one of the key assets to increase organisation performance. Experienced staff can drive the organisation’s performance further by using the same amount of resources.

- HR (Skill Level)
– General medical staff v specialist staff
The staffing skill level is also an important KPI as it shows the proportion of skilled professional staff (i.e. Specialist surgeons) against the number of general medical staff (ie. General practitioners), as well as the number of volunteers that have limited skill and experience.

- Independence & Ethics
• La Mancha Agreement (Internal)
• International non-governmental organisations - Accountability charter (external)
These two governance charters provide bench marks for MSF Australia comply to various standards ranging from accountability, transparency, independence of the board, accounting and auditing standards, good governance and ethical fundraising to name a few.

- % Growth of donations
The growth rate can be measured and compared nationally and internationally. This will enable MSF Australia to compare its growth from year to year as well as internationally in order to evaluate its position in the organisation as a whole.

- Media Coverage
• The amount of media mentions or stories per month can be set as a benchmark as well as a goal to improve awareness within Australia.

- Impact on Community
• Promoting awareness can show donators where the money is going as it encourages individuals on a personalised basis - This creates donor satisfaction.

From a CA student’s point view, we believe these seven key performance indicators cover all the important areas for MSF Australia as a non-operational sector and support based unit.
We have used some of the existing guidelines, frameworks, bench marks and easily accessible ratios to create our seven key performance indicators, which we believe will help in MSF Australia’s realisation of its position compared to the other sectors of MSF international, and effectively assist in the improvement in its overall performance. We believe our seven key performance indicators will help assist MSF Australia to a brighter future.

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good job !
i especially liked the KPI on Compliance with internatal and external governance charters. i think they're really good benchmarks to work towards

By shuyan lim on April 28 2008, 22:56

Thank you for your comment :)
We understand that independence is very important for MSF Australia, as it operates without any influence of the government. The La Mancha Agreement was included in MSF Australia’s 2006 Annual statement, and is currently in operation. We wanted to create a way of measuring compliance towards this charter, so we thought that calculating the percentage of compliance to a set of criteria set by the agreement would be the best way of going about it in the terms of accountability and governance.
As this is from an internal perspective, we thought that it would be important from an external perspective also. The International Non-Governmental Organisation Accountability charter is supported by many similar charity organisations including Amnesty International, Oxfam International and World Vision International to name a few. Its aim is to commit all other INGO (International Non-Governmental Organisations) signatories to meeting best-practice standards on public accountability and transparency. Percentage compliance to a set of criteria based on this charter can be measured and used as a benchmark to maximise MSF’s performance in adhering to the relevant standards.
We think it would be useful for MSF Australia to consider to be a signatory of a charter like this so then it can be part of a ‘support group’ if you like, as the organisation will be influenced and able to keep up to date with international principles and values.
If you have any more questions please feel free to ask us.
Andrea & Katy

By Katy Luo on April 29 2008, 14:30

I wasn't too sure what "internatal" was so I googled it, the defintion is here:
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/internatal

It means "between the buttocks"

But I digress,

I also liked your use of comparable bench marks, its feasible, intelligent and measurable. Well done for doing your homework.

The 80/20 rule is also a good benchmark for resource allocation.

Generally what I do with these responses is read your report and break it down section by section, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, however this time it's different.

Each of your KPIs is EXCELLENT. You girls have thought extremely hard about the objectives and the organisation and your content is exceptional, and if you read my other comments you know thats a big compliment.

My only gripe is that you filled your powerpoint slides with paragraphs of text. PP is a tool for key points, not presenting essays. Also the sound in your powerpoint didnt work but I don't think thats your fault.

Girls great job, with your content I'd consider you a prize contender.

By Sam Gray on April 30 2008, 02:32

Hi there, thanks for your compliments, very appreciated.

Well, we guess you learn something new every day ;)

Yes, our powerpoint slides did not work to plan, but we were thinking that may be a problem. Not to worry, the cut off date is finished so no need to stress...

We realised that the layout of our slides were not as diagrammatic as the others. We thought that taking the approach of displaying the key points in a bit of depth would be better for readers to get a greater understanding in a small amount of slides.

The aim of the voice over was to give a bit of a personal presentation to the audience, similar to that of a conference situation, where the both of us took turns to take the discussion of the KPI’s a bit further.

We had a look at your report also, it looks great! We look forward to your reply to our comments.

Cheers,
Andrea & Katy

By Andrea Rosanes on April 30 2008, 10:44

Your key points were very well presented & your ideas are very cost effective and easy to obtain.
I also agree on the use of the external and internal governance charters.
Great submission overall, goodwork!

By Melina Samimi on May 1 2008, 11:40

Easy to understand, I couldnt get a powerpoint presentation to open though? That may be a problem at my end. But ideas are clear and well thought out!

By Katie on May 1 2008, 14:48

Thanks Melina & Katie.

The powerpoint presentation should be able to open. There may be no sound though, as we had technical difficulties.

Glad you enjoyed it :)

By Andrea Rosanes on May 1 2008, 15:24

Thanks Melina & Katie.

The powerpoint presentation should be able to open. There may be no sound though, as we had technical difficulties.

Glad you enjoyed it :)

By Andrea Rosanes on May 1 2008, 15:26

Good Work Andrea & Katy,
I particularly like the accountability aspect of your presentation. It can be a concern of the Australian public as to how their donations are utilised. Properly distributed, the corporated governance KPI's can be very powerful.
Good Work again.
Stuart Heine
Riverina CA President

By Stuart Heine on May 5 2008, 09:27

Great effort,
Well researched, well considered and well presented.
Well done!

Graeme Obst CA
Partner
Adams Kenneally White
Chartered Accountants

By Graeme Obst on May 5 2008, 10:06

Was good because they have focused on MSF Australia, who the report was prepared for, and picked up on some things in regards to accountability. Impressed that they picked up on the fact that MSF Australia only supports overseas activities and doesn't actually run them, unlike some of the other teams.

By Hayden on May 5 2008, 10:34

Actually Hayden the 2006 annual report indicates that MSF Australia is running projects out of the Paris office, focusing on the areas of paediatrics and obstetrics

By Sam Gray on May 5 2008, 15:24

Thanks for your comment Hayden.

In regards to your comments on accountability, as we noted in a earlier reply the use of the internal La Mancha Agreement and the International Non-Governmental Organisation Accountability charters are important benchmarks to work towards as they provide clear guidelines in the area of ethics, fund raising, corporate governance to name a few, areas that are vital to any non profit organisation.

In regards to your other comment we felt it was important that we focused our KPI’s on areas that MSF Australia is able to significantly influence as an individual sector.

We acknowledge that MSF Australia is seeking to take a more active (functional/ operational) role, as other groups highlighted, within the Paris and Switzerland operational sections of MSF International. One such case is the partnership with MSF Paris, USA and Japan, however as with any partnership, MSF Australia is not solely responsible for actions taken within these other affiliated sectors. Without having sole responsibility, any KPIs developed in this area as an association, would affect the other partner organisations in their ability to raise funds and recruit available personnel for example. Thus, achieving and measuring any KPIs in this area would be problematic for MSF Australia and should be avoided, hence our different approach to the case.

However as noted in our report it is our understanding that Australia is PRIMARILY a support unit, as such any KPI’s developed should reflect this, to furthermore the success of the unit, or otherwise achieving these KPI’s should be dependant on the actions of MSF Australia and not partner organisations.

Andrea & Katy

By Andrea Rosanes on May 5 2008, 17:07

加油哦。！

By Renne on May 5 2008, 21:16

Wow, what an outstanding and well researched project. It is clear and concise. This is definately my favourite project. Great job girls!

By Christine Baker on May 6 2008, 08:09

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