Valagro - Case Study

The degree of complexity is very high because a large number of parties are involved, located in different geographical areas of the world and belonging to different levels of the organizational pyramid. On top of this, the objective was to integrate the annual plan with the three-year plan, and the three-year plan with the ten-year plan. 

“The connection between the different kinds of planning is a very important phase for Valagro," explains Mila. "We have established a set of “Coherence Check Points”, and created a reporting system specifically designed to support the meetings held for the purpose of discussing and approving the planning steps. By comparing the various possible scenarios, these meetings can approve what was proposed at the contribution stage and allow teams to move on to the next step, or withhold approval and take them back to the previous step."

The Coherence Check Points represent a circular approach to decision-making guided by the workflows, where general objectives and results are transposed into a virtuous cycle of strategy formulation, medium-term, annual, and interim planning, and comparison with current performance, aimed at bringing about continuous improvement. The degree of dimensional detail available at the various planning levels varies significantly, in such a way as to adapt the individual process both to the information requirements to be met by the contributors involved and to the time available for the process itself. Mila continues:

“Once we have tabulated the results of the first year, we compare the three-year plan with the annual plan to check for any deviations reasonably likely to arise as a result of events concerning the company which pan out differently to what was planned.

"Whereas the annual plan is generated in detail from the outset and distilled into basic guidelines, the three-year plan is generated directly by more aggregated drivers (e.g. the priority of the geographical area, products, and crops - drivers typically used by companies operating in sectors that serve agriculture) without losing the ability to drill down to the finest details.”

The Benefits for Valagro: Board as an innovation facilitator

Within the Valagro Group, Board has been a facilitator of innovation, capable of generating creative disruption in relation to the rigidity of conventional analysis, reporting, and planning tools. It has also supported the pursuit of consistency across the various levels - organizational and temporal - between defining strategic objectives and actual operation:

“Thanks to Board we have strengthened the link between strategy and operational planning, in a new and extremely significant way,” stresses Mila Miscia.

 “With Board we can compare different levels of spatial and temporal detail and focus on the significance of the data, rather than being swamped by an excess of information. This is very important in our industry, where changes in demographics, cultivatable areas, and agricultural technologies are easier to understand in medium/long-term scenarios and are of a more qualitative than quantitative nature."

To reach the point where Valagro could have confidence in the significance of data, manage the entire multi-year planning model systematically within appropriate timeframes, and respond proactively to the continuously evolving organizational demands of a growing business, it had to implement a process of cultural change. This began in the finance area, was then rolled out to senior management before being extended to the base layers of the organizational pyramid.

All the users involved in generating the data that feeds the information system had to be aligned with the new planning and general management logic of their own activities, by adopting as far as possible the three pillars identified during the design of the entire planning system:

1. Keep it simple: divide your daily tasks into simpler sub-processes and look for the connections between them to help discern cause-and-effect relationships and identify what really is significant and efficient
2. Don’t look for perfection: the choice between data that is extremely detailed but not promptly available and the significance and timeliness of such data plays a key role in suitably supporting the many complex decisions that need to be taken in the planning process
3. Make the logic explicit: when they are modeled, all complex systems need assumptions that guide cognition and interpretation. To ensure that the entire planning system yields consistent, rational information, you need to share these assumptions and base every step on the same logic

Thanks to Board's high levels of flexibility and the rationality of thought that the system transmits during its implementation and everyday use, it has been possible to form these three pillars on an ad hoc basis for each organizational level/function, while respecting their distinctive features and specific objectives.

The result was that each person involved in the process of data generation/use started operating according to a common logic, which was essential to making the Coherence Checks effective. The paradigm “Multi-dimensional-Temporal Planning/Performance Measurement/Planning Accuracy/Corrective Actions” has begun to permeate the organization from top to bottom. This has led to the development of a structure made up of individuals who have made the transition towards becoming 'managers of their own part of the process' while at the same time fitting into a complex body guided by the logic of common performance.

Ever since the start of the project, the use of Board at Valagro has continued to grow and has created increased granularity within the planning and analytics models, transforming the large volume of data accumulated over a number of years into insights on which to base prompt, effective decision-making. As a result, the company’s ability to respond appropriately to business requirements has increased, and so too has people’s confidence in and appreciation of the software. In the words of Antonino, 

"By acting as a ‘cultural emancipator’ at Valagro, the Board platform has given rise to a kind of ‘Centre of Excellence’ built on the synergy between the people who ‘design’ the application and those involved in everyday operations.

“Board has enabled us to introduce a Design Thinking type of design methodology at Valagro. With the support of Marco Tricase, the K.Group Project Manager, we listened to the needs of the various departments, we proposed solutions, and we assimilated their proposals for change. The continuously incremental approach has enabled us to establish a virtuous circle of sharing that helps develop alternative versions which draw ever closer to the ‘ideal standard’ structure.” 

Mila concludes:

"Valagro’s employees now use this agile approach in their everyday work because it helps them to measure design steps easily, adjust the company’s trajectory towards targets quickly, and, most importantly, face up to the unknown (whether in the form of a project or planning scenario) with less fear. Freed from the paralysing fear of getting things wrong, users can pursue those small or large daily changes that enable the business to learn, understand, and improve."