INTRODUCTION

"Weighting" refers to how the enterprise values an objective and associated information requirements. It is not synonymous with priority "ranking." Rather, "weighting" is used to help establish the priority "ranking" of objectives. This, in turn, is used to develop the priority ranking of projects.

During EEM, information requirements are assembled and grouped into objectives according to commonality. The requirements are then assessed as to their economic impact on the enterprise. This economic evaluation, along with the delivery date of the objective, becomes the basis for establishing the "weight" of the objective.

When an objective's "weight" has been initially established, this does not mean that it will be permanent. The "weight" may be evaluated and modified frequently. It may change because of an encroaching or diminishing due date, changes to the business plan, or due to a change of information values.

The fundamental steps in developing priorities, as seen in EEM Phase 4, consist of:

1. Defining and grouping information requirements (IR) into objectives (MI).

2. Perform a cost/benefit analysis for the information requirements being implemented by an objective.

3. Establish the priority "weight" for each objective (a scale from 01 (high) to 99 (low)).

4. Develop the priority ranking of objectives (from 0001 to 9999).

5. Group one or more objectives into projects (PD).

6. Use the average ranking of all objectives implemented by a project to determine the project priority ranking.

Obviously, objective "weighting" plays a significant role. Both objective and project priority rankings will feel its effect. Because of this, the arbitrary assignment of an objective weight, without any specific rationale, will lead to inconsistent priority ratings. Contrary to this, standardization of priority weighting, based on precise and rational criteria, will lead to superior and more reliable results.  

MEETING DATES

An important consideration in the establishment of an objective "weight" is its urgency. How fast must the enterprise implement the objective? This is usually based on the enterprise's Business Plan. Objectives are required either ASAP (As Soon As Possible), a fixed date (e.g., April 15th), or an OPEN date (any time). This will have a bearing on all objectives.  

CLASSES OF OBJECTIVES

There are fundamentally three classes of objectives:

1. MANDATORY COMMITMENTS - These are objectives that must be met, whether to comply with government rules and regulations, a legal agreement with customers or vendors, corporate survival, etc. Mandatory commitments normally take precedence over all other objectives.

2. STRATEGIC COMMITMENTS - Objectives aimed at supporting the strategic goals of the enterprise.

3. TACTICAL COMMITMENTS - Objectives aimed at supporting the tactical goals of the enterprise.

ECONOMIC STANDARDS

A cost/benefit analysis is performed on each grouping of information requirements. Although each company may have its own formula in preparing the analysis, the intent is to determine if the information will have a favorable economic impact on the enterprise. Return On Investment (ROI) and break even calculations are useful for this purpose. However, the next step is to develop standards to show if the objective will have HIGH, MEDIUM, or LOW economic impact. This analysis will be used when assigning objective weights. For example, many companies have adopted this standard:

ROI	PERCENTAGE
High Return:	Greater than 100%
Medium Return:	25% to 99%
Low Return:	Less than 25%

This standard will primarily affect Strategic and Tactical objectives. It is unlikely they will have any significant influence on Mandatory objectives.  

PRIORITY TABLES

With these principles and variables in mind, we can develop standard weight tables that will carry out our intention. A table is defined for each class of objective (Mandatory, Strategic and Tactical) and takes into account the Delivery Date of the objective and whether the objective offers high, medium or low economic effect.

In the following tables, Mandatory objectives take precedence over Strategic objectives, which take precedence over Tactical objectives. The numbers shown in the tables reflect an even balance in priority "weights." However, they can be modified as desired. What is important is that a standard be established and enforced to maximize effect.

OBJECTIVE PRIORITY WEIGHT TABLES

Objectives supporting MANDATORY COMMITMENTS: