University of Illinois at Chicago The Center for Research in Information Management Breakfast Roundtable

1. University of Illinois at Chicago The Center for Research in InformationManagement Breakfast Roundtable Business Process Improvement: The Role of Technology

2. Today’s Agenda Introduction to Equity Residential Introduction to Equity Residential IT Business Process Analysis The End The Beginning The Middle Take Aways

3. Equity Residential – NYSE: EQR Largest Multifamily Company $15.4 billion market capitalization $2.0 billion revenue 7,400 Employees Founded in 1969 IPO 1993

4. Portfolio at IPO – 1993

5. Portfolio Today

6. IT Portfolio Investment Components

7. The End Recommendations/Next Steps Articulate the Equity Residential Strategic Context Redesign and Simplify the Business Process Develop an IT Strategy and Architecture Plan Treat Infrastructure Investments Separately from Investments in Applications Develop Project Selection and Management

8. Recommended IT Processes

9. The Middle

10. Equity Residential Strategy Maintain Property Value Develop Properties Leverage Competitive Advantage Geographic and Economic Diversification Economies of Scale Operating Efficiencies

11. Equity Residential Strategy Capital Structure Enhance Customer Satisfaction Engage and Increase Worker Satisfaction

12. The Beginning Project overview Background and issues Organization Team charter Discussion of sponsor role Project scope Project plan and deliverables

13. Communication plan Stakeholders and interests Content, timing and method Feedback on project Next steps and timing The Beginning

14. Project Scope

15. Property level scope–   Vendor maintenance. Creation and use of Purchase Orders. Recording and processing of vendor invoices. Impact of procurement practices and policies on the design and implementation of A/P solutions. Validation practices for major expenses. Weekly and month-end A/P processing activities. Reclass and No-Post adjusting entries and related procedures. Review of the JD Edwards A/P System for Lexford properties. Interface between A/P and General Ledger (G/L). Project Scope

16. Divisional level scope– Approval of new vendors for properties. Vendor check preparation and issuance for property transactions. Reclassification of entries and related procedures (for property transactions only). Corporate level scope – Consolidation of property A/P into G/L. Out of scope Recording of capital items. Corporate and divisional A/P processing. Vendors established and used at the corporate and divisional levels. Project Scope

17. Project Management Sponsor Role Enroll executive management and division presidents in process improvement project. Identify and enroll high potential personnel for project team. Assist team in removing roadblocks and solving problems. Serve as a liaison between project team and Steering Committee. Meet with team leaders on weekly basis to discuss progress. Maintain informal contact with team members Provide supporting vs initiating role with team.

18. Communication Plan

19. Preliminary Project Plan

20. Overview of Team Process

21. I. Understanding Current Process Cost reduction What does it cost to operate the process? Which steps cost the most? Why? Which steps add value and which do not? What are the causes of costs in this process?

22. I. Understanding Current Process Cycle time reduction Which steps consume the most time? Why? Which steps add value and which do not? Which steps are redundant, bottlenecks, or add complexity? Which steps result in delays, storage, or unnecessary movement?

23. I. Understanding Current Process Quality improvement Is variation due to common or special causes? What are the causes of defects? Which variables must be managed to have the desired effect on the relevant quality characteristics? How should the process be changed to reduce or eliminate variation?

24. I. Understanding Current Process Field Work Understand the key tasks/steps, inputs and outputs and objectives of the current process. Identify major problems, issues and opportunities within the current process. Determine what metrics could be used to build the business case for change. Generate fresh, new ideas on how the work could be done in the future.

25. I. Understanding Current Process Process Mapping Self-Generate – use team to draw process map and ask others to react to it One-on-one interviews Group interviews. Data Analysis Activity Modeling

26. II. Benchmarking What are the best-in-class practices, metrics, and enablers? What are the root causes of superior process performance? What makes a given practice so effective? Why is one measurable preferable to another? Why is the process configured to operate this way?

27. III. Detailed View With Metrics Business Case for Change Design measurement/evaluation system Based on customer expectation data, what are the requirements for the inputs and outputs of this process? Do our current measures assess what is important to our customers? What should our measurements be to assure that the requirements are met? What happens to the measurement data we currently collect?

28. III. Detailed View With Metrics Business Case for Change Customer Satisfaction Measurement How does process performance data compare to customer expectations and perceptions data? Management of the process Who should be accountable for end-to-end process performance? How can we structure the organization to manage process in addition to functions?

29. The Middle

30. Take Aways Communicate Communicate Communicate