Purpose of the project
In 2002 the Danish Government outlined a new strategy for providing support to the private sector in Denmark named ‘The Danish Growth strategy’. Ramboll Management has been a vital part of this strategy as a frontrunner on the SCM-projects measuring the administrative burdens stemming from legislation in Denmark. The main aim of the measurement has been to achieve a reduction of up to 25 pct. in the administrative burdens that Danish enterprises face by the year 2010. By reducing the administrative burdens the companies can use their resources in a more efficient manner so they can create growth and increase the employment. The measurements are carried out using the Standard Cost Model, AMVAB, and they cover administrative burdens stemming from national as well as international requirements.
In 2004 the baseline measurement was conducted and since then Ramboll Management has been responsible for the yearly updates. Below is a short description of a typical SCM-measurement - the update of the Danish baseline measurement in 2006/07.
Organisation of the project
A small team of around 4 consultants were involved in the project, all of them working closely together with the client from the Danish Commerce and Company Agency. The agency are usually represented in the project by a team of around 6-8 officials each of them a contact person for a policy area (e.g. Tax, environment. Transport). As a consultant working on the project you are responsible for one (or two) policy areas always referring to the corresponding contact person in the agency.
Course of the project
The projects last for approximately 4 months, starting in mid-September and ending in end of January. The project is divided in to different main phases starting of with the mapping phase. In this period an in-depth analysis of new legislation is conducted with purpose of finding new obligations that the businesses have to fulfill as a consequence of the legislation. When the result of this analysis has been validated the next step is to start measuring the obligations, which means estimating their costs for the companies. In the measuring phase it is first of all very important to obtain a deep understanding of the business processes related to the new obligations – what exactly do the companies need to do? This can either be done by talking to the companies (interviews) or it can be done by asking experts on the specific area. This provides the consultants with useful insight knowledge that makes it possible for the consultant to estimate the time and cost for the companies. Finally the result of the measurement needs to be uploaded to the database and the analysis can start, resulting in a report for each policy area.
Result of the project
The most important thing is of course the impact of the project and to see whether it makes a difference. Senior consultant Karin Pedersen has been a part of the update measurements in Denmark and she believes that the project has proved to be very important:
“Measurements are not just a “paper product”. They provide the facts and firm knowledge that enable action to be taken. Without measurements all kinds of incomparable perceptions of red tape is flying around in the public space. After measuring the discussions wither and the real simplification work starts”
But the project does not only make a difference for the companies and the client, but also for the consultants involved. Martha Bird has worked on the update measurement and she particularly appreciates the broad range of individual competences she is able to develop through the project.
“One of the best things working on Better Regulation projects is that I develop my acumen on both public sector administration and practices in private business.”
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