Welcome to the new Industry Campus newsletter, a monthly, electronic publication from CampusMBA. In addition to a fresh, new look, we aim to provide more relevant and timely articles that directly impact your professional development, business, and interests. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions at industrycampus@mortgagebankers.org.

In this month's editorial, Vice President of Education, John Golden, discusses the importance of executing strategies successfully. Also in the issue, Leslie Stein, Project Coordination Manager at MBA, highlights the benefits of a clean, well-organized office space. In addition, we feature, the new Commercial Mortgage Servicer designation, announce the extended deadline for CTE Award applications, and congratulate April and May designation graduates. This month's CMB Profile features Doncella M. Young, CMB, AMP.

Executing Successfully
by John Golden, Vice President of Education, Mortgage Bankers Association

Whether a market is growing, evolving, or even declining, one constant holds true – the organization that executes its strategy effectively generally outperforms its competitors. Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter's argument that “the essence of strategy is in the activities – choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals,” highlights the critical role of execution.

Execution is neither dependent nor contingent on market conditions. If an organization does not effectively execute in a good market, it will not maximize market share and profitability. Not executing effectively in a challenging or evolving market results in even more certain failure.

If strategy is a visioning process, then execution is a hands-on, people process. The starting point has to be a clear, communicated, and understood strategy. There is an old saying, “If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.” Similarly, the lack of a clearly defined strategy can leave an organization wandering aimlessly.

When Jack Welch became CEO of GE, he famously sketched his strategy on the back of a napkin, which consisted of three circles “services,” “high technology,” and “core.” Then, over the next few decades, he set to work executing it to unrivaled effect.

If a behemoth like GE, with its incredibly diversified lines of business, can distill its strategy down to three circles on the back of a napkin, then any organization, regardless of size, should be able to easily articulate its strategy.

The next step is to ensure that the organization has what it takes to execute successfully. So what does effective execution entail? Essentially, it requires every individual to be as productive and efficient as possible within a framework that is designed to maximize support of the overall strategy.

In order to have both efficient people and the processes to support them, an organization needs to invest in the continuous development of its people, ensuring that they have both the skills to perform their particular job function to the maximum and a broad understanding of the business's strategic direction.

In their best selling book, Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done, Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan state that in order to execute against strategy, an organization must have a process that determines the organization's talent needs over time and develops action plans to meet those needs. An organization needs to constantly assess the current skill-sets of its employees, determining where there are deficits that need to be addressed through training in order to meet current job demands. Likewise, it is important to also look down the road and assess what skills are necessary to meet future needs and to build talent pipelines.

Continuous improvement and development of employees requires joint-ownership – both the organization and the individual need to be invested. Organizations must provide mentoring, training opportunities, and access to books and online resources in order for their employees to be equipped with the tools to succeed. In return, the employee must utilize these tools and leverage them in the daily execution of the business, looking always to improve on processes. This partnership lays the foundation for successful execution and provides a path from vision to execution, leading to sustainable business success. Peter Drucker called this a “Learning Organization” – where value is placed on both collective and individual growth as a competitive advantage.

In next month's issue of The Industry Campus, I will talk about CampusMBA's own experiences with implementing Lean to create a culture of successful execution.

Getting Lean — How Spring Cleaning Can Help Your Company Save Big
by Leslie Stein, Project Coordination Manager, Mortgage Bankers Association

Did you know the average U.S. executive wastes six weeks per year searching for missing information in messy desks and files? That translates to about an hour a day. If time is money, what are these hours of searching costing your company? Most employees don't associate their clutter with a cost. The typical belief is, “But I know where everything is, isn't that what matters?” The answer is no. Duplicate and unnecessary files take space, slow down work, and cost money to print and store. Consider these statistics from the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO):

• For an employee who earns $60,000 annually, those six weeks spent searching for files cost a staggering $6,290.
• 80% of papers that are filed are NEVER referenced again. Rent of the space the file cabinets occupy, the file cabinets themselves, and filing supplies all cost money.
• Time spent mishandling or searching for paperwork is NOT spent serving customers, increasing sales, or improving the bottom line.
• An average organization:
  • Makes 19 copies of each document
  • Spends $20 in labor to file each document
  • Spends $120 in labor searching for each misfiled document
  • Loses one out of every 20 documents
  • Spends 25 hours recreating each lost document

The good news is there are basic Lean principles to address this common office issue. While Lean is known for improving process efficiency, the first step is a clutter free environment. The Lean concept that supports this is known as 5S (Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain). By conducting a basic 5S exercise in your office you can determine what items and files you really need to do your daily work, then eliminate or move the rest. Just follow these five easy steps and watch the productivity and morale in your office drastically improve:

• Sort: Get rid of everything in your office that you do not use to do your daily work. When in doubt… move it out!
• Straighten: Organize the items that remain in a fashion that will make sense as you conduct your daily work.
• Shine: Deep clean the area… it probably hasn't seen a dust cloth and Pledge in a while. (And when it smells clean, you'll feel better in the space!)
• Standardize: Create a visual workspace where piles of work or missing items will be obvious and therefore addressed immediately.
• Sustain: Commit to a daily or weekly routine of maintaining this new environment. Although it seems simple, this is actually the hardest step!

To learn more about 5S or other Lean Office concepts and how you can implement them at your organization, contact Leslie Stein at lstein@mortgagebankers.org or (202) 557-2712.

The New Commercial Certified Mortgage Servicer (CMS) Designation
an MBA Executive Podcast with Dan Phelan, CMB, CRI

On May 15, CampusMBA launched Level I of the Commercial Certified Mortgage Servicer (CMS) designation at MBA's Commercial Asset Administration & Technology Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Level I, or the Achievement Certificate, recognizes professionals who have achieved a foundation of knowledge in commercial mortgage servicing practices, theories, and applications. The applicable courses provide training in commercial topics like industry standards, property protection, commercial servicing, technology and the basics of commercial real estate and multifamily servicing.

In this May 15 MBA Executive Podcast, Dan Phelan, CMB, CRI, President & Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Southwest Realty Services, provides details about this new and exciting designation for the commercial real estate finance industry.

Listen to Dan Phelan

Doncella M. Young, CMB, AMP
a CMB Profile

Doncella M. Young, CMB, AMP Senior Examiner Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) Washington, DC

Doncella M. Young has worked in all aspects of finance and mortgage banking, from consumer finance to commercial real estate lending, in both the private sector and the public sector. In her current position with OFHEO, Ms. Young examines and audits the safety and soundness of two government sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).

What motivated you to become a CMB?

I was motivated to earning my Master Certified Mortgage Banking (CMB) designation in 1999. After completing Course III of the School of Mortgage Banking (SOMB), I realized that I wanted to continue the learning experience. I wished to test and confirm my knowledge and skills in mortgage banking. Since the CMB is the highest designation and most comprehensive measure available to the mortgage banking industry, it was the perfect challenge.

How has the CMB designation impacted your career?

Upon formally earning the designation, my agency acknowledged my efforts in several different ways. However, the most impact and reward obtained came from being able to network with CMB colleagues to discuss mortgage banking issues, clarify concepts, etc.

Do you recommend others pursue the CMB designation?

Yes, there is no downside to pursuing this designation. Candidates gain substantial knowledge, education, and awareness of the mortgage banking industry – as well as develop an entire set of new and interesting colleagues with whom he/she will be able to share ideas and experiences.

More Information

To learn more about how you can become a CMB, visit our website at www.campusmba.org/cmb or contact Hannah Zippin at hzippin@mortgagebankers.org or (202) 557-2780.