 1996 Spring ACTE Quarterly: President's Message | Process Mapping |
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE:Focus on the Process The year-anniversary of commission caps has come and gone, and we've all read the year-in-review articles and seen whether the pundits' predictions came true. And while it's been an eventful and often controversial year, I think this continued preoccupation with commission caps is a case of misspent energy. Corporate travel managers are too often focused on the process of saving money, instead of focusing on the broader process of travel management. True, saving money is part of any manager's function. It's also true that commission caps took revenue out of many a travel manager's department--an idea many of us had fallen in love with. But restricting your focus strictly on cost avoidance and revenue generation means missing the entire scope of the corporate travel manager's role, which also includes procurement, distribution, and developing and monitoring service standards. Above all that, however, the travel manager's job is to add value to one's company, and to the people who work in it and travel for it. That's why process mapping is so important, and why we've devoted a cover story to it in this issue of ACTE Quarterly. Companies all over the world are taking a hard look at basics: not just how they perform certain things but why they do them the way they do--or at all. It's all part of an attempt to work better, smarter, more efficiently. Travel is no exception. But instead of keeping an eye on the bottom line to the exclusion of virtually all else, we've got to learn to look at the bigger picture. Other features in this issue include a review of the extraordinarily successful ACTE VIII Seattle conference, and a look ahead at ACTE's international event, now only three months away in Madrid. We're particularly pleased with the Seattle conference. Besides being the biggest ACTE event ever--there were 650 participants--the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Our aim is to keep developing programs that keep up with the fast pace of change in our industry. Staying up to speed on technology is one of the biggest challenges travel managers face, so the fact that the technology track at ACTE VIII Seattle went over so well means that we're on the right track as well. We hope to see you in Spain. In the meantime, let us know what you think of this issue. Call the ACTE office, write, or send an e-mail to [email protected]. Let us know the articles you like and the stories you'd like to see us cover. We look forward to hearing from you.
Earl Foster
1996 Spring ACTE Quarterly: President's Message | Process Mapping
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