The Central Evaluation Unit (CEU) of the XIII Directorate evaluated applications from academics bidding for research grants available under the 'cooperation and foundations' scheme of the European Union. This scheme distributed relatively small grants (less than €100,000) to fund the early stages of cooperative research between universities in the European Union. Based in Brussels, the CEU's objectives were to make decisions that were consistently in line with directory guide rules, but also to give as speedy a response as possible to applicants. All new applications were sent to the CEU's processing unit (CEUPU) by university liaison officers (ULOs) who were based at around 150 universities around the EU. Any academic who wanted to apply for a grant needed to submit an application form (downloadable on-line) and other signed documentation through the local ULO. The CEUPU employed three 'checkers' with three support/secretarial staff, a pool of 12 clerks responsible for data entry and filing, 10 auditors (staff who prepare and issue the grant-approval documents) and a special advisor (a former senior officer employed part-time to assess non-standard applications).
Veronique Fontan was the manager in charge of the CEUPU. She had been invited by the directory Chief Executive, Leda Grumman, to make a presentation to senior colleagues about the success of her unit. The invitation stemmed from the fact first that the systems used for handling new grant applications were well proven and robust and second that her operation was well known for consistently meeting, and in many cases exceeding, its targets.

Questions

1. Analyze and evaluate the processing of new applications at the CEUPU:
– Create a process map for new applications.
– Calculate the cycle time for the process.
– Calculate the number of people involved in the processing of an application.
– Explain why it is difficult to locate an individual file.
2. Summarize the problems of the CEUPU process.
3. What suggestions would you make to Veronique to improve her process?

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