Back to About MLA
Performance review 2010
An independent review of MLA's performance conducted in 2010 found the company had delivered value to stakeholders and maintained high standards of corporate governance, evaluation and planning processes. The review, by Arche Consulting, also highlighted key areas for improvement principally to longer-term strategic planning and KPI setting and reporting.
2010 review key findings
The report concluded that MLA:
- Has a structured approach to preparing the company's strategic and annual operating plans.
- Is viewed as a valuable contributor to the red meat industry. MLA directors and staff are perceived highly by stakeholders as skilled professionals working for the benefit of industry.
- Has a Board that is open and transparent. The Board has policies and procedures to guide its operations and has been committed to improving governance at all levels.
- Has been diligent and meticulous in meeting the requirements of the company's Statutory Funding Agreement with the Commonwealth.
- Has a comprehensive approach to assessing value for money from past investments.
2010 review key recommendations for improvement
- That MLA, in consultation with its stakeholders, consider a more strategic and structured approach to stakeholder relationships.
MLA response: MLA has a broad range of stakeholders due to the diverse nature of its activities. Stakeholders include producers, processors, industry organisations, government, wholesalers, retailers, food service, research organisations, consumers and the general community. A key stakeholder program at the board level is in place to manage many of these relationships while individual business units and staff also interact directly with stakeholders. MLA will review all of these processes and interactions in consultation with stakeholders over the next six months to determine where improvements can be made. - That MLA consider the benefits of developing a consistent ex-ante evaluation process.
MLA response: Evaluating the impact of MLA programs is critical to demonstrate value to key stakeholders. Since 2006 MLA has put in place an independent ex-post evaluation process using the Centre for International Economics (CIE). MLA currently uses a variety of ex-ante evaluation tools and processes to determine what programs and projects should receive funding as there are different considerations for different areas of work (e.g. marketing and research). MLA will investigate whether these processes can be standardised in the future while still being appropriate for the specific portfolio of work. Find out more about the evaluation process - That MLA consider establishing quantified key performance indicators for its strategic plan.
MLA response: See response to recommendation 4. - That MLA refine its approach to reporting outcomes to stakeholders to ensure clarity and consistency across business units.
MLA response: Setting appropriate long-term KPIs for MLA programs is a challenge that the Board is acutely aware of in order to assist in demonstrating the value of the work the company does on behalf of the industry and with government research funding. Quantified KPIs are set each year and reported on through our Annual Operating Plans and AOP final reports. We accept the need to include longer-term KPIs in future strategic planning documents that assist in measuring MLA's contribution to broader industry and government goals identified in the Meat Industry Strategic Plan and government research priorities. The Sheep Industry Strategic Plan and the National RD&E Strategies for beef and sheepmeat production are both developing specific output targets, some of which will be the responsibility of MLA to deliver, and these will be reflected in future MLA plans. MLA transparently reports outcomes of our programs each year to stakeholders via AOP final reports and the Annual Report. MLA supports continuous improvement in the accuracy and transparency in our reporting against KPIs (both annually and in longer-term documents).
