The year has seen MAS making further refinements to its organisation structure to achieve greater effectiveness. As part of this exercise, the Financial Sector Promotion Department was renamed as Financial Centre Development Department, and the International Relations Department as International Department, to better reflect their roles and focus. The Banking Department streamlined and enhanced its internal structures as it shifted to a risk-focused supervisory approach in its work. Similarly, the Finance Department re-positioned itself to improve its risk management practices and financial resource utilisation. The Planning, Policy and Communications Division of the Managing Director’s Office became a department, to undertake additional responsibilities in strategic planning and policy, and promoting organisational innovation.
Cross-departmental teams were formed to identify frameworks and strategies to foster innovation, support knowledge management and organisational integration, and to enhance market infrastructure. Gaps were identified and initiatives developed to support these corporate priorities.
To foster a shared vision and esprit de corp, and promote learning across all levels, workshops were conducted for MAS’ staff on the Organisational Learning concepts, framework and tools. Internal facilitators were also trained to help their respective departments build organisational development capacities and to manage change efforts.
The government announced in January 2002 that the Board of Commissioners of Currency, Singapore and MAS would be merged by 31 March 2003. MAS will become a full-fledged central bank with a range of functions, including currency issuance. The merger of the two institutions was undertaken with the objective of streamlining the institutional structure, rationalising common functions and realising efficiency gains.
The rapid pace of change and the increasing complexity of the financial industry require an ongoing, systematic approach to seek out industry trends and driving forces, assess their implications to Singapore and formulate an effective response to the ensuing challenges and opportunities. MAS will strengthen its longer-term planning capability by institutionalising a structured and disciplined approach to strategic planning. A dedicated division within the Planning, Policy and Communications Department will spearhead its implementation. For a start, the division is supporting the Financial Services Working Group as part of the government’s Economic Review Committee tasked to review and recommend long-term policies to re-make Singapore’s economy.
To better synchronise its corporate planning and resource allocation cycles, MAS has aligned its Corporate Planning, Appraisal and Budget exercises. With this change, the planning process begins with an assessment of the previous year’s performance, and incorporates new corporate and organisational priorities from the Strategic Planning process. This is prior to the plans for resources and budget. The synchronised cycles will lead to a more efficient planning and allocation of organisational resources.
|