business - wide cost saving opportunities at enron , we ' re good at a lot of things : making markets , commoditizing products , managing risk , offering innovative energy solutions to customers - the list goes on and on . however , one of the things we could do a lot better is watching our expenses . we ' re all shareholders in this company , and we need to spend our company ' s dollars as wisely as we spend our own .
there are some simple , yet significant measures each of us can take to make sure we ' re careful with enron ' s money . the policy committee has approved and recommended the following :
? professional services - this is our largest area of discretionary spending , at more than $ 600 million last year . " professional services " includes our contracts with outside law and accounting firms , contractors and other consulting groups . to make sure that we are negotiating the best rates and terms of service for the company across business units , we are requiring all future professional service contracts and those up for renewal to be negotiated through or in consultation with global strategic sourcing ( gss ) , effective july 1 . in addition , contracts for more than $ 5 , 000 must be pre - approved by the business unit senior executive or their designee and gss . for more information , see http : / / ibuyit . enron . com .
? on - line expense reporting tool xms - xms , our online expense reporting tool , enables us to expedite , monitor and report expenses . effective july 1 , all employees on domestic u . s . payroll will be required to use xms for reimbursement of business - related expenses . to access xms , go to http : / / xms . enron . com / .
? enterprise wide portal - we currently have 122 internal web sites across the company . the amount of technology work , marketing collateral , and other related costs required to develop and support so many portals is sizeable . it makes sense to have one enron portal so you can efficiently access content and services through a single , personalized channel that will make it easier for you to find information and perform basic tasks online . this new company - wide portal , under the leadership of tony mends , will be launched in several phases beginning this fall .
another significant area where we can be more diligent in our spending is travel and entertainment . enron has long had travel policies in place . as we have grown , we have not done as well as we should have in communicating those policies to new employees and reminding all employees to take advantage of the discounts we have negotiated . the availability of discounts and booking services online should make it easy to save money for the company without sacrificing the comfort of employees who travel . the following are common sense recommendations that we should all adhere to when traveling for business . any regular deviations from these travel policy recommendations will be reviewed by each business unit leader .
? air travel - employees are requested to use either travel agency in the park ( tap ) or the gss - approved preferred travel agency for your location - all of which have access to the significant airfare discounts negotiated by gss - or http : / / clicktrip . enron . com / enron , the new online travel booking service that allows employees to book their own travel with the same negotiated discounts . employees who fly in the united states should book non - refundable coach tickets , which are typically 65 percent less than refundable tickets and can usually be changed by simply paying a $ 100 fee . for this reason , we strongly encourage all employees to purchase non - refundable domestic coach tickets when possible .
? lodging - gss has also negotiated preferred rates at a number of hotel chains in many cities worldwide to accommodate each business unit ' s individual hotel policy . we recommend that you use enron ' s list of preferred hotels to select accommodations that are in line with your business unit ' s policies . you can view the list at http : / / travel . enron . com .
? car rental services - when renting a car for business travel , employees should use our preferred car rental agencies - national ( u . s . and canada ) and alamo ( u . s . ) - since the agreements we have negotiated are intended to protect you and enron through the insurance coverage in our contract . visit http : / / travel . enron . com for details and updates to services available outside the u . s .
? off - site meetings - all domestic - u . s . off - site meetings and events with more than 10 people should be coordinated through gss , which will negotiate preferred rates for enron . they can be reached at ( 713 ) 646 - 8311 .
because there are differences between business units and offices , each business unit leader will follow up this memo with a communication further elaborating on these policies as they apply to their business unit .
each of us has a responsibility to make sure we do our part to ensure enron retains its competitive edge . these recommendations are some basic , sensible actions we can take company - wide , but it is up to every employee to look for cost saving measures and do what makes sense in your daily activities . if you have an idea or a suggestion you would like to share with us , please e - mail us at @ enron . com . a list of questions and answers about these policies is posted on http : / / ibuyit . enron . com / gss / ibuyit / csfaq . doc . if you have additional questions , policy committee member kevin hannon will host an espeak on tuesday , june 19 at 10 a . m . houston time to discuss these cost saving recommendations .
business - wide cost saving opportunities
at enron , we ' re good at a lot of things : making markets , commoditizing products , managing risk , offering innovative energy solutions to customers - the list goes on and on . however , one of the things we could do a lot better is watching our expenses . we ' re all shareholders in this company , and we need to spend our company ' s dollars as wisely as we spend our own .
there are some simple , yet significant measures each of us can take to make sure we ' re careful with enron ' s money . the policy committee has approved and recommended the following :
? professional services - this is our largest area of discretionary spending , at more than $ 600 million last year . " professional services " includes our contracts with outside law and accounting firms , contractors and other consulting groups . to make sure that we are negotiating the best rates and terms of service for the company across business units , we are requiring all future professional service contracts and those up for renewal to be negotiated through or in consultation with global strategic sourcing ( gss ) , effective july 1 . in addition , contracts for more than $ 5 , 000 must be pre - approved by the business unit senior executive or their designee and gss . for more information , see http : / / ibuyit . enron . com .
? on - line expense reporting tool xms - xms , our online expense reporting tool , enables us to expedite , monitor and report expenses . effective july 1 , all employees on domestic u . s . payroll will be required to use xms for reimbursement of business - related expenses . to access xms , go to http : / / xms . enron . com / .
? enterprise wide portal - we currently have 122 internal web sites across the company . the amount of technology work , marketing collateral , and other related costs required to develop and support so many portals is sizeable . it makes sense to have one enron portal so you can efficiently access content and services through a single , personalized channel that will make it easier for you to find information and perform basic tasks online . this new company - wide portal , under the leadership of tony mends , will be launched in several phases beginning this fall .
another significant area where we can be more diligent in our spending is travel and entertainment . enron has long had travel policies in place . as we have grown , we have not done as well as we should have in communicating those policies to new employees and reminding all employees to take advantage of the discounts we have negotiated . the availability of discounts and booking services online should make it easy to save money for the company without sacrificing the comfort of employees who travel . the following are common sense recommendations that we should all adhere to when traveling for business . any regular deviations from these travel policy recommendations will be reviewed by each business unit leader .
? air travel - employees are requested to use either travel agency in the park ( tap ) or the gss - approved preferred travel agency for your location - all of which have access to the significant airfare discounts negotiated by gss - or http : / / clicktrip . enron . com / enron , the new online travel booking service that allows employees to book their own travel with the same negotiated discounts . employees who fly in the united states should book non - refundable coach tickets , which are typically 65 percent less than refundable tickets and can usually be changed by simply paying a $ 100 fee . for this reason , we strongly encourage all employees to purchase non - refundable domestic coach tickets when possible .
? lodging - gss has also negotiated preferred rates at a number of hotel chains in many cities worldwide to accommodate each business unit ' s individual hotel policy . we recommend that you use enron ' s list of preferred hotels to select accommodations that are in line with your business unit ' s policies . you can view the list at http : / / travel . enron . com .
? car rental services - when renting a car for business travel , employees should use our preferred car rental agencies - national ( u . s . and canada ) and alamo ( u . s . ) - since the agreements we have negotiated are intended to protect you and enron through the insurance coverage in our contract . visit http : / / travel . enron . com for details and updates to services available outside the u . s .
? off - site meetings - all domestic - u . s . off - site meetings and events with more than 10 people should be coordinated through gss , which will negotiate preferred rates for enron . they can be reached at ( 713 ) 646 - 8311 .
because there are differences between business units and offices , each business unit leader will follow up this memo with a communication further elaborating on these policies as they apply to their business unit .
each of us has a responsibility to make sure we do our part to ensure enron retains its competitive edge . these recommendations are some basic , sensible actions we can take company - wide , but it is up to every employee to look for cost saving measures and do what makes sense in your daily activities . if you have an idea or a suggestion you would like to share with us , please e - mail us at @ enron . com . a list of questions and answers about these policies is posted on http : / / ibuyit . enron . com / gss / ibuyit / csfaq . doc . if you have additional questions , policy committee member kevin hannon will host an espeak on tuesday , june 19 at 10 a . m . houston time to discuss these cost saving recommendations .