The Ledger
Curated content foranalytical business leaders
Give Purpose to Your Data to Drive Value
July 25, 2020
This McKinsey Digital article highlights the eight elements leadership teams should leverage to exploit their data analytics practices and make more informed, and ultimately more profitable decisions. “Performance — not pristine data sets, interesting patterns, or killer algorithms — is ultimately the point. Advanced data analytics is a means to an end. It’s a discriminating tool to identify, and then implement, a value-driving answer.”
The Modern CFO is a Valued Business Partner
July 21, 2020
“In the last decade in particular, CFOs have faced a raft of changing regulations and enhanced governance requirements. They have had to get increasingly comfortable with new technology and automation, and they have needed to step into the limelight as prominent communicators and influencers. The modern CFO has fully embraced change to become a valued strategic partner, able to navigate complex organizations and lead an increasingly dispersed workforce.”
Read the entire article at Strategic Finance Magazine >
CFO Crisis Leadership – Open a War Room
July 19, 2020
Managing during a crisis takes on a different set of priorities, according to a six-time CFO. “The first — respond as effectively as you can to short-term needs while preserving cash and liquidity. Second, build engagement between finance and procurement teams. And third, ensure efficiency and be more responsive to quickly changing demands and shifting priorities.”
Industrial Companies: Control Indirect Costs to Gain Profits
July 13, 2020
“Maintaining profits and growth is going to be very difficult. However, regardless of the larger economic environment, companies can take actions that can help. Specifically, many companies are seeing the share of general and administrative (G&A) costs increase. From 2008 to 2015, G&A expenses grew more slowly than revenues (41.8 percent versus 61 percent). Since then, the trend has reversed, with G&A expenses rising faster—15.4 percent compared with 6.0 percent revenue growth. Traditional cost-optimization approaches are yielding diminishing returns; if revenues begin to fall, then, so will profits.”
