The Ledger
Curated content foranalytical business leaders
A Futurist’s Framework For Strategic Planning
September 23, 2019
When it comes to long-term planning, many FP&A professionals should be able to answer these questions: Where do you want to have impact? What it will take to achieve success? How will the organization evolve to meet challenges on the horizon? These questions are the foundation for any achievable plan, both long and short term. Many businesses get stuck cycling between strategy and tactics, and while that process might feel like serious planning for the future, it results in a perpetual cycle of trying to catch up: to competitors, to new entrants, and to external sources of disruption. “Futurists” see their planning timelines as more of a cone that measures certainty and charts actions, rather than simply marking the passage of time as quarters or years. The result, ideally, is a flexible organization that is positioned to consistently and effectively respond to external developments.
Read More at The Harvard Business Review >
What Makes a Future-Focused Finance Organization?
September 19, 2019
The systems used by many companies for important business insights have many inconsistencies. They lack integration, automation, and a single version of the truth about their business. Additionally, many lack the ability to view their data in real-time to really understand what their data is trying to tell them. Today’s volatile marketplace requires more flexible finance, and modern finance leaders have leveraged intelligent technologies to provide the real-time data and reporting capacity that empowers them to drill-down to the most detailed level of information. Having one universal truth from one set of data available in real-time is extraordinarily powerful for finance leaders because it empowers the business to be faster and more agile.
Read More at The Digitalist by SAP >
The Three E’s of Strategic Finance
September 18, 2019
Finance must be an integral part of the strategic process, and successful engagement in business strategy requires finance professionals to play key roles—and often lead the process—in three specific ways: education, evaluation, and execution. Education is a key element in strategic finance because it is the bridge between data and insights. Reporting doesn’t always lead to understanding, and sharing information doesn’t always result in actionable insights. In today’s organizations, proactive education about how finance can and should influence business decisions is essential to strategic success. Evaluation involves finance’s analysis of the present reality and possible future. Finance provides future operational plans, capital project analysis, financial markets planning, and execution. Every business strategy relies on timely insights that shape business growth. Finally, execution is the orientations and skills finance professionals possess that are critical to lead strategic execution.
Read More at Strategic Finance Magazine >
