With shortened business cycles, increased competition, and rapidly changing technologies, companies need to be more nimble than ever. They must narrow the gap between strategy formulation and operation execution to guarantee success.The Strategy Gap will provide a framework that senior financial managers can use to ensure that their strategies are implemented successfully and that their corporations remain competitive. Filled with informative case studies and best practices for optimum financial processes, this valuable resource will help managers leverage information technology to successfully implement corporate strategies. This book also shows managers how to eliminate surprises in poorly managed or unforeseen activities, while applying new approaches to financial management for faster and more accurate business modeling. Expert advice from those who have used these strategies clearly explains how to integrate planning, budgeting, consolidation, and reporting into one cohesive management system.
MICHAEL COVENEY is Senior Director of Strategy Management for Comshare, Incorporated, a leading provider of software to help companies implement and execute strategy.
DENNIS GANSTER is Chairman, President, and CEO of Comshare.
BRIAN HARTLEN is Senior Vice President of Marketing for Comshare.
DAVE KING, PhD, is Senior Vice President of Product Development as well as Chief Technology Officer for Comshare.
Foreword xi
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Chapter 1 Strategy Gap 1
What Gap? 1
Failure of Strategic Plans 3
Management-Induced Gaps 5
Process-Induced Gaps 7
Technology System-Induced Gaps 13
Role of the Chief Financial Officer 19
Corporate Performance Management 20
Summary 23
Chapter 2 Strategy in the Next Economy 25
Strategy Challenge 25
Business as Unusual 26
Change and Uncertainty 27
Strategy Defined 30
Strategy Management 33
Integrating Top-down and Bottom-up Strategic Management 34
Discontinuities 37
Summary 40
Chapter 3 Corporate Performance Management Processes 43
Event-Driven Approach 43
Key CPM Processes 44
Summary 62
Chapter 4 Measurement and Methodologies 64
Does Measurement Make a Difference? 64
State of the Measurement Art 67
Effective Performance Measurement 71
Performance Measurement Methodologies 73
Summary 85
Chapter 5 Corporate Performance Management Systems 88
Impact of Technology on the Finance Function 88
Characteristics of CPM Systems 93
Architecture of a CPM System 96
CPM Data Tier 100
CPM Application Tier 111
CPM Client Tier 112
Summary 121
Chapter 6 Corporate Performance Management at Work 122
Early Adopter Approach 122
Summary 137
Chapter 7 Getting Started 139
One Piece at a Time 139
Choosing the Right Team 140
Building a CPM Road Map 142
Calculating Return on Investment 152
Summary 160
Chapter 8 Designing a Corporate Performance Management Solution 162
Design Framework 162
CPM Data Model 163
User Interface 168
Reports and Analyses 174
Summary 182
Chapter 9 Implementing a Corporate Performance Management Solution 184
Knowledge and Choices 184
Project Planning 185
Build or Buy? 188
Selecting a CPM Package 192
Controlling the Implementation 198
Summary 206
Chapter 10 What Lies Ahead 207
Communicating Value 207
Connected World 210
Closing the Gap between Finance and Information Technology 213
Summary 214
www.wiley.com/go/strategygap (password: Strategy)
Appendix A CPM Process Review Template
Appendix B Strategy into CPM Data Model Template
Appendix C CPM Project Scope Template
Appendix D Software Evaluation Checklist
Appendix E Sample Implementation Project Plan
Appendix F CPM Vendor Proposal Template
Appendix G Software Vendor Scorecard Template
Index 217
