Did Somebody Say Strategy?

CFO as competitive weapon

As we talked about in our blog here (The CFO 2.0: From Bean Counter To Someone You Can Count On), today’s top finance execs go beyond measuring performance: now creating value is their remit.

McKinsey just published this article, “Building a competitive finance function:  An executive roundtable,” based on the perspectives of CFOs from Novo Nordisk, Microsoft (former), Novartis, and Lloyds TSB.

Here are the key takeaways:

Eight Business Technology Trends to Watch

McKinsey just published this article (by James M. Manyika, Roger P. Roberts, and Kara L. Sprague with contributions by Jacques Bughin, Michael Chui, Tony Huie, Brad Johnson, Markus Löffler, and Suman Prasad) on emerging technology trends that can help transform markets and businesses.  Their bottom line advice is that “Executives should learn to shape the outcome (of their strategies) rather than just react to it.”  Indeed, technology is the great enabler of process, and the two (well-combined) can help people deliver on outcomes.  The desired outcomes are shaped by corporate strategy, goals, and overall mission – not to mention by variable compensation!

Also have a look at our blog on Gartner's IT imperatives here.

Here are McKinsey's Eight to Watch:
(For further reading, I’ve put links – to amazon.com – at the end of each one)

Terrific Business Intelligence Blog

My friend Frank Buytendijk (http://blogs.oracle.com/frankbuytendijk/ ) turned me on to Jorgen Heizenberg’s excellent BI Blog: “BI Guru” at http://www.biguru-online.com/

Jorgen, who works for Capgemini in the Netherlands, takes an irreverent look at business and BI and manages to make outrageous connections that contain wisdom (beyond his years!) and practical advice.

I had the pleasure of meeting Jorgen and his delightful colleague, Sandra Wennemers, a while back and they are both very passionate about the business use of technology.

What the CEO wants you to know

This is one of my favorite business books.  I refer to it periodically to help ground me in the fundamental foundations of business.  It tells you why everyone in a business should care about cash, inventory, product mix, merchandising, pricing, return on assets, customer focus, product quality, velocity, and growth.

It’s a very simple, straight-forward (and short) read.  And he brings all the pieces together to help you understand your company’s “total business.”  When we do our extended performance management discovery work, we like to look at how those drivers interrelate across all the functions within the business and to the ecosystem beyond.