The Ledger
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Tag Archives: strategic planning
Rethinking the Business Planning Process
September 22, 2020
“Many plans and budgets are now based on outdated assumptions and data, requiring FP&A teams to rethink the annual business planning process. Discussions with FP&A leaders, CFOs, and Deloitte’s Finance Transformation and Human Capital professionals, suggest several factors have led leaders to challenge the traditional process, including the need for constant scenario development and modeling; a lack of confidence in future projections; the urgent requirement for decisions about courses of action; an unclear decision-making framework, particularly around capital allocation; and time-and resource-consuming manual iteration.”
Real-time Approach to Planning is Critical
September 15, 2020
“These new realities demand a real-time approach to planning in which financial teams use scenario modeling and simulation tools to plan for a range of possible outcomes. Leveraging external data in volume and drawing on connected intelligence from across the business, finance teams can ask those all-important “what if” questions to identify the best path forward.”
Better Scenario Planning Helps Companies Benefit During Disruptions
September 8, 2020
“CFOs will play a key role in determining how various scenarios will impact revenue, the cost structure, the balance sheet, and liquidity. Three key areas can shape how companies prepare for and respond to the uncertain environment ahead: identify new data inputs, model data to understand how the business may behave under different circumstances, and act now to allow for flexibility under different scenarios.”
CFO Priorities for 2021 Includes Digital Transformation
August 6, 2020
“After surviving the initial wave of the pandemic, many organizations obtained a real-world view of how far along they were in their digital transformation journey. In many cases, the verdict was “not nearly as far as we thought we were.” Although most companies have automated processes, fewer have optimized that automation; fewer still have deployed next-generation technology to transform their business models. In fact, our research and experience with organizations worldwide indicates that very few have taken the necessary steps they need to become truly digital. They may have formed a digital veneer around their core capabilities, but being truly digital means changing the organization at its core.”
FP&A Can Help by Asking Better Questions
August 4, 2020
“In addition, the world around us – and in business – is changing rapidly. As decision makers struggle more to make sense of such a world, they need help. Since FP&A is directly supporting business decision making and makers, they can help by asking better questions!”
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 >
Competitive Decision Making With Porter’s Five Forces
September 4, 2019
The goal of every business is to increase and retain profits while surpassing the competition. When it comes to strategic planning, knowing who the competition is and understanding how their actions will affect the business is critical to long-term success. One way to analyze your competition is by using Porter’s Five Forces model to break them down into five distinct categories, designed to reveal insights. Originally developed by Harvard Business School’s Michael E. Porter in 1979, the five forces model looks at five specific factors that determine if a business can be profitable, based on other businesses in the industry. Understanding the competitive forces, and their underlying causes, reveals the roots of an industry’s current profitability while providing a framework for anticipating and influencing competition (and profitability) over time.
Read More at Business News Daily >
