Expert Insights

Have you got the right treasury strategy?

It’s been a tumultuous few weeks. The Brexit result led to a huge fall in sterling against the dollar, recession speculation was rife and the only certainty was an unpredictable future. A new prime minister appears to have brought some stability and the markets have rebounded a little. But the ongoing economic uncertainty has made one thing clear: the need for businesses to have an effective treasury strategy.

Quality data starts with good governance

High-quality, well-managed data is crucial to give you a more sophisticated understanding of your customers and to drive better decision making. But before you can exploit data, it’s vital that you have sound governance in place – and the responsibility for that lies with the board, not your IT department.

Is now the time to sell your shared service centre?

A boom in internal shared service centres (SSCs) over the past 20 years has helped many organisations lower costs and drive efficiencies. But should you go a step further and outsource altogether? Interim finance manager Ben Chapman, who’s helped many companies set up and / or outsource their SSCs, explains the benefits of doing so, and why now’s a good time.

ERP is not MI – are you getting the right information?

With increasing pressure on CEOs to grow their businesses, accurate management information (MI) has never been so important. But as companies continue to invest heavily in transactional Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to optimise their business processes, former finance director turned management consultant Paul Cullen believes many businesses are not getting the user-friendly, actionable MI they need from the huge amounts of data they have.

SSCs: are companies missing the bigger picture?

Shared services centres (SSCs) have been used successfully by businesses to streamline back office functions and save money. But could they do more? Could the SSC extend its portfolio to wider business services to drive performance and growth? Business services design and management expert Phil Lambert believes so.

A fresh look at China

Although China’s astonishing rate of economic growth over the past 30 years has slowed, there are still plenty of opportunities for companies looking to do business in the world’s most populous country. One businessman with considerable experience of working in China is strategic brand expert Jonathan Geldart. He’s now co-authored a new book that captures the insights of Chinese business leaders and provides a practical guide for Western companies.

Protecting the value of your acquisition

The recent series of major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is a strong indication that we’re moving towards economic recovery. With companies apparently more confident to spend cash stockpiled during the depths of the recession, and private equity firms sniffing out good investments, we spoke to post-acquisition integration expert Philip da Silva about the importance of a well-planned integration.

Project Finger-Printing – How to avoid organisational amnesia

Lessons learned are important for continuous improvement and future success. While many are happy to discuss what went right on a project, exploring what went wrong can be easier said than done. Finance executive and change manager Siva Shankar explains a system he calls ‘project finger-printing’ which provides a mechanism for people to share valuable information on factors that drove success and failure.

Shared services optimisation – the next generation

Shared services began in the early 1990′s when large corporates were seeking a new, more cost-efficient model for running back-office services. Today, the concept is well established with shared services saving organisations millions of pounds. But what’s next? We asked business consulting expert and Interim Manager Allan Robb to look at the options.

Creating a business change function

In many organisations, business change programmes are managed by IT. But as Programme Manager Luke Evans argues, this can create a number of problems. He believes there’s a better way: and that’s to create a dedicated business change function.

Effective Programme Sponsorship

Strong sponsorship is key to a successful change programme. But what makes a good sponsor? What are some of the challenges they face? And how can external expertise help? In the first of our new Insights series, we speak to experienced Interim Programme Manager Rob Wilkinson to get his views