Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) for Santa Claus Inc.
Some will say that what Santa Claus does is not a business. I disagree.
Memo to Millennials: Raise Your Voices (And Master Analytics)
Some elders believe Millennials are spoiled and have been allowed too much to “have it their own way.” I say nonsense to this claim. We need youth to implement data management methods and techniques that their elders are hesitant, reluctant, or fearful to try.
Are Exceptional EPM Systems the Exception?
Quite naturally, many organizations over-rate the quality of their enterprise and corporate performance management (EPM / CPM) practices and systems. In reality
Realizing a Tipping Point for Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
When should an organization decide to implement one or more components of an enterprise performance management (EPM) system? To answer this we can learn a lesson from Malcolm Gladwell, a social scientist and author of the best-selling book The Tipping Point…
Why We Like Shiny New Toys
I recently presented at an analytics conference where a speaker in one of the customer marketing tracks said something that stimulated my thinking. He said, “Just because something is shiny and new or is now the ‘in’ thing, it doesn’t mean it works for everyone.” His statement got me thinking about some of the new…
How is Corporate Performance Management (CPM) Similar to Football?
Watching the World Cup made me think of the upcoming American Football season, and I began pondering how this sport is similar to the way the CFO, CIO, and other executives work with their managers and employees who must improve an organization’s performance using analytics, Big Data, and integrated enterprise and corporate performance management (EPM/CPM)…
Accountant Pirates of the Caribbean
Are accountants being unethical or just irresponsible when they misallocate costs to products, service-lines, channels, and customers? Are they not adequately serving the needs of their managers and workforce when they report flawed and misleading information needed for insights and better decision making? Should we place shame on them or shame them? There is a difference.
A Passionate Appeal for Activity-Based Costing (ABC)
Usually I am fairly rational
and do not let my personal emotions interfere with how I interact with others. However, as the readers of my blogs and articles may have detected, my more recent writings increasingly reflect my frustrations with old school accountants. I cannot disguise my irritation and annoyance with accountants who refuse to be progressive.
How is Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Similar to Football?
I was a two-year varsity football letterman playing a defense linebacker at Cornell University. I relate my experiences on the field to experiences on the job. The professional and college football championships will conclude with the number one team at the end of the season. That team will have demonstrated determination, perseverance, and grit to win. It is not much different with organizations striving to improve their performance. They have no “could’ve” or “should’ve” in their vocabulary; instead, they focus on “must have.”
An Accountant’s Coming of Age Story
Accountants are a strange breed. They love math and numbers. Many love the feeling of control. They start out young. Later in their career most experience a “coming of age” and shift from bean counters to bean growers.
We were all once young. We all experienced growing pains. This article is about the coming of age of accountants. Their maturing is an especially painful process.