- Leadership and Strategy in a Lean Environment
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- Lean has a longer and more colorful history than most of us think, with many Lean concepts predating Womack and Jones’s books on the subject. In fact, according to my research, many of the Lean concepts have been around for over 2500 years, and date back to ancient China. In the twentieth century, Henry Ford discussed ideas that we’d now describe as Lean, such as waste, teams, developing the people in his plants, and more. In fact, Ford’s work was one of the sources (along with US supermarkets and Japanese samurai) that Toyota looked to when they developed their Toyota Production System.
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Take Assessment Watch Video- One Big Thing Finance Professionals Need To Deliver Value
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- There are two types of accountant and finance professional, those that ensure the appropriate controls and compliance are in place so that the numbers are accurate and consistent – let’s call this preserving value, and then there are those who are coming out from behind their desks, engaging with the business on meaningful problems, solving them, being a trusted sparring partner and financial mentor – let’s call this creating and capturing. How do we make sure we have the opportunity to be the latter?
- The Magic of Metrics: What Gets Measured, Gets Managed
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- Recently a group of local financial executives discussed the art of developing effective business performance measures. Participants agreed many key metrics used today are irrelevant in helping guide their business. Poorly chosen metrics waste corporate resources by diverting attention from important issues to less important or, worse yet, irrelevant ones. The group decided businesses should have a process in place to determine what metrics will be most effective. The following 6 step approach will help you create the best metrics for your business.
Governance & Controls – structure and controls.
Transaction Recording – systems, transaction processing and closing the books.
Reporting - efficient, timely and accurate information for decision making and meeting compliance requirements.
Accounting
Business Planning - provide the financial roadmap for the company with supporting analytics.
Financial Forecasting - integrate the company’s current performance relative to budget with the real-time business environment.
Investment Analysis - the framework to analyze new opportunities as they present themselves.
Finance
Cash Management - the discipline to ensure cash is available to operate the business normally.
Funding - Planning for and raising funds to meet the needs of the business.
Risk Management – Identification and mitigation of key business risks.
Treasury
Self-Awareness - Internal.
Team Building - External.
Strategy & Culture – Motivate people to follow you.
Leadership
Four Pillars of Executive Expertise
CFO.University is built around the Four Pillars of CFO Success. These Pillars are supported with Core Competencies. Our framework allows you to master your role as a senior financial officer. The Four Pillars are made up of:
Accounting – Governance & Controls, Transaction Recording and Reporting
Finance – Business Planning, Financial Forecasting and Investment Analysis
Treasury – Cash Management, Funding (Capital Raising) and Risk Management
Leadership – Self Awareness, Team Building and Strategy & Culture
