Showing posts with label accounting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accounting. Show all posts

What the CEO Wants You to Know : How Your Company Really Works Review

What the CEO Wants You to Know : How Your Company Really Works
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What the CEO Wants You to Know : How Your Company Really Works ReviewDr. Charan has used his decades of experience with top CEOs to write a book that explains the overall concepts and focus of a successful business using simple metaphors. "The best CEOs . . . are able to take the complexity and mystery out of business by focusing on the fundamentals." "And they make sure everone in the company . . . understands these fundamentals." If you work in a small part of a large organization and don't understand how what you do contributes to the whole, this book will be a revelation to you. If you do not understand how business people think and would like to learn, this book will help you more than any five courses you could take.
The book is organized into four parts.
In part one, you learn the universal language of business though concepts like inventory, product mix, merchandising, pricing, return on assets, customer focus, product quality, cash generation, growth, and finding out what you need to change from customers. The primary metaphor used here is that of a street vendor who is selling fruit in India and cannot afford to have a bad day. Dr. Charan fleshes out the examples by referring to his family's shoe business, and to decisions taken by leading executives he has worked with (like Jack Welch of General Electric, Jac Nassar of Ford, and Dick Brown at EDS).
In part two, he talks about how to use these concepts in the real world. His key point is to take the measurements and create a focus on 3 or 4 key activities that will make the most difference. He also relates this work to expanding the value of the company's share price.
In part three, he turns his attention to getting key tasks done. This involves putting the right people in the right jobs, improving group effectiveness (usually by putting in place activities that provide more timely focus), and how to lead change. Dick Brown is the key example in this last area.
In part four, you pay attention to what you need to do to aply these concepts to your own situation so you "become a businessperson first" in your approach to everything. This part gives you help with assessing the whole business, cutting through complexity, providing focus, helping others expand their abilities and synchronize with their colleagues to be more effective, and being a leader (regardless of your role now).
You are left then with this challenge: "What are you going to do to help your company's money making in the next sixty to ninety days?
The book is quite simple and can be read fairly quickly. I think that few will be confused by it. If you have questions, ask someone who has some business education to help you.
The book's great strength is its simplicity. It takes business concepts and approaches down to the lowest common denominator. For many people, this will provide a great advance over doing what is best for the way you are measured in your part of the organization. But you will have to get those measurements changed if you want focus and behavior to improve in a lasting way.
The book's weaknesses are in four areas. First, the street vendor and shoe company examples won't work for everyone. I suspect that a carefully drawn lemonade stand example would have worked better since almost everyone in the United States has either had one of those or been a customer of one.
Second, it is a little opaque from the material here how to find the key leverage points to improve the business. Talking to your customers will get their issues, but then what do you do next? This subject implies doing some systems thinking, and the basis for doing that work isn't laid here.
Third, the material on stock price improvement is weak. It also doesn't have any connection to a simple example. You are just expected to take his conclusions. It would have been easy to strengthen this section by extending the analogy of how a family that depends on a business feels when the business doesn't do well. I actually thought the Ford example was one of failure rather than success. Reasonable people will differ on these things.
Fourth, most businesses today need totally improved economic models rather than evolution of the ones they are using now. This book doesn't adequately surface that key point. In fact, the examples are drawn from companies that have done relatively little to change business models.
The person who will get the most benefit from this book will be the executive who wants to get her or his colleagues more involved in thinking like CEOs (and shareholders). You could take this book, and refocus it around simple examples that fit your business, and use examples of focus from things you are working on now. That would make this book extremely beneficial.
Help people understand what the issues are, how to think about those issues, encourage everyone to come up with better solutions, and make it simple and easy to experiment with new approaches. That approach can help you make progress much faster.
Take on the big picture!What the CEO Wants You to Know : How Your Company Really Works Overview

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Reinventing the CFO: How Financial Managers Can Transform Their Roles and Add Greater Value Review

Reinventing the CFO: How Financial Managers Can Transform Their Roles and Add Greater Value
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Reinventing the CFO: How Financial Managers Can Transform Their Roles and Add Greater Value Review
I agree with Jeremy Hope that those who are -- or who aspire to become -- a CFO need to understand that, as Hope explains, "too many CFOs...remain prisoners of dysfiunctional systems and mental models that were developed for a role that is fast becoming obsolete." That is to say, the position of CFO must be reinvented. However, my own opinion is that that will not happen unless and until governing boards and CEOs insist that CFOs be centrally involved as part of the senior-management team running the given business. The same is also true of CIOs and heads of HR. Today, CFOs face a number of extrernal pressures. For example, new success drivers such as strategic planning, resource allocation, and performance measuring systems as well as a new regulatory environment and more demaning shareholders. With regard to internal pressures, they include too much detail and complexity, inadequate forecasting capability, too little understanding of how to reduce costs, and a lack of risk management expertise.
In this volume, Hope addresses with rigor and eloquence a number of key issues that the CFO and her or his finance team must accommodate to transform the finance operation. He suggests that the CFO be viewed in several different roles:
As a "freedom fighter" who liberates both finance and business managers from "huge amounts of detail and the proliferaion of complex systems that increase their workload and deny them time for reflection and analysis"
As "analyst and adviser" who, by breaking free from detail and complexity, "creates time for finance to provide the information that managers need to make effective decisions"
As "architect of adaptive management" who enables managers to be liberated by releasing them from "the chains of the detailed annual planning cycle" by replacing targets and budgets with "effective steering mechanisms, including continuous planning reviews and rolling forecasts, that enable managers to sense and respond more rapidly to unpredictable events and to changing markets and customers"
As "warrior against waste" who with her or his finance team is able to focus on "huge swathes of costs that have remained unchallenged for years"
As "master of measurement" who brings measurement back under control and provides clear guidance about its meaning to managers at every level who, with rare exception, only need six or seven measures
As "regulator of risk" who provides an effective framework for good governance and risk management "by using multiple levers of control that support corporate governance controls, internal controls, strategic controls, and feedback controls"
In the final chapter, Hope focuses on the CFO as "champion of change." He cites a number of exemplary CFOs who have transformed their finance operations, examining how they started, what vision or goals they set for themselves, how they got buy-in from key people, and how they implemented the changes. His case examples include American Express, Tomkins, and the World Bank.
Hope devotes a separate chapter to each of these "roles," explaining how the reinvention of the CFO inolves a multi-dimensional process of increased involvement in management at the highest level. To repeat, this will not happen unless and until the governning board and CEO insist upon and support, then sustain that process.
In this context, I am reminded of what Robert Kaplan and David Norton characterize as "the strategy-focused organization," one which is guided and informed by five core initiatives: translating strategy to operational terms, aligning the organization to the strategy, viewing strategy as everyone's job, making strategy a continual process, and mobilizing change through executive leadership. The first four principles focus on the Balanced Scorecard tool, framework, and supporting resources; the importance of the fifth principle is self-evident. "With a Balanced Scorecard that tells the story of the strategy, " Kaplan and Norton suggest, "we now have a reliable foundation for the design of a management system to create Strategy-Focused Organizations."
Hedre's a key question: When embarked on the reinvention process, how to gain the support of key people? In response, Hope stresses the importance of involving operating people in the change process, avoiding more complexity, showing some "early wins" (i.e. picking "low-hanging fruit"), and being patient while maintaining momentum. He makes a convincing case that financial managers really can "transform their roles and add greater value" but only if they are allowed to do so. Moreover, they must be actively involved in a process, a "journey," shared with others. Only then can everyone on the senior-management team, working effectively together, establish and then strengthen "a more adaptive, lean, and ethical organization."
That is a journey all senior-level executives in a given organization must complete together, with the active involvement and solid support of governing board members. Hope explains not only why that is imperative but also how to do it effectively, to the substantial benefit of all stakeholders.
Well-done!Reinventing the CFO: How Financial Managers Can Transform Their Roles and Add Greater Value Overview

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Building a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for Success Review

Building a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for Success
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Building a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for Success ReviewHaving been involved in compliance issues and internal auditing for quite sometime as an international management consultant, I found this book up-to-date and with very good explanation and descritions of compliance issues. Good starter book for all those involved in risk, governance and compliance issues.Building a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for SuccessBuilding a World-Class Compliance Program: Best Practices and Strategies for Success Overview

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Nonprofit Financial Planning Made Easy (Wiley Desktop Editions) Review

Nonprofit Financial Planning Made Easy (Wiley Desktop Editions)
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Nonprofit Financial Planning Made Easy (Wiley Desktop Editions) Review
[This review is actually for the Second Edition of this book which I read at B&N on Saturday, February 09, 2008. See ISBN 0471715271.]
This is a gem of a book. I have a financial background, so it was a pretty easy read for me. Like the author I too hold the CPA designation. But unlike the author I don't use that designation professionally any longer. The book has the following 8 chapters:
1. Introductory concepts
2. Structuring the organization for fiscal strength
3. Financing the dream
4. Budgeting
5. Asset management
6. Nonprofit accounting
7. Special financial tools
8. Obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status
For two years not too long ago I worked as a consultant to nonprofits that needed help with multi-million-dollar capital campaigns. The nonprofit world was new to me then, except for the time I spent in Washington DC a number of years ago as a staff auditor auditing trade associations for E&Y. As a result of my fundraising experiences I found it necessary to read lots of books about aspects of nonprofits. I read books on nonprofit management, nonprofit fundraising, nonprofit capital campaigns, nonprofit endowment campaigns, major gifts, grant proposals and writing, and nonprofit strategic planning.
I didn't read nonprofit books on nonprofit accounting, bookkeeping, or financial planning since I basically knew that stuff. But some people who are not well versed in such subject matter would do themselves a favor to get a copy of Ms. Blazek's book on nonprofit financial planning if they want a well written and well outlined book on the subject. CEOs and CFOs of nonprofits should be adept at their organization's (1) operations, (2) financial planning, and (3) fundraising efforts and abilities. By getting a copy of this book the nonprofit executive can get a good handle on the second leg of the three-legged stool. 5 stars!Nonprofit Financial Planning Made Easy (Wiley Desktop Editions) Overview

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Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives Review

Financial Management for Nurse Managers and  Executives
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Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives ReviewI picked this book up to help me better understand Cleverly's book, "Essentials of Health Care Finance". After weeks of re-reading Cleverly's book I read several chapters in this book and now it all makes sense! Well-written, clear, simple, with real life examples. The author does not assume you have taken several accounting courses. Instead of just reading this book for a course, I am now really interested in the subject.Financial Management for Nurse Managers and Executives Overview

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Earnings Management: An Executive Perspective Review

Earnings Management: An Executive Perspective
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Earnings Management: An Executive Perspective ReviewDr. McKee's Earnings Management offers a great deal of insight into a highly controversial topic within the realm of accounting. The first third of this book explains the difference between ethical earnings management practices and fraudulent financial reporting. He points out that Generally Accepted Accounting Principles offer multiple opportunities for legal and ethical earning management and points out the benefits of such practices. An especially interesting section provides a model that can be used to measure the bankruptcy probability of a company based upon recent financial performance. Dr. McKee shows how the use of earnings management techniques can significantly reduce financial distress and legitimately strengthen shareholder confidence.
The final two thirds of the book includes specific examples of earnings management techniques used by various public companies in recent years.His explanations of these techniques are thorough, yet at the same time not overly-technical. The writing is straightforward and you will not need to be a CPA in order to understand exactly how your company can take advantage of these earning management practices.
This book is geared toward those involved in the management of public companies; however, I believe it will appeal to a much wider group of readers. It provides information that is useful to all users of financial statements. The ideas contained within it would be useful to CEOs and CFOs, but also to shareholders and creditors, auditors and financial reporting managers, really anyone with an interest in the accounting practices of both public and privately-held companies. Highly Recommended!
Earnings Management: An Executive Perspective Overview

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Activity-based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide Review

Activity-based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide
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Activity-based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide ReviewThis book is an excellent resource for learning and understanding ABC accounting. Unlike many web articles and white papers, Gary's book is a practical not academic approach from someone who has been there, done that, and has the t-shirt. It's filled with lots of explanatory diagrams which help to visualize the concepts presented and are useful when presenting on a high-level to executives under time constraints for reading. Chapter 1 clearly presents ABC basic concepts while Chapter 2 is a direct follow-on expanding the depth and breath of those basic concepts. Chapter 3 addresses the question that all senior management wants to know: Are all your trading partners worth it to you? Subsequent chapters focus on typical ABC modeling applications most relevant to organizations. Chapter 6 gives a very good cross-comparison of project/work order costing vs. ABC that is very helpful to project-centric organizations in understanding how ABC differentiates itself. Chapter 7 succinctly places ABC software in the reengineering software spectrum without getting lost in a technological morass. Chapter 9 addresses rapid prototyping for getting initial results from the methodology that can be tweaked iteratively to grow a more sophisticated ABC model. In conclusion, I highly recommend this book and look forward to Gary's "ABC Management - Making it Work" which is next on my ABC must-read list.Activity-based Cost Management: An Executive's Guide Overview

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Connecting Top Managers: Developing Executive Teams for Business Success Review

Connecting Top Managers: Developing Executive Teams for Business Success
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Connecting Top Managers: Developing Executive Teams for Business Success ReviewLeadership teams, as a whole, create the culture of an organization, but very few organizations actually measure and work at optimizing leadership team performance, according to Jim Taylor and Lisa Haneberg in this book. Clashes within the leadership team have a significantly negative effect on the organization, and many leadership team meetings fail to produce results commensurate with their cost.
To address these issues, it is first necessary to define leadership team success. Besides achieving financial goals, how well does the team implement strategy, grow the business, make good decisions, build organizational culture, build leadership and managerial talent, build relationships, engage in coaching and collaboration, and build organizational agility?
The book goes on to describe good practices for executive teaming, how to assess the cost of meetings and ensure that meetings are creating sufficient value, a number of steps which can be taken to improve an organization's culture, how to build trust, credibility and familiarity quickly, methods for increasing leadership team member capabilities, how to enhance the organization's capacity to respond to change, and how to avoid the negative cultural traits which lead to unionization of the workforce.
I was impressed by how well the book identified issues that leadership teams often struggle with. Many leadership teams think of themselves as representatives of their functional units, rather than as a team, and as a consequence they have never considered how important it is to the organization's success that the leadership team function well. The book provides numerous ideas and tools for dealing with leadership team issues, and I highly recommend it.
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Principles of External Auditing Review

Principles of External Auditing
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Principles of External Auditing ReviewIt can provide good concept of external auditing with concise idea.I think that is good for everyone who want to know about external auditing.
Excellence!!Principles of External Auditing Overview

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Paying for Performance: A Guide to Compensation Management, 2nd Edition Review

Paying for Performance: A Guide to Compensation Management, 2nd Edition
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Paying for Performance: A Guide to Compensation Management, 2nd Edition ReviewWith executive pay under more extensive scrutiny than ever, I found this book an excellent way to resolve the dilemma about how to pay for performance. While my company's circumstances mean that there are no clear cut solutions, this was the only book I could find that laid out all the alternatives clearly and concisely. Overall, this is the best book on reward I have ever read, and I am sure I will be coming back to it again and again as my standard reference guide.Paying for Performance: A Guide to Compensation Management, 2nd Edition Overview

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Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and Internal Controls: Creating a Culture of Compliance Review

Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and Internal Controls: Creating a Culture of Compliance
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Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and Internal Controls: Creating a Culture of Compliance Review"A thing worth having is a thing worth cheating for," said W.C. Fields, though the executive fraudsters from Enron, Adelphia and WorldCom who are now languishing in prison might disagree. Two others who disagree are former federal agents Martin Biegelman and Joel Bartow. Now fraud investigators at U.S. companies, the authors have pooled their considerable knowledge in this comprehensive overview of what fraud is, how it occurs and how to prevent it. The book briefly describes everything a busy executive needs to know about antifraud programs. Actually, they provide everything and more, which is the rub. The book is repetitious and disorganized, bogs down in irrelevant legislative history, contains a spotty index and reads like a series of verbose PowerPoint slides. We recommend this book to those who can look beyond ponderous presentation and need a single-volume overview on stopping the many ruses to which any company is vulnerable. Fraudsters take note: Your days are numbered if CEOs and CFOs take this book to heart.Executive Roadmap to Fraud Prevention and Internal Controls: Creating a Culture of Compliance Overview

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