The Strategy Gap Leveraging Technology to Execute Winning Strategies [Paperback]

With shortened business cycles, increased competition, and rapidly changing technologies, companies need to be more nimble than ever. They must narrow the gap between strategy formulation and operation execution to guarantee success. The Strategy Gap will provide a framework that senior financial managers can use to ensure that their strategies are implemented successfully and that their corporations remain competitive. Filled with informative case studies and best practices for optimum financial processes, this valuable resource will help managers leverage information technology to successfully implement corporate strategies. This book also shows managers how to eliminate surprises in poorly managed or unforeseen activities, while applying new approaches to financial management for faster and more accurate business modeling. Expert advice from those who have used these strategies clearly explains how to integrate planning, budgeting, consolidation, and reporting into one cohesive management system.

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xv

Chapter 1 Strategy Gap 1

What Gap? 1

Failure of Strategic Plans 3

Management-Induced Gaps 5

Process-Induced Gaps 7

Technology System-Induced Gaps 13

Role of the Chief Financial Officer 19

Corporate Performance Management 20

Summary 23

Chapter 2 Strategy in the Next Economy 25

Strategy Challenge 25

Business as Unusual 26

Change and Uncertainty 27

Strategy Defined 30

Strategy Management 33

Integrating Top-down and Bottom-up Strategic Management 34

Discontinuities 37

Summary 40