• Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Special Offers
Business Intelligence Info
  • Business Intelligence
    • BI News and Info
    • Big Data
    • Mobile and Cloud
    • Self-Service BI
  • CRM
    • CRM News and Info
    • InfusionSoft
    • Microsoft Dynamics CRM
    • NetSuite
    • OnContact
    • Salesforce
    • Workbooks
  • Data Mining
    • Pentaho
    • Sisense
    • Tableau
    • TIBCO Spotfire
  • Data Warehousing
    • DWH News and Info
    • IBM DB2
    • Microsoft SQL Server
    • Oracle
    • Teradata
  • Predictive Analytics
    • FICO
    • KNIME
    • Mathematica
    • Matlab
    • Minitab
    • RapidMiner
    • Revolution
    • SAP
    • SAS/SPSS
  • Humor

Collaborative Enterprise Planning: Automating The Management Process

November 7, 2018   BI News and Info

Part 8 in the 10-part Collaborative Enterprise Planning series

Management processes are the mechanism by which organizations set goals, develop operational plans, allocate budgets, collect forecasts, analyze, and report results. They typically involve the whole organization at some point and are crucial in achieving short- and long-term objectives.

In the past, these have been set up as six distinct processes of:

  • Strategic planning, where long-term objectives are set
  • Operational planning that defines the way the organization will operate over the next few years on its way to achieving those objectives
  • Budgeting that allocates resources to the operational plan
  • Forecasting that tries to predict where the organization is heading
  • Risk management that looks at those things that could jeopardize future success and ways to mitigate any impact
  • Reporting and analysis that combines results from all management processes to support decision-making and keep the organization on track to meet long-term goals

These were typically done at set times of the year such as annual planning, quarterly forecasting, and monthly reporting. Interestingly, these calendar-scheduled processes were all established in the 1920s, nearly 100 years ago, when the world was a very different place and this timing was adequate in managing performance.

However, in today’s fast-moving, unpredictable business environment, plans are often out of date before they even begin. It is impossible to predict events six months out, let alone 18 months for the traditional budgeting process.

Today, with modern financial planning and analysis solutions combined with newer management methodologies such as “beyond budgeting,” these processes no longer need be time-bound. They can operate as a single management process where planning activities are triggered not by a date on the calendar but by events and exceptions. For all but small businesses, this requires a sophisticated automation capability that does not necessarily rely on human intervention.

To automate a process, the following criteria must be established:

  • A clearly articulated end purpose. Defining the end purpose is vital to delineating the different processes and the individual tasks within them.
  • Defined processes. These can be drawn as an interconnected map that, for FP&A purposes, shows how targets are set, resources allocated, and performance managed. Each process will require decisions to be made that together link to the end purpose.
  • Clearly identified actions by department. Processes rely on a chain of management activities that directly relate to the end purpose. There can be no misunderstandings for those involved in carrying out a particular task about their own responsibilities. They must also recognize that their role is to serve something greater than their own individual actions. It is only when users work together, performing their designated functions, that the organization can achieve the end purpose.
  • Information required. Individual tasks in a process will typically require some form of background information for the user, along with an explanation of the targets to be attained.
  • Output required. Any required responses should be defined, along with expectations of further elaboration by the end user.
  • Approval required. Some submissions may require management approval before they are considered complete.
  • Coordinated timing. Tasks within a process are often dependent on the completion of other tasks, and timing is critical. Those responsible for each task should understand these dependencies and have a deadline for task completion.
  • Activity triggers. The start time for each activity should be specified. This may be at the completion of another task or when an exception is detected. These should be carefully mapped out to make sure the triggers work properly for each activity in succession.

Modern planning solutions use these criteria to automate a continuous process focused on achieving the organization’s long-term objectives.

In his book Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management, David Axson conducted research into high-performing companies and found that:

“Best-practice companies decouple their internal management processes from the calendar and provide a set of planning and reporting processes that utilize continuous processing and monitoring of activity. The passage of time becomes (just) one of many criteria for triggering the reporting of information or the initiation of planning or forecast activities.”

The next blog in this series examines options for collaborative planning solutions and how to evaluate them.

Follow SAP Finance online: @SAPFinance (Twitter) | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube

CEP Blog CTA 4 Collaborative Enterprise Planning: Automating The Management Process

Let’s block ads! (Why?)

Digitalist Magazine

Automating, Collaborative, Enterprise, Management, Planning, process
  • Recent Posts

    • TIBCO4Good and She Loves Data Offer Free Data Skills Workshops During a Time of Vulnerability
    • Aurora partners with Paccar to develop driverless trucks
    • “Without Data, Nothing” — Building Apps That Last With Data
    • SO MUCH FOR GLOBAL WARMING, EH?
    • Important Changes to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service Mobile App
  • Categories

  • Archives

    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • September 2020
    • August 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • November 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • March 2017
    • February 2017
    • January 2017
    • December 2016
    • November 2016
    • October 2016
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
© 2021 Business Intelligence Info
Power BI Training | G Com Solutions Limited