Figure 7. Percentage of organizations’ view of information adequacy.

Reliable/Accurate 79

Timely 71

Consistent 64

Highly relevant 53

Accessible 48

Tailored/Customized 36

Cost-effective 35

Easy to use 33

Integrated 32

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Source: IBM Business Consulting Services 2003 Global CFO Survey.

Delivering the on demand performance management solution

Clearly, providing more “relevant” and “action-oriented” information is a pivotal
issue for CFOs as they step up to a more strategic leadership role at the center of
performance management for the entire organization. One of the keys to improving
the quality and timeliness of information is to implement a holistic, on demand
performance management framework that is designed to enhance decision-making
across the entire value chain and at all levels of the organization. By doing so, CFOs
provide tremendous tangible value throughout the company. A successful blueprint
for business performance management has five key attributes:

1. It is enterprisewide in its scope and its impact.

As noted earlier, the CFO has long had responsibility for centrally organizing and
managing financial information and providing a consolidated view on the financial
“health” of the entire corporation. So, just as these consolidated financial reports
include the results for the company, performance management must embrace
and help align the entire organization or it cannot adequately affect overall
business results.
Business performance management can be instrumental in assisting Executives
align the goals and related measures of the individual business units and
functions with the strategies of the organization. Further, it also helps identify and
rationalize measures that may actually conflict across business units.

7 CFOs: Rising to the challenge of performance management IBM Business Consulting Services