In the first of this two-part blog series, we discussed why corporate sustainability is gaining momentum and explored the benefits and challenges it brings to business. Let’s dive into some practical tips on how to facilitate sustainability transformation within your organization: 1. Analyse your current situation with a future-oriented approach
Tag: strategy
The concept of sustainability has evolved significantly over the past few years. It is no longer just a trendy buzzword but has become an essential element of business models. Major multinational companies such as IKEA, PepsiCo and Amazon lead sustainability transformation by setting ambitious goals and implementing new initiatives. IKEA
With so much complexity and change in the marketplace, organizations worldwide are leveraging opportunities to make better predictions, identify solutions and take strategic, proactive steps forward – which means that they increasingly depend on big data. In their quest for organizational resilience, however, companies find that numbers aren’t necessarily the secret
Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing a digital transformation that is changing businesses’ operations. It is likely to bring a sea change compared to the Industrial Revolution. Many challenges with AI are technical, but most failures occur because of poor strategy and execution. Fortunately, there are some steps you can take
SAS stands for more than just installation and customizing. I discuss our #IMPACT view of 2021 with Thorsten Hagenberger.
If you're looking for advice on developing an analytics strategy, there's no shortage of resources, including this from SAS: Building your data and analytics strategy. If, on the other hand, you're looking for advice on how to apply analytics to strategic planning, your search has likely to come up wanting.
Utilities, like all large organizations, spend a lot of time and resources on strategy. But how do utility analytics leaders ensure that their efforts are connected to this high-level vision? On June 28th in Los Angeles, a small gathering of utility executives and analytics leaders met to discuss and explore
I moved to Australia from Belgium two months ago for a short-term assignment. I am very concerned by the exchange rate. My dollars have lost over 15% of their value in euros and I share my frustration around me. People tell me, "Just wait, it cannot stay so low, the
Analytics gives us not just the ability but the imperative to separate our planning activities into two distinct segments – detailed planning that leads to budgets in support of execution, and high-level, analytic-enabled business/scenario planning. My critique of Control Towers in this blog last time led me not only to
With the increasing emphasis on responsiveness, resiliency, flexibility and agility, I suppose it was only a matter of time before the “agile” concept caught up with strategy itself. While I may have hinted at this idea four years ago in two of my earliest posts for the Value Alley, “Strategy
When the Apple Macintosh hit the market, analysts were not impressed. But Steve Jobs’ vision ended up transforming our lives. Apple is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year and has become a global household name. Jobs’ ability to direct his organization to develop easy to use products not only met
A standard joke among venture capitalists is that often the only well-developed section of the many business proposals they receive is the exit strategy. “We’re going to be acquired for $10-20 million by a Fortune 500 company within 6-8 years.” Exactly how they are going to achieve that $10M valuation is,
The National Academy of Engineering identified fourteen "Grand Challenges for Engineering" that must be addressed in order to achieve a sustainable, economically robust, and politically stable future. (see the full list here) The challenges are a call-to-action for solutions to some of the most pressing issues in the 21st century:
“Please Mr CEO, sir, can you find just a few brief moments in your busy schedule for a group of us humble and undeserving employees to discuss our strategic initiative to totally transform the company?” No matter what the topic or function, the one consistent element of every successful significant
You’ve likely played an organized sport at some time in your life - How many different ways were there to keep score? How many different ways were there to determine the winner? Just one – right? It was goals, or runs, or points, or something, but never goals and/or assists,
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast”. If we’ve heard it once we’ve heard it a thousand times. I even wrote one of my early posts on this topic (“When metrics collide”). Consultants, analysts, academics and other thought leaders have examined and questioned its veracity, but still the consensus seems to be that
Clarence So, Chief Strategy Officer for Salesforce.com, opened last month’s Chief Strategy Officer Summit in San Francisco (by the IE Group) with a challenging statement: ‘Your strategy is nothing more than the sum of your tactics’. I found this to be less than satisfactory as an explanation, but considering the
The future of business is the martial arts CEO, the jujitsu strategist. Far too many organizations approach business with an American football mentality, complete with scripted plays, huddles and time outs, but the real world isn’t quite so convenient and accommodating. The real business world is 7x24 with no time outs
The role of the CIO is changing. Or was that the CFO? The CEO maybe? Somebody's role is changing, that much I do know. How many times have you read just such an opening statement in an article or white paper and muttered “duh?” to yourself before moving on to
I have previously dealt independently with issues of forecasting, planning, and budgeting in separate posts, and the time has now come to pull them all together in one place and just come out and say what I really mean. This integrative post was prompted by a recent invitation I received
If you are feeling out of sorts, a bit down and out, and want to take it all the way to full-blown depression, have I got a book recommendation for you: “Normal Accidents”, by Charles Perrow (1984). Perrow’s premise is that we have designed certain systems, nuclear reactors being his primary
Tomorrow I was going to go visit one of our insurance clients. I was really looking forward to the meeting – a chance to share experiences with a strategic analytic team. Unfortunately, I got an e-mail from the team’s administrative assistant: “I’m sorry, but so-and-so needs to cancel. An important
Here is a four-stage approach to financial forecasting. I urge you to seriously consider adopting at least level 1, then next look at how layering on the other stages might transform your approach to business planning. The four stages are: (1) Multiple Forecast Inputs, (2) Marco Polo, (3) Driver-based forecasting,
Interesting article in this quarters sascom magazine by Jeff Ma – the guy behind “bringing down the house” and the movie “21”. After explaining how he felt the power of analytics and statistics was not unlike believing in God, he shared 2 stories where that faith was put to the
With the exception of the occasional James Bond movie that proves the rule, we don’t as a matter of course combine our modes of transportation into one all-purpose vehicle, and we even tend to park our cars, boats and planes in separate facilities. But when it comes to financial management,
The best business book I’ve ever read (or at least the best by someone not named “Drucker”) has been “Competing on Value” by Mack Hanan and Peter Karp. Not trendy or full of consultant-speak buzzwords, first published in 1991, it’s simple, direct approach has stood the test of time, even
Somewhat surprisingly, we all probably know what we mean when we use strategy as an adjective, “strategic”, but manage to make a complete muddle out of the word as a noun, “strategy”. Can our tactics be strategic? I would think yes, if they are in accordance with some strategy. Can