Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
SAMPLE BUSINESS THEMES
(continued)
Business Performance Monitoring
Monitoring business performance measures on a consistent/timely basis at a
detailed product level is very difficult and time consuming today. This is largely
due to the complexity of the industry and the breadth of products that are
offered. There is a need to analyze the business at a high level and seamlessly
drill to lower levels of detail to identify issues and anomalies as they are
uncovered. This requires data access to be flexible enough to support many
different perspectives.
Monitoring actual performance against annual goals set forth in the business
plan on a monthly basis is essential. While the official performance reviews
occur monthly, it is important to have access to the data more frequently.
A month-to-date capability would enable the organization to identify what is
needed to meet that month's goals, while there is still time to make adjustments.
Supplier Performance Analysis
It is important to be able to monitor and measure the performance of each of
the suppliers. Specific performance expectations are part of each supplier
contract, so it is important to be able to see which suppliers are meeting those
goals. There are quarterly supplier reviews that require a complete picture of
the company's business with that supplier. This includes their on-time delivery
rate, the quality of the products, responsiveness to problems, and how quickly
the company pays their invoices. Because this information comes from multiple
locations, this is currently a very time-consuming process. The goal would be
for this information to be available more often, and perhaps even published via
a web interface for each supplier.
Profitability Analysis
The ability to understand the company's profitability is critical. Historically, this
has been determined at a high level. However, there has been limited ability to
drill down to see which areas of the business are contributing to the profi-
tability. It is important to be able to understand both the areas of biggest
growth and the problem areas. If the supporting detail were available, then
each product line would be scrutinized and appropriate strategies developed to
improve profitability.
(When working with a nonprofit or government agency this is often
expressed as
fiscal responsibility
. There is still a profitability goal—it just
happens to be zero. The same types of analyses and tracking need to be done.)
