Indeed, the last two decades have seen a rapid growth in the adoption by companies of tools enabling them to collect, process, store and disseminate large volumes of information that can be a real competitive advantage, quickly and at low cost. This is the emergence of Business Intelligence.

Rapid evolution of tools and methods, modification of external repositories: the management controller’s ecosystem is aging. Certain symptoms are not deceiving: piling up of reports, difficulty in meeting deadlines, difficulty in publishing results, recourse to external consultants, and multiplication of Excel spreadsheets… All these phenomena undermine performance. BI has thus entered the arena with the promise of integrating all the necessary data sources and giving managers, especially management controllers, well-analyzed and truthful information on which to base their decisions. The sooner the answer is provided, the sooner the search for the solution can begin.

BI is thus an asset for :

1. Securing your data

By launching a BI project, the financial controller makes his data a priority correlated to the company’s performance, and sets up a real standards policy. They can be audited, cleaned and streamlined. Betting on a BI consultant will thus be a real winning investment so that the whole company can draw on a reliable and homogeneous raw material for all.

2. Enrich your data

Internal data is, of course, at the heart of the challenges. However, the increasingly competitive economic context is pushing the financial controller to enrich his database to integrate exogenous data. The latter will refine decision-making based on competition figures (market shares), but also operational and commercial data (order books, production speed and volumes, etc.).

3. Boost its processes

The formula is classic: the financial controller is a “Business partner”. He is integrated into the decision-making processes and works transversally with the different business lines. The use he makes of data is used for decision-making: it is this strategic role that makes him a major co-pilot.

Today, this role is pushed further by technological innovations.  More and more management controllers are using innovative processes, with much faster reporting frequencies on a monthly rather than quarterly basis. This “simplification” of the budget process is a major evolution: more agile, more reactive, more alert, well-equipped financial controllers present a competitive advantage for their company.

4. Revaluing one’s profession

The loss of time related to the extraction, collection, management or consolidation of data is a crucial reason to equip oneself with a BI solution.

According to a recent study conducted by the International Data Corporation (IDC), an employee would lose 5 hours a week searching for relevant information about his business. This phenomenon exacerbate work for the financial controller who manually compiles Excel spreadsheets and must deal with the expansion of data volumes.

Delegating and working hand in hand with ISD is the first virtuous reflex to have. Moreover, data extraction and consolidation are tasks that are perfectly managed by a BI tool, with first levels of reporting that can be automated, which will also contribute to a certain degree of personal fulfillment. Freed from thankless tasks, the financial controller will be able to devote himself to the most rewarding and demanding part of his job: analysis and consulting.

5. Becoming an information prescriber

By presenting dashboards and indicators that have an impact and are readable to top management, the financial controller will give more weight to his advisory force. An agile solution will enable him to restitute complex data in an intelligible way, encouraging decision-making.

Moreover, by integrating exogenous data, the financial controller can challenge himself by identifying new forms of optimization or new opportunities for the company (moving from a sales model to a service model, for example). He then becomes a force of proposal in the evolution of the business model.

Finally, rather than just “accountability”, management control needs to take on a greater share of governance of activities and resources. As a true prescriber of information, the management controller identifies the relevant data (rather than reporting it exhaustively), and must above all integrate into his practices the arrival of real time information within the Finance Department. Invoicing and accounting available on the Cloud, online order taking by clients that upsets and accelerates the chain… Reporting to the company as well as to investors becomes a live mission that adapts to all these factors; a challenge that requires more adaptation and modernization of management control.

References

•  Anthnoy, R; Govindarajan. (2007) Sistemas de control de gestión. 2eme édition. Mc Graw Hill. México.
• Baars, Henning and Kemper, Hans-George (2008), Management Support with Structured and Unstructured Data—An Integrated Business Intelligence Framework Information Systems Management, 25:2, 132 —148.
• Raphael Grytz Business Intelligence & Analytics Cost Accounting: Review and Synthesis of the Literature. Universität Paderborn Artus Krohn-Grimberghe  Universität Paderborn
• Li, S., Shue, L. and Lee, S. (2008).Business Intelligence approach to supporting strategy-making of ISP service management, Expert Systems with Applications 35: 739– 754.
• Oskou, V. Soltani, M. (2012), A model to promote Business Intelligence and knowledge management approach, National Conference of entrepreneurship and business management knowledge-based, Tehran.

Have you ever wondered which communication strategies could help your team to improve their performance in the workplace?

Let’s discover together the six tips to ensure effective communication within your company.

The aim of corporate communication is to improve the company’s turnover by using different types of communication. Depending on its complexity, the company will have to develop external and internal communication. The objectives of external communication are to promote the company’s product and/or services through its brand, using commercial techniques; to develop internal and external institutional communication in order to enhance the company’s image; but also externally, in the face of possible hardships that the company may encounter (Joly, 2009, p: 69). As a matter of fact effective communication skills are fundamental to success in the workplace; as many jobs require strong communication skills, let’s discover the main tips to help you improve your team’s communication skills.

The way a team operates is not very different. Each member of the team works on the project on his or her own, and it is only when everyone’s work is pooled that the whole project takes shape. It is therefore by implementing an internal communication strategy for the duration and throughout the project that the latter will be structured in a transparent manner.  Communication considered as a pooling talent  that can help your team bounce back from failure and communicate well.

Furthermore, developing better communication between the members of a team is like oiling an engine; the team collaborates harmoniously, each member brings his or her expertise to the project and the different parts of the project fit together naturally. The project is then understood as a whole, productivity increases, the project is completed on time, which improves business continuity and boosts results. According to AON’s study, as a result of the strong communications inside the company, the employees become more engaged. By being so, employees start speaking positively about their organization, become loyal to their company and improve turnover; additionally, their motivation level will be increased wich will inpact positively the company performance.

The first strategy to point out is using the open-door policy in order to improve your team communication, actually when all employees of a company lock themselves behind closed office doors, it creates an atmosphere of secrecy. You have in both a physical and psychological sense. According to a Forbes article, by leaving your office door open or encouraging a work environment with open spaces, you make it clear to your employees that you are all part of the same team. As a matter of fact, this tip is already removing some barriers for good and builds trust and clarity in the workplace. It also encourages regular, day-to-day communication. Moreover, every manager can enhance the effectiveness of the communication by facilitating the exchange between the employees: Knowing how to provide constructive and detailed feedback is crucial as it is a means of increasing communication within the team. Learn how to provide feedback that guides your team members, rather than feedback that creates additional barriers. In addition, using an online interface to post opinions and comments on a project is a form of communication between team members that tends, as demonstrated in a Small Group Research study, to increase the performance of the team, which is in this case virtual, and to increase its motivation and satisfaction.

Besides, Creating a team spirit not only gives everyone the opportunity to get to know each other better, but also creates an environment where everyone feels that it’s worthwhile to participate. According to team-bonding specialists, team bonding improves communication. In addition using the time wisely-Monday morning coffee can help you to improve your team communication. By referring to A Harvard Business Review report details research on improving communication through coffee breaks and the results show how time spent on social activities can generate more than “50% positive changes in communication. In fact, “A 30-second discussion can be enough for a manager to take stock and see if employees need anything,” Towriss says.

Furthermore using online tools instead of meetings can be as much useful as the other tips. Did you know that, according to a report by Mckinsey &Company, each team member spends on average more than a quarter of their day checking their inbox? On top of that, nearly 20% of the day is spent searching for information or someone who can help you with a particular task. This represents a significant loss in productivity, which is why more and more companies are turning to cloud-based task management software to facilitate internal communication.

The last strategy to end up with is measuring staff opinion through internal surveys. It is based on Surveying employees’ opinions and expectations of the company. This will offer the possibility of assessing their overall level of satisfaction with their work and their professional environment. In fact, questions like: Are work procedures an aid in carrying out your daily tasks? Are health and safety conditions satisfactory? or Are you bothered by an unsuitable room temperature? may help to optimize internal satisfaction and increase brand attachment. They capitalize on the positive aspects and help to improve internal points of dissatisfaction.

Whether you have to work with a team remotely or in an office, good communication is an important factor in the success of a project. Therefore, developing effective communication should be one of your priorities as a business leader. As Plato said: “Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have something to say”. Improving team communication is a goal that companies set for themselves, but as with everything, you have to know how to make the most of it.

References:

•  Chui,M.  Manyika, J.  Sarrazin, H and al.(2012). The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies. Report of McKinsey Global Institute retreived from : https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-social-economy
• Geister,S.  Konradt, U.  Hertel, G.( Oct 2006).  Effects of Process Feedback on Motivation, Satisfaction, and Performance in Virtual Teams; Small Group Research Vol 37, Issue 5.
• Joly, B. (2009). Chapter 3. Corporate communication. In : B. Joly, La communication (pp. 69-129). Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium: De Boeck Supérieur.
• McDuffee S. (2019) : 6 Reasons Why Team Building Works. Team Bonding retrieved from : https://www.teambonding.com/6-reasons-for-team-building/
• Quast, L. (2013). New Managers: 4 Reasons You Need An ‘Open Door’ Policy retreived from https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaquast/2013/10/07/new-managers-4-reasons-you-need-an-open-door-policy/#47ca7b347cde
• Warkentin, Merrill & Beranek, (1999). Training to improve virtual team communication. Inf. Syst. J.9. 271-290.

Authors :

•  BEDRAOUI BADR
•  BELQADI RIM
• AIT EL HAJ ICHRAQ
•  BENKRAICHA AFRAE
•  ASSIMEDDINE WAFAE