Who are HNIs and why they Matter in Both Positive and Negative Ways
Who are HNIs and Why They are Valuable to Businesses We often hear the term HNIs or High Net-worth Individuals mentioned in a wide variety of contexts. Whether it is bankers launching a new product aimed at these individuals, media outlets reporting on their private lives and covering the weddings and other events, or for […]
Steps Involved in Conducting a Measurement System Analysis
Measurement Systems Analysis is a complicated exercise. However, Six Sigma provides a step by step procedure to conduct it. Also, as usual, the focus of the executives should be to understand the focus of the exercise and interpretation of the results. The complex calculations can be performed by software. Here is the 4 step procedure. […]
Japanese View on Business Process Management
While Fredrick Taylor’s scientific management had help create huge American corporations that were quick to adopt the viewpoint, the 1970’s saw the emergence of Japanese corporations. These corporations were very small at the end of World War-2 when Japan had been economically devastated. However within two decades, a group of Japanese companies completely turned the […]
Step 1: Collect and Review Primary Information
The project begins when the top management assigns responsibility to the Project Champion. The Project Champion usually delegates the task of preparing the Project Charter to another team member. It is important for both the Project Champion as well as the team member to understand what information is required. Here are tips on how to […]
The Resource Curse: The Problem with Commodity Dependence
A large number of developing countries across the world are dependent upon commodities. About 135 of these developing countries were surveyed, and it turned out that more than 94 of these countries are commodity dependent. This means that primary commodities like food grains, oil, etc. account for more than 60% of their total exports. Prima […]
In the modern global and competitive business world, it is very important to the companies to enjoy financial success. This financial success can be achieved through financial discipline, goal setting and periodic reviews. Companies which have enjoyed financial success are likely to see that trust among employees have increased; profit has improved, and employee turnover has decreased. These three factors contribute a lot to stability in company which in turn is the cradle for growth.
Finance intelligence is a combination of art as well as science. Finance intelligence talks about empowering employees with basic finance knowledge so that they can make a sound business decision. Finance intelligence is a skill set which every senior executive needs to have. Finance intelligence help employees’ right question for a business decision.
Finance intelligence is skill set comprising of the following four competencies; understanding the foundation, understanding the art, understanding the analysis and understanding the big picture. All the four competencies need to be put into practice and implemented for whole hearted success of finance intelligence. Finance is the business language recognized and used across all organizations. It is common denominator on which all the organizations are measured.
Organization needs to build on strong foundation for its non-finance manager to understand the concept of finance. The foundation requires basic understanding of income statement, cash flow and balance sheet. Non-finance managers should not be baffled when presented with an array of numbers. The purpose of finance intelligence is to ensure that when non-finance managers are presented numbers, they should be competent enough to make business sense out of them.
Finance as well as accounting is considered science and art. Both the discipline tries to quantify what cannot always be represented as numbers. This quantification of concept is based upon rules, assumption and principles. Non-finance managers should be able to apply this art/science to scenarios and make financial sense out of them. By doing this, they are prepared for any challenging scenarios.
Once the basic idea of finance and its utility is formulated, the application part comes from the picture. Numbers presented to non-finance managers can be better understood, right questions can be asked, and further analysis can be done around that. Finance intelligence equips managers to make sense of various ratio analyses, return on investment, etc. The new understanding helps them make informed and calculated decisions.
It has been observed that the financial numbers alone do not tell the complete story about what is happening within the organization. A financial result or analysis needs to be understood from top level or broader perspective. A financial result should be analyzed considering the macro environment under which the company is operating. The macro factors which influence financial results are competitive environment, government regulations, changing demographics, evolving technologies, etc.
Understanding the finance concepts and finance intelligence competency are first steps in gaining broader financial knowledge. It should prepare managers to look beyond the finance numbers with an analytic eye and make informed decisions.
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Communication Systems and Groupware – Information System Concepts that Apply in All Functional Areas of Business
February 12, 2025
