Shared Thinking

Updates from May, 2012 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

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  Ian Gotts 5:49 pm on May 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  2012 Accounts Receivable Survey from OB10 and The Institute of Financial Operations 

  This survey was conducted by OB10, the e-invoicing network, and The Institute of Financial Operations, the authority on the best practices in financial operations. This article was first previewed on the Shared Services Link website
  

  Download the report: 2012 OB10 – The Institute of Financial Operations ‘Accounts Receivable Survey’

  
  

  Here are the key findings:

  • The most popular way to deal with late-paying customers (as identified by 61% of respondents) is to call them more often. Rather than implementing late fees (35%) and refusing to take orders (29%), calling may be one of the most effective ways to address late payment while maintaining good customer relationships
  • As 29% of respondents use e-invoicing, it suggests that third-party electronic submission is seen more often as a practical solution to streamline the invoicing process
  • With an overall IPC score of 6.20, many organizations see room for improvement, as a score of seven indicates a level of good sustainable progress
  • 44% of respondents indicated that their customers had offered them early-pay discounts. Of those offered discounts, 66% accepted them
  • 50% of respondents indicated that their organizations’ financial results were better in 2011 than they were in 2010. 60% believe their organizations’ financial results will be better in 2012 compared to 2011

  The survey included responses from 147 participants, including accounts receivable, credit and IT professionals as well as CEOs, presidents, business owners, CFOs, and COOs from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies in North America and the UK.
   

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  Ian Gotts 12:54 pm on May 24, 2012 Permalink | Reply  

  Does SS & GBS make BPM sexy again? 

  I guess the first question is “Was BPM ever sexy?” Moving swiftly on, there has been an explosion in the number of corporates who are embarking on Shared Services projects or are migrating from a Shared Services (SS) to a Global Business Services (GBS) model.

  As with every initiative there are those organizations who are at the leading edge. But leading edge does not mean that they are implementing a GBS. You can be world class and be running a Shared Services Operation. The reason for not moving to a GBS may be historical based on the organisation structure, it could be cultural or strategic decision.

  The key issue is, “Is the services organization that you are running world class?” And that can be measured along several dimensions;

  • financial control; how well does everyone adhere to the corporate financial policies
  • customer satisfaction; are you delighting your internal customers
  • cost reduction; are you driving tangible cost savings year on year

  Which of these is the dominant driver will vary from company to company. But in all the discussions I have with senior executives around their sourcing strategies, these 3 issues always come up.

  

  But the foundation for world class operational excellence must be clearly understood and communicated end to end processes. Without this, any sustainable improvements cannot be achieved without a super-human effort by staff.

  If you don’t believe me, take time to watch this short video of BAE Systems who have implemented a SS strategy in record time with happy staff.

  So the principles of BPM are fundamental to a successful SS or GBS strategy. And as SS and, more particularly GBS, are “hot” does that make BPM by implication sexy again?