Early results from a study being conducted by Intrafocus suggest that CEOs are being provided with too much data resulting in poor strategic decision making
Press Release: London, UK (PRWEB UK) 16 October 2012
CEOs and Managing Directors across the UK are being presented with too much data on which to base decisions, according to Intrafocus. This situation is often of the executives’ own making.
The executive drive to integrate businesses with Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and of late Pinterest has generated vast quantities of business data. Those responsible for publishing the monthly ‘review’ report find they need to cover more and more ground. But is this detail really required?
“Time and time again we find that organisations want to measure everything,” says Clive Keyte of Intrafocus. “And of course they want to present the findings to the MD. Often the one thing the MD wants to see is lost in a mass of very colourful and exciting charts, graphs and statistics.”
These companies are so wrapped up in the possibilities of analysing ‘big data’ that they have lost sight of the basics: focusing on a small number of key performance indicators. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be few in number and always related to business objectives, which in turn should contribute to an organisation’s strategy.
“What’s the point of measuring 57 things if there are no related objectives and no link back to the company strategy?” asks Keyte. “Sure, we should keep an eye on overall performance and that may mean a lot of operational metrics, but that is very different to managing company growth and strategic direction.”
Keyte has seen many companies fail because the executive management has become obsessed with everything the ‘data’ is telling them. Consequently, they create too many action plans and initiatives rather than spending quality time on one or two strategic imperatives and doing them well.
Business reporting should be simpler and more meaningful. Reporting today has become a complex art form that may look good, but does not provide the right information to enable executives to make the best decisions. But is there a solution?
“Last year we introduced a cloud-based business scorecard solution into the UK market,” says Keyte. “It has been so successful we have sold it across Europe and have partners selling in the Middle East and South Africa.”
This business scorecard technology has been available since 2004 in the USA. It is highly rated by companies like Starbucks and organisations like the US Army, who use it as their Strategic Management System. Cloud based business performance management solutions are gaining traction in the UK and Europe. The time is right to investigate, especially if the promise of simplification is a reality. The Intrafocus Balanced Scorecard Survey will remain open until the end of November.
About Intrafocus
Intrafocus is a business performance management software reseller and consultancy. Having invested heavily in lighter-footprint performance management tools, they believe that both large and medium sized organisations want to better utilise their existing data rather than implement costly business intelligence solutions.
