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What happened to Business Intelligence?

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:11:00 +0200

When googling the term “business intelligence” the majority of the search results on the first pages relate to software companies that offer BI tools to generate reports and dashboards and the results on subsequent pages are links to articles in publications aimed at CIO’s and IT people.

BBC stap 10: benader BBC top down!

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 12:48:00 +0100

Eén van de belangrijke uitdagingen in het BBC verhaal is het creeëren van draagvlak in de organisatie. Een klassieker, maar hoe doe je dit in de praktijk? Alle neuzen in dezelfde richting krijgen? Elke organisatie worstelt hiermee, lokale besturen vormen hierin geen uitzondering. Een top-down benadering waarin het management dingen aan de organisatie oplegt, lijkt op het eerste zicht de meest voor de hand liggende aanpak bij veranderingen....

Internal control weaknesses

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:03:00 +0100

Read the newspaper today, Internal Control weaknesses at FOD Finance… . Quite remarkable article! One day after our own Knowledge Circle on fraud we are already confronted with the harsh reality in corporate life! The favourite metaphor of one of the guest speakers “Everyone wants to have their part of the prunes on the prune tree”, seems childish but proves to be applicable to a lot of corporate misconducts. How else would we explain the situation where people try to take their proverbial piece of the cake. I can’t help but think in the fraud mind-set, how can we apply the fraud triangle “Opportunity – Pressure – Rationalism” to this?

BBC stap 9: kijk niet over het muurtje...

Thu, 15 Nov 2012 10:49:00 +0100

Afgelopen donderdag was ik aanwezig op het congres van de lokale ontvangers van de Provincie Antwerpen. Het voormiddagprogramma, in het prachtige Ursulineninstituut te Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Waver, startte er met een voordracht van Arnold De Brauwer, Chief Financial Officer, bij de NMBS. De CFO bracht een praktijkgetuigenis over de do’s en don’ts bij een belangrijk veranderingstraject, in casu de implementatie van een ERP-systeem bij de NMBS, en de rol van een CFO en zijn financiële dienst voor een succesvolle realisatie ervan. Een boeiende, recht voor de raap toespraak!

Managing company performance - imagine

Mon, 05 Nov 2012 22:05:00 +0100

Operational finance can be an expensive business. Extensive implementations and process changes with more profound organizational impact don’t really ease the bill. Glad to agree on that, but let’s take a deep breath and challenge some dogma’s.

Imagine costs are turned into long term profits, input is rewarded with output and the limits of a vertical department are challenged. Going beyond: does it takes a lot of imagination effort? Take a look into some details, see how realistic thinking can be.

No strategy please ...we're working

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:45:00 +0200

For a number of midsized companies, the word "strategy" seems to have an unholy connotation. The concept is linked with expensive consultants that develop intricate strategy presentations full of lofty ideas and fluffy statements of "vision" and "mission" that are completely separated from the day-to-day operational activity.

The gut-reaction of these companies to the concept is to brush it away as an expensive waste of time that diverges attention from the trenches of daily operations where the money is made and where things "get done".

BBC stap 8: verander niets aan uw huidige modus operandi

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 14:25:00 +0200

“Waarom zouden we alles moeten veranderen, het werkt nu toch ook?” een veelgestelde vraag bij besturen die geconfronteerd worden met de implementatie van de beleids- en beheerscylus.

De trekkers of “believers” van een project zijn van mening dat de “non-believers” moeilijk doen en het project proberen te saboteren. Maar eigenlijk is dit een heel terechte vraag die aan het begin van een veranderingstraject zoals de BBC zeer grondig moet beantwoord worden. Waarom zouden we onze financiële werkwijze helemaal omgooien? Waarom nu plotseling anders aankijken tegen het opstellen van de begroting? Is er geen mogelijkheid om te voldoen aan de regels die de hogere overheid ons oplegt, maar zodat we gewoon verder kunnen werken zoals voorheen?

No strategy please ...we're firefighting

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 10:50:00 +0200

In times of crisis, strategic thinking is often replaced by a focus on short term actions to tackle the pressing issues this crisis causes for the company.

In itself this is a normal and even necessary reaction as, if these short term issues are not addressed, there usually is a distinct possibility that the long term will no longer matter as the company has gone under...

BBC stap 6: naast financieel ook een democratisch evenwicht?

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:49:00 +0200

De verwachtingen van de stakeholders….

Een van de prioriteiten die de Vlaamse overheid vooropstelt met de BBC is het optimaliseren van de informatiebehoefte naar de verschillende interne en externe doelgroepen. Welke beleidsinformatie verwachten de stakeholders (Raad, College, de burger) omtrent het gevoerde beleid binnen hun lokaal bestuur?

BBC stap 7: 2014, de eindmeet is in zicht!

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 13:49:00 +0200

Ik had vorige week het genoegen om met enkele collega’s de studiedag “(R?)evolutie van het lokaal financieel beheer” te mogen organiseren. Tijdens deze dag keken we met de aanwezige financieel beheerders voorbij “BBC”.

Financieel beheerders wisselden van job met CFO’s uit de private sector, een professor gaf zijn academische visie op de uitdagingen van de toekomst, we kregen het verslag van 10 jaar activity based costing van de VDAB op Vlaams Niveau én Nederlandse collega’s brachten het verhaal van hun BBI, oftewel Beleids- en BeheersInstrumentarium in Nederland dat reeds dateert uit de jaren ‘90.

Forum Financial Institutions 14/06

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 20:58:00 +0200

The TriFinance Financial Institutions Forum on Thursday was quite a success, with +/- 200 people present, outstanding speakers and a very lively Q and A at the end.

Luc Coene faced the many problems the FI sector is currently knowing these days and looked forward. An article appeared in De Tijd on Friday.

André Bergen was brilliant, when he discussed what went wrong in the sector since 2000, starting his exposé with 5 rather bold statements by which he definitely draw the attention of the public.

And Erik van den Eynden discussed the difficult balancing act of values to find in taking care of the customer.

Doors closed after 10.30 PM after a very pleasant walking dinner.

Forum Financial Institutions 14/06

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 09:55:00 +0200

Riddle #2

In preparation of the Financial Institutions Forum, a second seemingly inextricable problem :

The European financial sector, and Europe as a whole, would benefit from a coherent unison approach. But the interests of the different member are so diverging, that the every state leader has to watch his local voting problem.

That’s why observers say that measures are always of a “too little, too late” nature.

14/6: Financial Institutions Forum

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:27:00 +0200

Looking forward to our Financial Institutions Forum on 14 June (Back to the Future?!), my hope is that some real interesting discussions will take place around the topic of the future of Financial Institutions. In a number of blogs during the coming weeks we will present you a number of riddles the banking and insurance sector, and the political world, will have to find the answers to.

Feel free to react.

Startschot BBC gegeven? Doe meteen beroep op een consultant!

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:14:00 +0200

Dit weekend komen er vrienden eten. Recepten worden nu al uitgepluisd, wat is er in huis en wat moet er nog gehaald worden? Ik doe dit liefst op voorhand, de dag zelf wil ik vooral in de keuken doorbrengen en niet meer af en aan naar de winkel hollen. Logisch toch? Stel je eens voor dat ik eerst naar de winkel loop, mijn winkelkar vol laad en eens thuis gekomen ga bedenken wat ik zal klaarmaken. Het resultaat zal hoogstwaarschijnlijk geen hoge toppen scheren. Of, net zoals in de TV-hit “komen eten”, waar projectmanager Didier ons zijn geheim van de 6P’s verklapte: “Proper Planning and Precision Prevents Poor Performance”.

BBC -> ICT of omgekeerd?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:14:00 +0200

Voor alle duidelijk, ik ben geen ICT’er en ga me dus ook niet op het pad wagen van de softwareontwikkeling en het IT-technische implementatietraject waar de softwarehuizen, actief op de markt van lokale besturen, mee geconfronteerd worden. Ook voor de softwarehuizen betekent BBC een ganse uitdaging, waarbij ontwikkeling, implementatie én de commerciële inspanningen de komende jaren hoge pieken zullen bereiken.

Congress New world of work & Co-creation

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 13:21:00 +0200

Last week I was at Kluwer ‘s congress day on the New world of work (NWoW), presenting our TriFinance case as an example of leadership changes in the NWoW. I’d like to summarize the day for you. But rather than elaborating this myself, let’s use some creative co-creation. Hereunder you can see the a stream of tweets on the congress. It reads as tips & tricks and food for thought questions. Even people that are present physically can enter the discussion. This virtualization is only one of the strengths of social media …

Managementteam, bombardeer uw financieel beheerder meteen tot projectmanager BBC!

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0200

Bij het kiezen van de projectmanager voor BBC moet u als managementteam nagaan wie de “Rapunzel” in uw organisatie is. Het is immers Rapunzel die de beste BBC- projectmanager zal zijn.

Kent u Rapunzel nog? Rapunzel zit opgesloten in een hoge toren, maar kan haar prins iedere dag zien. Nochtans is er geen deur of trap voorzien in de toren. Een raam is er gelukkig wel. Via dit raam laat zij haar lange vlechten hangen die tot op de grond komen. Via deze vlechten klimt haar prins naar boven.

The sky is the limit

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 13:23:00 +0200

Genesis 41: 38-57. Stellen dat in de volgende legislatuur budgettaire discipline bij de meeste lokale besturen aan de orde zal zijn is een open deur intrappen. Bij vele gemeenten (en onrechtstreeks dus OCMW ’s via de gemeentelijke bijdrage) zijn de 7 vette jaren voorbij en zal het budget 2013 en het meerjarenplan 2014-2019 er één zijn van 7 magere jaren. Waar de Egyptische farao de wijze raad opvolgt om een voorraad aan te leggen tijdens de vette jaren, is het nieuwe financieel evenwicht de kwelduivel bij het opmaken van het toekomstig meerjarenplan.

Vergeet de violen gelijk te stemmen

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:15:00 +0100

Recent ging ik naar een optreden. Geen gewoon optreden, maar ik had de kans om een symfonisch orkest bij te wonen. Al snel viel het mij op hoe alle muziekanten op elkaar afgestemd waren. Strijkers, houtblazers, koperblazers, slagwerk, … elk zijn partituur en toch naadloos op elkaar ingespeeld. Terwijl ik dit spektakel aanschouwde, dwaalde mijn gedachten af naar het werk. Dit overkomt mij wel vaker. Tot het mij opeens binnen schoot, de BBC implementatie zou eigenlijk zoals een symfonie moeten klinken. De strijkers zijn dan de stuurgroep, de houtblazers de diensthoofden, de koperblazers zouden wel eens de financiële dienst kunnen zijn en het slagwerk…het beleid natuurlijk. En dit alles gedirigeerd door een goede projectmanager.

The law of Pi ...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:11:00 +0100

Until recently, I was not familiar with the law of Pi. Being formed in mathematics, Pi used to be the constant result of a circle’s circumference over its diameter. It felt quite comfortable. However, nowadays we have exchanged the world of math for the world of projects. And then all of a sudden, I am told about the law of Pi in organizational change projects.

Wiki-rating, perhaps a good idea?

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:09:00 +0100

As an observer of the Financial Institutions sector, I am pretty astonished about the fact that the position of the rating agencies has not been fundamentally questioned. Even outsiders understand now that banks have invested, in an improper way, in CDOs and other synthetic products. But fewer people know that these junk securities were rated AAA by US rating agencies, despite the fact that the quality of the underlying (US) assets was often extremely poor. Today, with respect to the evaluation of sovereign risk within continental Europe their opinion is less questionable, but many observers wonder whether they use the same standards regarding a number of other countries.

Some voices therefore claim that the ECB should establish an independent European rating agency. But how independent would that institution then be?

Happiness and work

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:43:00 +0100

Maybe it’s directly linked to the Maya’s prediction of the 2012 cataclysm and end of the world, but lately I read more and more blog posts, articles and analysis about the love/hate relation between work and happiness.

Most of the people of the Y generation were raised believing that “following your dreams will lead you to (professional) happiness”.

Today’s down turn Economy shows that only relying on your dreams to be happy in your function is no longer true.

An employer has to be sexy

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:57:00 +0100

No, it is not me saying it this time. It was the title of an article in the weekend edition of the newspapers. It was a quote of Frank Van Massenhove, general manager of the FOD Social Affairs. Old news you may say. It is indeed true that this statement lasts for quite some time now. The war for talent is here to stay, it is now only temporarily tempered by the global crisis. But in 2020 for every 100 leavers out of the work marketplace, there will only be 60 entrants. An employer will have to be able to attract the required talents in a market that is showing an important deficit.

The importance of self determination

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:50:00 +0100

I have recently come across the self-determination theory (SDT) on several unconnected occasions. This theory is the basis of the book “Drive” which I read a couple of months ago, it featured prominently in a presentation on “motivation of employees in a change project” I attended recently and it was mentioned in an article I read this morning on how to motivate your children to perform at school…

Creation of Motivation

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:36:00 +0100

Belgian athlete Eline Berings welcomes the visitors on her website with an inspirational anecdote. Somebody asked her “Are you going to be the next star?” She answered a bit shy with “Who knows?” She was looked in the eyes, while being said: “You should know!” At that moment, she realized this is the core in striving towards an achievement: know what you want, know who you want to be and know what you want to achieve. Set a goal, believe in it and strive for it.

Hillary without Norgay ...

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 12:01:00 +0100

... or Robinson without Vendredi.

Why is there always a necessary side-kick? Because we are only human and need to relay on a strong, supportive help!

It is well known, nobody can know everything about any topic. The use of our everywhere internet today and Wifi allow us to have knowledge and share ideas and thoughts all around the planet at any time. But truly: do you always understand any topic you read or learn without assistance?

Congratulations

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 11:40:00 +0100

Congratulations with your promotion: you have just been promoted to CEO of your own company, called Me Inc ! Open the bottles of Champagne!

You’re the boss of your own company called “Me”. Indeed, you define the strategy, the investments, and action plans to propel your own company into today’s and tomorrow’s world.

As CEO, you determine your communication strategy in the era of social media.

Rewarding failure to spur creativity of employees?

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:49:00 +0100

I recently came across an article that promoted rewarding employees for trying out new and creative ideas, even if these fail. Some companies have started initiatives to award an “Heroic Failure” trophy for this kind of initiatives.

The reasoning behind this is that it is better for people to try out creative and innovative initiatives, than to have no initiatives at all because people are afraid of the repercussions if these initiatives fail: negative performance appraisal, impact on career opportunities or even outright dismissal.

The Me Inc'er and the Finance Community Day

Tue, 08 Nov 2011 10:24:00 +0100

As the Surfhouse is currently undergoing some renovations, to bring it partly back in one of its previous destinations, being a datacenter for Belgacom, we had to look for a new host for our Finance Community Day. L’Arsenal offered a good alternative.

Conversation may cause understanding

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:24:00 +0200

In a recent blog, Peter Van Oevelen wrote about his view on working and leading in the New World of Work. Many of those changes in culture, management, way of working, etc. have to do with the entrance of generation Y into the working environment. Consequently, generation Y and all of its characteristics are hot on social media, blogs, digital communities, printed media, etc. (please note putting printed media at the end could be a typical Y-symptom)...

Barnier rocks the boat

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:20:00 +0200

Euro commissioner Michel Barnier is not a lobbyist for the Big Four, this may be clear. In a recent green paper, Barnier is basically questioning the independence of the auditor in his statutory audit work. The auditor is supposed to provide an independent attestation on the financials of the client to its stakeholders, i.e. lenders, shareholders, suppliers, …

Leader in the New world ...

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:24:00 +0200

...of Work. Apparently that’s the official translation of “Het Nieuwe Werken”. Of course it is the other way around. It was Bill Gates who initiated the term New World of Work (NWoW), afterwards translated in Het Nieuwe Werken, #HNW. Learned it all on twitter by the way.

Needless to say that our society has become more and more complex, and quite some companies have followed this example. Although we all know there is an important difference between a manager and a leader, we are not going to elaborate on this here. The mentioning is important though as in the NwoW, it may well be that both roles eventually converge.

Addicted to budgeting? (2)

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 07:03:00 +0200

A second major factor contributing to the continuation of the budgeting activity, especially in larger organisations with multiple divisions or business units, is that this process provides a sense of control to the people working in HQ and to the top management of the company.

Corporate culture: what about the influence on commitment and morale?

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 17:28:00 +0200

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”. It is one of those famous quotes to put results of statistical research into perspective. However, when the University of Birmingham came up with statistics and results of a survey this week, it rang a bell. Researchers checked 20,000 employees from 2,000 UK companies on their feelings of engagement in the company. Their findings? Employees working in a family business put in longer hours feel more secure, but most of all: they experience greater commitment and morale!

Addicted to budgeting? (1)

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:00:00 +0200

Despite the numerous books, articles and blogs about the advantages of going “Beyond Budgeting” and the countless studies on the cost and inefficiencies of the traditional annual budgeting process, the majority of companies still holds on to the engrained process of drafting annual budgets and measuring actual performance against this budget.

Finance: take a look at yourself

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 17:21:00 +0200

In a recent blogpost we talked about the Strategy, or the lack thereof, of the Finance Department. Can success of a company be measured by the success of its finance department? That is of course hard to say, the causality is probably not (yet) scientifically proven, but there is a definite positive correlation. And therefore it is sad to see that sometimes this correlation is largely under-addressed.

Economies of motivation

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Our Financial Institutions Forum on 30 May in the Auditorium of BNP Paribas Fortis on strategic cost management was a great success with 175 people present. Filip Dierckx (deputy CEO of BNP Paribas Fortis), Jan De Meulder (management committee member of La Bâloise in Switzerland) and Jan Muchez (CEO Tri ICT) were key note speakers.

Challenged

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Last month I ran the marathon in Leiden in the Netherlands. My 10^th marathon. On my 42th birthday. One could drink champagne in the morning while enjoying a hearty breakfast. Or do so many other nice things. How then can someone be so cruel to subscribe himself for a day of pain on his birthday ? Having to wake up at 5h30, a 2 hours drive to eventually start the run at 10h30 for almost 4 hours fighting wind in the Dutch polder, cramps but mainly fighting yourself.

Role of Finance… from a strategy point of view

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0200

“Finance is to become a Business Partner”, is a quote often heard in the CFO office. That is of course not untrue. But it is too easy to get away with this one-liner. Quite some reflections and clarifications are still to be made in this respect.

Passionate about passion

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 22:10:00 +0200

Last weekend, I attended a dancing performance in which my sister took part. Without any subjectivity, I can say the show was magnificent. People simply doing their hobby delivered a great result to their audience, although they did not have that many resources available.

What struck me most during the evening (besides the relief that I did not had to dance myself) was the reason of their great performance. I think one word suits best to explain it: passion! The author of this item guarantees the presence of it while writing this blog.

"Employees first, customers second"

Tue, 24 May 2011 21:41:00 +0200

“Employees First, Customers Second” is the rather provocative title of a book I have been reading this weekend. The book is written by Vineet Nayar, a CEO who transformed his company – HCL Technologies – into one of the major leading global IT services companies. His vision is that when you really put your employees in the centre of your attention, you create such a drive within your company that, in the end, it will appear to be largely beneficial for your customers. The methods by which he puts his vision in practice in his own company are pretty unconventional, to say the least. Inversing the organizational pyramid is one of them.

Haantjes

Tue, 10 May 2011 14:34:00 +0200

I just finished reading the book “Haantjes” from Kluun. Kluun is hot in the Netherlands these days. He is competing with Herman Koch for the title of “Best writer of the moment” over there. They are both using various media to attract the reader. We can learn from them on this.

TriFinance blogs...

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:00:00 +0200

Dear Reader, “I am not sure where I’m headed, I have gotten lost before”, sings R.E.M.’s Micheal Stipe in the Sad Professor.

http://youtu.be/maM0C7e8i38

Well, let that now be the feeling I have when writing these first blog lines. As indeed, that’s what they are, my very first blog lines. I have gotten lost before, and don’t know where I am heading for. I must admit it’s kind of strange, all this writing in the air, without knowing you at all, Dear Reader. I really hope we’ll get to know each other over the coming weeks and months. I hope you are as curious to hear my ideas, as I am to hear yours. So do share your ideas and points of view, and hopefully we won’t always agree. We can cover wide ranges of topics. As you will soon find out, I have some favorite ones… Let’s not stay on the laid out paths.Why all the fuzz around this blog ? Why blogging at all ? Is it because there was still an empty space to fill on our new website ? Hope not. Our ambitions aim to go further than that. By the way, don’t forget to check out what’s new on the website and experience the new wind. We should embrace these new communication tools, not to follow any hypes, but to really facilitate the interaction and communication within our community. The success will therefore be a joint responsibility. I promised Caroline, our marketing manager to periodically write a post. “Not concrete enough”, Caroline said. OK, every two weeks at least. Deal. I will try to do better. Hope we both enjoy this journey, Dear Reader, as “Everyone hates a bore, everyone hates a sad professor”.Talk to you next week.