The Performance Manager
Turning Information into Higher Business Performance
The Performance Manager, Proven Strategies for Turning Information into Higher Business Performance looks at the partnership between decision-makers and the people who provide the information that drives better decisions. This how-to book offers suggestions for 42 decisions areas, or information sweet spots, taking into account your need to not only understand data, but also plan and monitor your performance.
These 46 decision areas are organized by the major functions or departments of a company, for example:
- Finance (7 decision areas)
- Sales (5 DAs)
- Operations (6 DAs) Information Technology (5 DAs)
- An over-arching section for Executive Management (2 new DAs & 4 views on the others)
Each chapter introduces key challenges and opportunities companies face in the specific function. The Performance Manager then dives into each decision area, illustrating the core content of the corresponding information sweet spot. This core content is organized into:
- Two types of measures: goals and metrics
- The hierarchical set of dimensions that allow you to look at the information from a variety of vantage points
- The plans associated with functional goals.
Each decision area then offers advice on who beyond the specific function would benefit from seeing the information (e.g., Marketing should see Sales pipeline targets) to make better performance a truly cross-organizational exercise.
Better decisions, better performance
Business decision-making depends on finding the answers to three core questions:
- How are we doing? Find answers with scorecards and dashboards that monitor the business with metrics.
- Why? Reporting and analysis provides the ability to look at historic data and understand trends, to look at anomalies and understand why.
- What should we be doing? Find answers with planning and forecasting that establishes a reliable view of the future.
Integrating these capabilities allows you to respond to changes happening in your business. This is the underlying philosophy of the decision areas and The Performance Manager.
Learn more:
RSS Feeds| Focus on Performance |
Order the book
Get your free copy of The Performance Manager.  |
| Download the book abstract Get The Performance Manager white paper. See 4 sample decision areas for IT and Marketing. |
