 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
Our Subscribers Say...
I think Credit Today is fantastic. You cover many practical topics in the credit field that I use regularly. Just one recent example—a conversation on the ListServ about preferential payments—gave me tips that I used in an actual case. The specific information I picked up from this one discussion saved me $10,000, enough to cover my membership for many years!
- Steve Savino
Manager of Credit & Collections, ASSA Abloy Americas Division, New Haven, CT
Credit Today's Resource Directory and their online e-mail forum (ListServ) provide information on almost any credit-related topic you can think of. It is a great way to exchange information with other credit professionals. As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."
- Scott Goen,
Credit Manager, Big Lots Stores, Inc., Wholesale Division
"We've recently started using the ListServ tool within Credit Today. This is phenomenal and powerful forum for gaining immediate feedback, ideas, and suggestions, relative to any credit topic under the sun, all in a real-time e-mail format."
-Javier Vela, Senior Credit Manager, Global Credit Services, JDA Software Group Inc.
"Being a part of the Credit Today online community is like having the expertise of hundreds of credit managers at your fingertips. These credit execs are willing to help you solve topical business issues as they arise. In the current environment of ever increasing competing priorities which reduce our opportunities to meet peers out of the office face-to-face, this is the most valuable tool you can have on your desktop! It's important that we have a mechanism to reach out to our counterparts quickly to exchange knowledge as well as to stay on top of industry trends."
- Victoria Artis, Director of Customer Financial Services, Pfizer, Inc.
"Over the last 10 years I've seen Credit Today evolve from a monthly credit publication into a quality source of information and guidance for the B2B credit community. The website, with its user friendly form downloads, will take you from examples of new account credit applications to bankruptcy forms and everything in between.
The Credit Today ListServ has become the pre-imminent online forum, providing an opportunity for discussion and comments (and occasional humor) from an impressive list of credit professionals."
David Dungan, Director of Credit
Justin Brands, Inc. (A Berkshire Hathaway company)
Fort Worth, Texas
"There are numerous credit periodicals available to the credit professional today. How good is Credit Today? Is it relevant? I always have to read it late, or online because my credit analysts want to read it the minute it comes in. When my staff wants to read a publication before I have a chance to read it then something is working in that publication. We have cancelled our other subscriptions. When you have the best you do not need the rest."
Ron Woods
Corporate Credit Manager-World Wide
Thales Navigation, Inc.
"The newsletter, coupled with the website and the ListServ, are to us, more valuable than any other credit publication, bar none. I try to use at least one article out of each newsletter for departmental training/discussion sessions."
D. Mark Constantine
Corporate Credit Mgr
Fulton Paper Company
"I love Credit Today and read every issue cover to cover. For me, the greatest perk of a subscription is ListServ. I believe Credit Today's ListServ members may be the most knowledgeable Credit brain trust in existence today. I have saved and categorized hundreds of contributions on a wide variety of topics which I refer to often. It's an easy and cost effective way to network and learn."
Doug M. Thomas
Kimberly-Clark Customer Financial Services |
|
|
 |
Hackett Finance Metric of the Month: Percent of Companies that Handle Finance Processes in a Shared Services/Global Business Services Organization
October 2009
Metric Definition
This month we examine the percent of companies that handle at least some of their finance processes in a shared services/Global Business Services organization (Fig. 1). More broadly, the metric illustrates the evolution underway as shared services are evolving into Global Business Services organizations.
Why It's Important
Recent discussions with senior executives from The Hackett Group's Global 1000 client base revealed what the current recession has already taught most finance leaders: Cost cuts must be sustainable, and they cannot negatively affect quality or service levels. Fortunately, shared services/Global Business Services are already delivering on their promise of sustained cost reductions -- 61% have saved their companies 20% or more on costs. Beyond cost reductions, other reasons for having a shared services/Global Business Services organization are shown in Fig. 2. It is telling that, while both world-class and peer-group organizations share many goals, such as standardization of services, headcount reduction, improvements in service and reduction in administrative costs, the world-class group focuses more on sustainable goals such as reducing infrastructure costs, simplifying technology and enabling flexible growth. Strategic Implications
Shared services that handle back-office processes have assumed a new level of importance for finance leaders, one that goes beyond sustainable cost improvements. At leading-edge finance organizations, shared services have undergone dramatic changes during the past three to five years. They have been retooled and rebranded to a more progressive concept, which Hackett calls Global Business Services. The name says a great deal about what has changed: Deployment is truly global, utilizing enterprise standards and expanded geographic scope while taking advantage of labor arbitrage; business in the context of taking on a broader range of activities, breaking through functional boundaries to become more integrated with the workings of the enterprise instead of being pushed to the margins of the organization; and service orientation in terms of culture and performance attitude that were not always present in the early shared services movement.
|
|
About The Hackett Group
The Hackett Group, a global strategic advisory firm, is a leader in best practice implementation, advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services, including shared services, offshoring and outsourcing advice. Utilizing best practices and implementation insights from more than 4,000 benchmarking engagements, executives use Hackett's empirically based approach to quickly define and prioritize initiatives to enable world-class performance. Through its REL brand, Hackett offers working capital solutions focused on delivering significant cash flow improvements. Through its Hackett Technology Solutions group, Hackett offers business application consulting services that helps maximize returns on IT investments. Hackett has worked with 2,700 major corporations and government agencies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 73% of the Fortune 100, 73% of the DAX 30 and 45% of the FTSE 100. Founded in 1991, The Hackett Group was acquired by Answerthink, which was renamed The Hackett Group in 2008. The Hackett Group has global offices in the United States, Europe, Australia and India and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ as HCKT. The Hackett Group
Email: info@thehackettgroup.com • +1 770 225 3600 • www.thehackettgroup.com
| |
|
 |
Outlook 2012
This month's survey explores...
- What the top problems are facing credit execs currently, and
- What the top improvement initiatives are.
Click here to participate!
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
February 2012
|
|
| S |
M |
T |
W |
T |
F |
S |
| |
|
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
9
|
10
|
11
|
|
12
|
13
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
17
|
18
|
|
19
|
20
|
21
|
22
|
23
|
24
|
25
|
|
26
|
27
|
28
|
29
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Webinars