3 New Approaches to Unlocking Deeper Financial Insight

Intuitively, many of us recognize that the decision window for executives has been shrinking with each passing year. Information dissemination has become real-time and ondemand; however, the challenge for many finance functions is to try and keep pace with all the modern sources of insight and analysis that internal and external stakeholders are receiving. 

We can layer on an incremental challenge in many industries where the business environment changes more often and more dramatically than ever before as well. Take for instance commodity prices, which have seen increasing levels of volatility in recentyears. Imagine you are a company impacted by the price of natural gas (Figure 1) and consider the implications these price swings can have on your business model. That is but one example of a changing strategic driver. Consumer tastes and demands can shift virtually overnight. Everyday, new technologies and new business models replace old technologies and old business models. The luxury of time is something few executives have anymore when it comes to making decisions.