Tomato Newsletter "News 'n Views" No. 142 – October 2011
Our activities this month have been more varied than usual. Apart from directly working on projects with clients, Martin Schneider has given seminars, a "Brown Bag Lunch" and presentations that companies offered their clients. The experience we gain from dialogue with treasury staff as well as banks and their clients helps us better understand pressing issues, and it teaches us what questions we need to ask to quickly get to the heart of problems.
Enjoy!
Regula Spottl
In Today's Issue:
TOMATO UPDATES
FINANCE AND BANKING
- European Payment Council (EPC) News
- More on SEPA
- Value of Payment Factories
- Systematic Approach to Optimizing Working Capital
- Audit als wichtige Stütze für den CEO
IT
- Simple Ways to Identify Problems with IT Projects
- Should CIOs Give People Their Choice of Toolsets?
- IBM's Global CIO Study 2011
MISCELLANEOUS
The concerns and strategic pursuits of our clients are usually similar to treasurers in general. This year, our clients' focus was primarily
- Liquidity planning
- Bank relations
- Once bank relations improved, the focus shifted to optimizing payments and cash management and centralizing the administration of payments yet leaving the responsibilities at the periphery
- Credit card payments have made a comeback
If you face similar or related issues that you'd like to discuss, feel free to contact us at 044 814 2001 or via andreas.carl@tomato.ch.
European Payment Council (EPC) News
The many news and opinions in the latest EPC newsletter include for example:
- Direct Debit: Killing it Softly Reflections on the likely demise of one of the most popular payment instruments in Europe
- A Closer Look at Innovation in Retail Payments. Central bank research in preparation: a report on first findings of working group established by the Committee of Payment and Settlement Systems
- SEPA Direct Debit for Billers: The Creditor Identifier (Go Get It!). EPC Newsletter series provides support for billers preparing migration to the SDD Schemes
SEPA Issues: Planning, E-Invoicing, Efficiency
GTNews’ Oct 4 newsletter focused on European Payment Trends. Articles included (they all require free registration):
E-invoicing in the European B2C Market: The article explores how e-invoicing can be used to optimize financial supply chain and working capital management.
A Case Study: SEPA as a Driver for Efficiency: This case study illustrates how SEPA implementation can be turned into a strategic advantage and how good design can lead to increased automation, efficiency and savings
How to Plan a Smooth SEPA Project and Evaluate the Benefits of SCT and SDD
Implementing a payment factory has been a key focus for our clients. A payment factory offers such benefits as lower transaction and operational costs, improved visibility into cash flow, reduced fraud, risk, and errors, and improved compliance and control.
In the GTNews article The Strategic Value of a Payment Factory, John Farrell and Nasreen Quibria of Logica illustrate how a comprehensive strategy for implementing a payment factory in which back-end systems of payables and receivables are integrated with treasury in a shared business center, will help to significantly strengthen internal financing resources and capital efficiency. Full story: (registration required, free)
Martin’s comment:
In the recent Brown Bag Lunch workshop we discussed the milestones of such a project where Tomato was the project coach. See our blog!
Systematic Approach to Optimizing Working Capital
How do you set up a structured and organized plan for optimizing working capital? Enrico Camerinelli, Contributing Editor at GTNews, suggests that corporate executives should start by deciding what component to address first.
In Optimising Working Capital: The Devil is in the Details, Camerinelli explains that this process involves determining the 'weight' of each part on the company's working capital total value. The component that ranks the highest is the best candidate for optimization.
Camerinelli explains with graphs and detailed analyses how he conducted this type of analysis. Full story
Martin's comment: Print it and read it when you have time - when traveling by train for example! It is worthwhile and you may find similarities in your company.
Audit als wichtige Stütze für den CEO
Im Artikel Audit als wichtige Stütze für den CEO im Magazin «Scorecard» spricht Roger Neininger, Head of Audit von KPMG, über die Optimierungspotenziale in der Zusammenarbeit von Audit und dem CEO und zeigt, welchen Mehrwert ein regelmässiger Informationsaustausch bringen kann.
Dieser Austausch hilft dem CEO, sich eine komplette Ubersicht des eigenen Unternehmens zu verschaffen, die Nachhaltigkeit des Unternehemens zu sichern und die Performance zu steigern. Es stärkt auch ein nachhaltiges und wirksames Risikomanagement, erklärt Neininger. Artikel in Scorecard
Simple Ways to Identify Problems with IT Projects
The article Project Management: A Simple Way to Identify Problems with IT Projects by Meredith Levinson has been tweeted and passed on in LinkedIn more than fifty times. It's obviously a topic that resonates with many in IT. Also the tips are valuable and the article is short and to the point!
Rob Prinzo, CEO of project management training and consulting firm The Prinzo Group, advises asking project team members for their take on the status of the project. The article specifies the questions to ask. Full story
Should CIOs Give People Their Choice of Toolsets?
In the Bloomberg Businessweek article How to Be a Chief Information Officer, Google CIO Ben Fried reflects on the benefits of letting employees have choices with the technology they want for doing their work. Full story
Forrester Research picked up Fried's article and CIO.com published their piece Google CIO: Don't Fight Consumerization of IT. Forrester agrees that IT managers should give up control but only after they methodically analyze workers' wants and needs. Full story
KPMG vertret auch die Meinung, dass es für Mitarbeitende und Unternehmen Vorteile hat, mit eigenen, bevorzugten Geräten zu arbeiten. Im Artikel „Bring Your Own Device” erklären Experten von KPMG, was bei der Umsetzung von «Bring your own Device»-Projekten beachtet werden muss. Artikel in pdf
IBM Global CIO Study: Mandates Depend on Organizational Goals
The 2011 IBM Global CIO Study reveals insights from face-to-face interviews by IBM with over 3,000 CIOs. The Essential CIO is the largest study of its kind to date.
Among the really useful insights is how CIOs differ based on their organizations' business needs and goals, and how CIOs can achieve those goals by leveraging business and information technology. The study identifies four types of what they call "mandates" or goals:
- If it is to expand, the CIO needs to refine business processes and enhance collaboration.
- If it is transform, the CIO needs to change the industry value chain through improved relationships.
- If it is leverage, the CIO needs to streamline operations and increase organizational effectiveness.
- If it is to pioneer, the CIO needs to radically innovate products, markets, and business models.
8-page executive summary with link to complete study
Typische Merkmale ausserordentlich erfolgreicher Unternehmen
Die CEO Studie "Unternehmensführung in einer komplexen Welt" der IBM hat ergeben, dass Kreativität, Integrität und globales Denken die wichtigsten Führungsqualitäten der Zukunft sind. Offenheit, Bescheidenheit und Fairness spielen eine deutlich schwächere Rolle. Unternehmen sehen vor allem eine engere Vernetzung mit den Kunden als sehr wichtig.
Die Studie hat auch typische Merkmale von "Standouts" (ausserordentlich erfolgreiche Unternehmen) identifiziert. Mehr als andere Unternehmen,
- Standouts sind deutlich stärker bereit, ihre Geschäftsmodelle und ihre Organisation zu verändern.
- Sie verfolgen konsequent radikale Vereinfachungen in ihren Produkten, Prozessen und Strukturen
- Sie entscheiden schneller und sind schneller in der Umsetzung
- Sie streben eine stärkere Flexibilisierung ihrer Kostenstrukturen an "und erhöhen damit ihre ,Atmungsfähigkeit' bei Beschäftigungsschwankungen"
- In Sachen Führungsstil setzen sie vor allem mehr auf Überzeugungskraft und weniger auf traditionelles "Anordnen und Kontrollieren".
Die Untersuchung umfasst 60 Länder und 33 Branchen und ist damit die größte Studie ihrer Art. Press Release
Many managers don't know how to probe the thought process of their subordinates, colleagues, and bosses so they make assumptions about why people do what they do.
In "The Art of Asking Questions" Ron Ashkenas, author of various books including his latest “Simply Effective”, suggests three areas where improved "questioning" can strengthen managerial effectiveness.
- The ability to ask questions about yourself
- The ability to ask questions about plans and projects
- The practice of asking questions about the organization
The key is to ask these questions in a way that does not trigger defensiveness and that is seen as constructive is an important skill for managers, says Ashkenas. Full story
From the Desk of Regula Spottl, Greensboro, North Carolina
German relatives visited us for two weeks in early September. We took them to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina (right when hurricane Irene hit), Washington D.C. and New York.
They loved above all the beach, a visit to the White House, a Broadway Show, and shopping.
What really surprised them was how courteous the waiters at restaurants are. This one particular waiter made a huge impression on them. He was the quintessential Marlboro Man: tanned, toned, and smartly dressed. Most importantly, he couldn't have been more courteous. When he said before we left "It was my pleasure serving you", our relative practically swooned. One of the nicer things here is the Southern charm that's quite common.