Process Improvement for Effective Budgeting and Financial Reporting

Book Description

"The budget and financial reporting processes are well known sources of frustration for most CFOs. Seeking a quick fix to the problem, the common solution is to pour more money into new and better software. This leaves the root cause, the inefficient and dysfunctional underlying processes and routines, unaddressed. As this book shows, substantial and sustainable improvements are only achieved through an holistic approach to process improvement, technology, strategy, and people."
—Tom Henry Knudsen, Executive Vice President, Telenor Eiendom Fornebu AS, Proven methods for improving efficiency

Corporations face a high turnover among financial managers, rapid changes in technology, lack of time and process redesign skills, and ongoing ambiguity about primary objectives behind the budgeting and financial reporting processes. Amid this frenzy, it is the fundamental efficiency of these processes that dramatically impact overall business performance. Process Improvement for Effective Budgeting and Financial Reporting provides financial managers with a compelling blueprint for increasing efficiency and eliminating waste of time and energy. Four operational experts lay out an 80/20 plan-improving 800f processes in 200f the time it would take to improve 100%-and explain a Business Process Improvement (BPI) plan that incorporates:

The emerging trends affecting financial managers today
Step-by-step process implementation
Interviews with industry leaders, consultants, and managers who have successfully instituted BPI plans
Appraisals of the available software that can help or hinder the process

There is no substitute for improved efficiency. CFOs, controllers, budget managers, and financial analysts will significantly benefit from adding this authoritative guide to their professional libraries.

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There has been a growing awareness worldwide that financial exclusion reduces the potential welfare of individuals and the productivity of enterprises in an economy. This study focuses on the delivery of financial services to one of the world's most important emerging financial markets, Brazil.

Despite concerns regarding diminishing bank numbers over the last decade there is no evidence of a trend decline in access to bank services in Brazil. Comparing Brazil with other countries at similar levels of development, Brazil is not underbanked. Yet the absolute numbers of the financially excluded are large and disparities in financial access can be at least as significant between neighborhoods within a city, as between regions of the country.

Access to Financial Services in Brazil emphasizes the role of financial infrastructure. The contribution of non-banks to access so far has been based to some degree upon regulatory arbitrage opportunities with the banking system, and they have suffered from varying degrees of lack of legal clarity. Credit to small borrowers is also impeded by difficulties in loan recovery, due partly to `judicial activism' and also to difficulties in the use of collateral. Further improvements in credit registries and credit reporting can greatly ease lending to small borrowers with limited credit history.

Finally, the macroeconomic environment has a profound influence on overall access. The government's large borrowing needs impact negatively upon private credit and the high taxation of the financial system, partly to finance such needs, is another deterrent. Nevertheless, there is a role for more proactive government policies towards access at a micro level through the creation of a more supportive enabling environment in terms of regulation, monitoring and disclosure and selective support.

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"There has been a growing awareness worldwide that financial exclusion reduces the potential welfare of individuals and the productivity of enterprises in an economy. This study focuses on the delivery of financial services to one of the world's most important emerging financial markets, Brazil. Despite concerns regarding diminishing bank numbers over the last decade there is no evidence of a trend decline in access to bank services in Brazil. Comparing Brazil with other countries at similar levels of development, Brazil is not underbanked. Yet the absolute numbers of the financially excluded are large and disparities in financial access can be at least as significant between neighborhoods within a city, as between regions of the country. Access to Financial Services in Brazil emphasizes the role of financial infrastructure. The contribution of non-banks to access so far has been based to some degree upon regulatory arbitrage opportunities with the banking system, and they have suffered from varying degrees of lack of legal clarity. Credit to small borrowers is also impeded by difficulties in loan recovery, due partly to 'judicial activism' and also to difficulties in the use of collateral. Further improvements in credit registries and credit reporting can greatly ease lending to small borrowers with limited credit history. Finally, the macroeconomic environment has a profound influence on overall access. The government's large borrowing needs impact negatively upon private credit and the high taxation of the financial system, partly to finance such needs, is another deterrent. Nevertheless, there is a role for more proactive government policies towards access at a micro level through the creation of a more supportive enabling environment in terms of regulation, monitoring and disclosure and selective support. "

Assessing Financial Access In Brazil (World Bank Working Papers)

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Assessing Financial Access In Brazil (World Bank Working Papers)
Thorsten Beck , Cristine Campos , and Soumya Chattopadhyay
Manufacturer: World Bank Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0821361317

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"Access to financial services in Brazil has been relatively stable over the past ten years, despite the banking sector contraction of the late 1990s. Wide geographic variations in the supply of banking services by region and municipality are partly explained by differentials in income and population density. On a cross-country basis, Brazil does not appear to be underbanked. Looking at the use of financial services by different groups of consumers in Brazil, differences in financial access across regions is confirmed, but differences among richer and poorer neighborhoods can be as important. Public financial institutions in Brazil, deemed to be socially responsible, appear to have served disadvantaged groups more than private banks on some measures and for some services. However, their role varies by type of service, and in the case of some services, public banks in fact may have better served the better-off groups. At the level of individuals, the most important determinants of access to financial services are socio-economic characteristics such a income, wealth, and education. This may signify that in the presence of asymmetric information, access to such services depends critically on client information, and such characteristics provide a proxy for creditworthiness."

Book Description

This volume considers how media firms, as well as entire industries, exist and persist over time despite what often seems to be intense competition for such resources as audiences and advertisers. Addressing competition within and among media organizations and industries, including broadcasting, cable, and the Internet, author John W. Dimmick studies the media industries through the niche theory lens, developed by bioecologists to explain competition and coexistence. He examines the targets of the different media--audience, advertisers, money--and how they compete, using examples from a variety of studies.

Each chapter incorporates relevant economic constructs into the analytic framework. This approach includes the use of economics of scale to explain selection and firm mortality in newspapers and movie theaters; the application of the transaction costs concept to explicate the rise of advertising agencies; the employment of the strategic group concept in analyzing the niche breadth strategy; and themeasurement of gratifications-utilities.

A comprehensive overview of the determinants of media competition and coexistence, Media Competition and Coexistence: The Theory of the Niche offers unique insights for scholars, students, researchers, and practitioners in media economics, management, and business.

Book Description

Interest in antimonide-related heterostructures is burgeoning due to their applications as light sources, diode lasers, modulators, filters, switches, nonlinear optics, and field-defect transistors. This volume, featuring contributions from leading researchers in the field, is the first book to focus on antimonide-related topics. It offers to both the beginning student and the advanced researcher a comprehensive review of the state of the art in this exciting new area of research.

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Set against the sweeping backdrop of medieval England, Good King Harry brilliantly brings to life one of the most fascinating, conflicted monarchs in history: Henry V. Evoking the sights and sounds of fifteenth-century London, acclaimed author Denise Giardina artfully illuminates the double-edged sword of power--and the momentous events that unfold in the making of a king. . . .

A contemplative soul imbued with a compassion and mental agility beyond his years, young Harry, Prince of Wales--the future King Henry V--is marked early as the object of his father's scorn. For in the eyes of Lord Bolingbroke, his son is but a weak link in the House of Lancaster with a dangerous loyalty to the rebellious Welsh that must be broken.

As Harry reaches maturity, the battle within his heart grows fierce. Torn between the sensitivities of his soul and the uncompromising king he must become, Harry embarks on an odyssey rife with political agendas, sexual intrigue, and military combat--ultimately transforming into the accomplished monarch a volatile England so urgently demands.

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Riveting Account of the Crushing Weight of Royalty.......2005-04-20

Denise Giardina's "Good King Harry" is an in-depth exploration of one of England's most beloved characters and kings, Henry V. A comet who briefly streaked across the sky of northwest Europe, "Good King Harry" was a man who knew little of defeat yet experienced much loss, a man who bent his knee to no man but gave his soul to his beloved Welsh lass, Merryn, and a man who sought to bring peace with the sword.

Told in the first person (the language is more archaic, and slightly less accessible, than that used by other authors of medieval historical fiction such as Sharon Kay Penman or Bernard Cornwell) by Harry himself, "Good King Harry" spends as much time on Harry as a youth as it does as king. The eldest son of a warrior king, Harry is a bitter disappointment as he prefers wrestling and racing to the noble joust . . . and he also has the temerity to enjoy a little book-learnin'. The father-son disputes between king and prince are packed with as much baggage as any parent-sibling rivalry, only also with the added threat that father and son are capable of bringing swords to bear. Harry spends much of his youth balanced on the razor's edge between wilful disobedience and treason, and this battle weighs the otherwise radiant spirit down.

True, Harry does find his Falstaff in Sir John Oldcastle, who may not be as wondrous a character as Shakespeare's creation but is still a worthy comrade in cups as Harry raids the brothels and taverns of England. This relationship sours in the end, but not as expected . . . and it is a bitter schism indeed. Still, we get a lot of wenching from our beloved Prince Hal, and Giardina does not shy away from Harry diving into various beds and bottles.

Most of us know our Henry V from Shakespeare, and Giardina's Henry is true to Shakespeare's creation, even if not nearly as poetic. Her novel takes a broader scope of Henry's life, and through this wider expanse we meet Henry's true love. The Prince of Wales reluctantly goes to war in Wales to bring the rebels to heel, and in the course of doing so develops a love for his fellow Welshmen, and in particular for a Welsh maid, Merryn. A hotly contested love, Merryn is as fiery a spirit as Henry and not burdened by the weight of nobility. Giardina creates a romance for the ages with these two, and their bitter early parting is the most moving passage in the book.

Harry, as we all know, eventually becomes king and raids France. The Shakespearean Henry V is not nearly as conflicted about this raid as Giardina's, and these heavy doubts make Henry a wonderfully conflicted character. Giardina can write a battle scene very well, although she does not spend as much time with the battles as, say, Bernard Cornwell, she still throws a bunch of action at the reader.

But the high points of the book are easily Henry's emotional peaks and valleys as he contemplates his loves and his losses and the heavy price a king must pay to lead his nation. All in all, "Good King Harry" depicts a wonderful man who achieves great things -- some of them terrible, some of them astounding, but all of them great. While not the best historical fiction you can pick up, this is still an excellent book that will please fans of the Shakespearean Prince Hal/Henry V as well as those who have never experienced the Bard's take. A worthy choice.

Wow!.......2003-06-13

This was so good I bought an extra copy and gave it to a homeless man. Really, really great!

Great King Harry!.......2001-02-03

Although historical fiction has always been very popular, I don't
believe that this kind of fiction--recreating a real human being's
life--has ever come into vogue as much as it has in the last
twenty-five years or so. Just in the last year I have read several of
them, including Margaret George and Nigel Tranter, and I'm sure
there are dozens more that I don't even know about. Even Ronald
Reagan's life has been fictionalized, and he hasn't even had the
good grace to pass on yet!

Normally, a writer of historical
fiction will research a particular period of time, create their own
characters, put them in place, and let them go. This personalized
kind of thing--putting a voice to a known historical figure--seems to
me to be a much more difficult task. First of all, you have to stick
to the known facts. As much as you think you know, there is always
going to be somebody out there who knows more than you, and who will
gleefully hammer you if you get something wrong. Secondly, you have
to be bold enough to use your imagination when there are gaps, and at
the same time to do so in such a way that these suppositions fit in
with things which are known. For example, Henry was known to frequent
what were considered to be lower-type establishments in his youth. It
is unlikely that he smoked opium, or engaged in homosexual conduct, to
give just a couple of bizarre examples of the way history is often
distorted. Lastly, while conforming to these strictures, you have to
do the normal things that fiction writers do; you know, like creating
character, and sustaining a compelling narrative.

Ms. Giardina has
chosen to complicate matters for herself further by fictionalizing the
life of no less a personage than Henry V, who must rank very high on
the list of well-known English monarchs. A lot of people know about
him. Oh, and one other thing: Henry V has already been done. What
was the name of that guy? The playwright?

Indeed, this is what
this book appeared to be after the first 100 pages or so: a
novelization of the great Shakespeare plays: Richard II, Henry IV part
I and II, and HenryV. But no. It is so much more than this.
Clearly, Ms. Giardina did her own research, probably utilizing many of
the sources used by the great one. It is her own project completely,
from her recreation of historical events, to her imagination of
fictional situations, and to the motivations of her characters. And
she makes them all come delightfully alive.

The plot itself is
more than you could want for intrigue and adventure. It starts with
Henry, (his nickname is Harry) as a boy. He is held hostage by
Richard, and expects to die when his father, Henry Bolingbroke, usurps
the crown. As prince he serves under his father, who despises him,
and spends years in an effort to subdue a rebellion in Wales. He
finds a girl there, starving and alone in an empty hut with her dead
mother. She will become his only true love. As a young man, and
under the care of his father's lieutenant, he discovers a plot
against his father, and escapes in the middle of the night on
horseback. He earns glory by being made a captain in his father's
army and defeating these enemies at Shrewsberry, only to learn later
that his promotion was made by those who expected and hoped he would
be killed. Eventually, his own father plots against him, the
archbishop plots against him, and other supposed allies plot against
him. And then there are those who favor the legitimate heir! Even
after he becomes king, the intrigue doesn't end. Uneasy lies the
head which wears the crown!

But that's the historical stuff. As
to the made-up stuff, most of which occurs during Henry's early
life, Giardina succeeds as well. She wisely avoids the temptation to
recreate Shakespeare's bumpkins and clowns. No Falstaff will you
find here, and smart for her not to try. But her own creations are no
less compelling, and equally believable. Henry falls in love here,
meets true friends here, and learns duplicity here. He forms a bond
with the commoners which serves him later on, making him the kind of
king he becomes.

Shakespeare's Henry is a great nationalist,
appealing to the glory of England. Other versions paint him as a
megalomaniac, arrogant, and angry that the French don't give him
his due. Giardina's Henry is motivated by wanting to do good. He
recognizes the suffering of the peasants, and feels it is his duty to
make life more bearable for them. This is his motivation for the
French invasion. France, torn by civil war, was being ripped to
pieces by raping and pillaging bands of soldiers. Henry, having
brought peace to Wales through benevolent leadership, feels it is his
duty to bring his vision across the sea. He tries, and despite great
hardship and primarily through the force of his own will, he achieves
his greatest success at Agincourt.

But victory is often elusive, and
Giardini gives us no easy answers. Henry is a conflicted, sensitive
man, and constantly doubts himself. He recognizes that both his
actions and inactions result in the death of innocents. He despairs
when he sees that the small good he accomplishes is so easily
undone.

This is a terrific book. If you are looking for adventure,
it is here. If you are looking for a solidly researched history, it
is here. If you are looking for fine literature, it is here.
Ms. Giardina should be commended. This is historical fiction at its
best.

Wonderful capture of Henry V.......2000-09-07

I have just completed this book. If not for a rigorous work schedule I would have completed this book in only a few sittings. Giardina does a phenomenal job of capturing the feeling of the language Henry would have spoken without making it unreadable to modern readers. I studied the history of English monarchs and Shakespeare in college and found Henry V to be my favorite. Giardina actually creates a persona for Harry which is unlike most other authors, biographers and historians. Truly a great read and highly recommendable. I would have my English classes read this.

A book that makes human this unique British Kingý.......2000-06-07

To those of us not as well versed in the British history of this time, the King Henrys either seem to blend together or get lost in the pending battle between Lancaster and York, but this novel makes Britain's King Henry V seem much more human than history traditionally depicts him. The author doesn't delve deeply enough into the Welsh history of the time, especially Owain Glyndwr, but finally makes readers understand what could have been Harry's motivations. This is a good book for history buffs as well as simply an entertaining novel for the rest of the readers. It left me with more questions than it answered, but in this instance that seemed a strength rather than a weakness.

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GOOD KING HARRY
Denise Giardina
Manufacturer: Victor Gollancz Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0575035072

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Good King Harry
Giardana Denise
Manufacturer: Gollancz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JKRNF6

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Good King Harry
Denise Giardina
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N77WPQ

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