The downturn highlighted the need for businesses to be able to access effective management information to make critical decisions, like where to reduce costs and which customers/products are the most profitable.  It revealed weaknesses in the ability of many finance functions to provide this insight to not only drive performance, but also to communicate with the market.  As we move forward in an environment of increased volatility, insight will continue to be the key to helping businesses stay ahead of changing conditions. This will include enhanced strategic planning, scenario analysis and forecasting.

In a survey of the senior finance executives of FTSE 350 companies to establish how they view the quality of their management information (MI), 70% of respondents said their companies' senior managers were paying significantly more attention to MI than in previous years, but only 45% were satisfied with the quality.

This needs to change if the CFO, who we believe should own the insight agenda, is serious about sustaining a strategic partnership with the business long after the downturn.  This business partnership (business partnering role) will also need the right skills and behaviours to be effective.

A good corporate performance management (CPM) programme is a new way of using information to achieve this goal. It can be used to make positive decisions and help create a performance culture very different to that of the traditional 'scorekeeper' role played by finance. Fundamentally, it is about not only ensuring the right systems, processes and data are flowing in and out of the business, but that the right behaviours are in place to support it.