How do you identify underperforming areas in your organization? How do you address underperformance? Do you have a business improvement toolbox with a disciplined problem-solving approach? How do you prioritize projects to drive improvements?

These are just a few questions that the CPM officer and office deal with on a daily basis. Let’s touch on a few. more

Difficult economic times can be the breeding ground for increased fraudulent activities. In July 2009, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (www.fincen.gov) published its 12th edition of The SAR Activity Review — By the Numbers. SARs (Suspicious Activity Reports) are one key aspect of FinCEN’s efforts related to its responsibility for regulatory administration of the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970. Many different financial industries such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, check-cashing services, broker/dealers, and casinos are required to complete and file SARs. more

It’s an unfortunate double whammy: Cash flow at many companies has both declined and become more difficult to forecast. Recent research from Hackett Group and the National Association of Corporate Treasurers found that just over one in five companies is able to develop a forecast of cash flow two to three months out that’s accurate to within five percent. About one-third of forecasts are accurate to within 10 percent and one quarter to within 15 percent.

Why the less-than-stellar results? To start, sales have become more difficult to predict, as both business and consumer customers have cut purchases and put pressure on prices. On top of that, instability is growing among both customers and suppliers, the study found. One result is a ballooning number of late payments; nearly half of the companies responding said that between 11 and 30 percent of their receivables were past due. more

Almost every organization outsources some IT. A few outsource everything. Most outsource some IT functions.

How much IT you outsource and which particular IT functions says something about the organization. According to The Hackett Group, a financial research firm, “the percentage of outsourced cost in the total process cost … is an important and closely watched metric. World-class companies out­source a substantially larger portion of their IT processes [44.5% compared to 30.2%] than peer group compa­nies: close to half of all their technology infrastructure-related processes.”

And outsourcing decisions are only going to get more complicated as SaaS, cloud computing, and new technology licensing, pricing, and deployment models evolve. This further raises “the importance of IT sourcing on the strategic IT agenda,” according to Hackett researchers. more

Has your management team asked the following four questions about your organization’s internal controls?

1) Have we identified the meaningful risks to our objectives?

2) Which controls are “key controls” that will best support a conclusion regarding the effectiveness of internal control in a particular process?

3) What information will be persuasive in assessing whether the controls are continuing to operate effectively?

4) Are we presently performing effective monitoring that is not unnecessary and costly testing?

These questions appear in a white paper, “Effective Internal Control Systems for Rapidly Changing Markets: A New Opportunity,” packed with answers for GRC professionals wondering if there is a better way to operate. more