About
ABOUT THE COURSE
The finance function is evolving. To stay ahead of the competition, businesses look to finance to respond to strategic issues, to capitalise on their analytical insights as well as to evaluate potential growth opportunities. The pressure is on for finance to focus and take on a more dynamic and active role throughout the company in developing and implementing business strategies.
Linking Finance with Strategy explores the implications of the business strategy from a financial perspective. This course is particularly suited for financial managers who are facing the challenge of aligning the finance strategy with their company’s strategy. The course will provide you with the knowledge and skills to:
• Review the required skills and competence of finance to provide strategy-specific support
• Examine frameworks for the different dimensions of obtaining strategic alignment
• Clarify how finance strategy relates to business strategy, and how to communicate this effectively to stakeholders
• Embed finance function in the organisation
• Put finance in the driver’s seat to ensure that there’s a strong linkage between business strategy and finance strategy
Course Outline
COURSE OUTLINE
The changing finance function
- How the activist CFO provides financial leadership for the organisation
- Moving from compliance to activism
- The six new identities for the finance function
- Knowing the barriers to improved alignment and overcoming them
Setting strategic objectives
- Understanding vision and mission
- How to work with the senior team in agreeing objectives
- Identifying the prime organisational objective
- Linking financial and non-financial objectives
Strategic analysis
- Filling up your analytical tool box
- Defining the environment to be analysed
- Improving competitor analysis
- Understanding voice of customer analysis
Strategy elements
- Understanding the 5 key elements of strategy
- Knowing when and where we should compete
- Identifying the strategic vehicles to be used
- Understanding the key differentiators for the business
Planning the strategy
- Turning strategy into a financial plan
- Ensuring the business and financial plans have organisational buy-in
- The difference between strategic initiatives and budgets
- The beyond-budgeting movement
Monitoring the strategy
- The top 4 monitoring tools and when to use them
- KPIs and the balanced scorecard and the benefits of benchmarking
- Presenting and interpreting business measurements
- Integrating financial and non-financial data
Strategic risk management
- Understanding how to identify, characterize, and measure risk
- Achieving greater visibility of strategic risk
- The analytical and presentation tools for risk
- How finance can be the critical element in an early warning system
Facilitator
Hamish Stevens, B.Com, MBA, CA
With a senior corporate background, Hamish Stevens has extensive experience in operational management, financial management and board governance. Hamish Stevens is an experienced finance executive with an extensive background in strategy evaluation and planning for large corporate organisations including Heinz Wattie, Tip Top Ice Cream, and DB Breweries.
Hamish is a management consultant focusing on strategy, mergers & acquisitions, business planning and risk management and has presented at a number of conferences on topics such as KPI’s, financial intelligence, and supply chain cash management.
Hamish is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the University of Auckland.
In-house Training
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