Short-term focus of management ain’t due to accounting

CFO.com had a provocatively titled article this morning that just shouted out for a retort: “Is Accounting Blocking R&D Investments?” Now how could accounting be doing that? Why, because senior management is preoccupied with meeting short-term quarterly earnings targets, and are cutting back on longer-term focused R&D investments! I thought this was just an overzealousContinue reading “Short-term focus of management ain’t due to accounting”

E&Y: Internal Audit should drive strategy

BusinessDay, a South African business news website, published a recent article referencing an E&Y study involving “more than 100 industry analysts from more than 20 disciplines”: Organisations need to break out of the compliance cocoon and evolve into a fully fledged leadership role that delivers real value to the business. In the current economic climate,Continue reading “E&Y: Internal Audit should drive strategy”

Value creation mode isn’t just from 9 to 5

I was recently asked what I thought about value pricing as it relates to professional services firms. The billable hour is typically how firms price their engagements, but the idea of value pricing is gaining momentum and acceptance is growing. I believe in a competitive market, value pricing would occur naturally. Misinformation from vested interestsContinue reading “Value creation mode isn’t just from 9 to 5”

The value of blog postings and comments

It was a long time ago in internet years that I started reading Dave Winer‘s blog, Scripting News, and even longer since I started reading Jakob Nielsen‘s writings on his site, useit.com. These two are truly pioneers of the digital age, with Winer instrumental in the development and promotion of RSS and Nielsen writing theContinue reading “The value of blog postings and comments”

Now that’s a niche

There’s a particular blog that only discusses the idea that accounting firms, and indeed all professional services firms, should “trash the timesheet” and implement “value pricing.” The basic concept is sound: Timesheets treat the chargeable hour as the measure of the firm’s services’ value, which distorts its true value to the client and further commoditizesContinue reading “Now that’s a niche”