| Directors in dark on non-financial info |
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| Most board directors and executives need more non-financial information on how well their companies are satisfying customers, delivering quality products and services, operating with efficient processes, and developing new products and services, according to a new report conducted on behalf of Deloitte by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). |
Almost 75 per cent of those surveyed for the study, called ‘In the Dark: What Boards and Executives Don’t Know about the Health of Their Businesses’, said their companies were under increasing pressure to monitor non-financial performance indicators.
Ninety-two per cent said their board directors were responsible for monitoring both the financial and non-financial measures of their companies’ performance. Yet only 34 per cent of board members and top executives polled said their companies were proficient at monitoring critical non-financial indicators of corporate performance.
‘It takes more than tracking financial performance to properly mind the store. And most board members and executives acknowledge that the tools and systems to monitor non-financial performance are either underdeveloped or are missing altogether,’ said Brendan Sheridan, audit director with Deloitte.
The survey revealed that the minority or only a slight majority of the companies said their board directors were given excellent or good information in key areas such as employee commitment, relations with suppliers and other external ‘stakeholders’, customer satisfaction and brand strength. |
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| Article appeared in the November 2004 issue.
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