Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Too many organizations invest in performance management and business intelligence projects, without first establishing the needed conditions to ensure success. But the organizations that lay the groundwork for effective change first reap the benefits.

In Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Road Map for Change, Howard Dresner (author of The Performance Management Revolution) worked with several extraordinary organizations to understand their thriving "performance-directed culture." In doing so, he developed a unique maturity model-which served as both a filter to select candidates and as a lens to examine accomplishments.

• Interviews with people from all sides of the organization: business users, finance, senior management and the IT department
• Provides a complete picture of their progress from inception to current state

The models, analyses and real world accounts from these cases will be an invaluable resource to any organization hoping to improve or initiate their own performance-directed culture.

From the Inside Flap

Profiles in Performance

So many organizations invest in enterprise performance management (EPM) and business intelligence (BI) solutions without the needed conditions to ensure success. As it turns out, the right culture—one which is receptive to BI and EPM—is often the missing ingredient. In his book, Howard Dresner author of The Performance Management Revolution, worked with several extraordinary organizations to understand their thriving "performance-directed culture." In doing so, he developed a unique maturity model—which served as both a filter to select candidates and as a lens to examine accomplishments. Spending time onsite, he got to know the people, their businesses, and their cultures.

The author interviews people from all sides of the organization, including business users, finance professionals, senior management, and the IT department, to present a complete picture of their progress from inception to current state. The models, analyses, and real-world accounts from these cases will be an invaluable resource to anyone hoping to improve or initiate their own performance-directed culture.

These detailed case studies reveal key insights into developing a performance-directed culture, including:

• The strategic, operational, and technical aspects

• The four essential forces

• Different paths forward: IT-driven vs. business operations, finance, or executive management

• Setbacks, "wake-up calls", and other lessons learned

A thought-provoking exploration of the fascinating intersection between people, processes, and technology, Profiles in Performance: Business Intelligence Journeys and the Roadmap for Change is an important tool for all levels of management, providing key insights into the formation of a performance-directed culture and a glimpse into those organizations that have successfully created one.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 174 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (November 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470408863
• ISBN-13: 978-0470408865
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #706,128 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read, December 9, 2009

By	J. Fish (MA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

At first I worried that Dresner- being the 'father of BI' (he coined the term) would write in the tech jargon of the field- but Dresner's book couldn't be more accessible and interesting, even to those without a BI background, myself included. He argues that success today is not just about technology, it's about the readiness of a business culture to leverage that technology. He calls this position the `performance culture maturity model.' The case studies in this book are fantastic, I can't believe the complete access that the he was given, and we all become beneficiaries in learning from the mistakes and successes of these companies. A must read.

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Dresner Must-Read, November 30, 2009

By	Business Intel Guy (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I found Mr. Dresner's book to be very insightful. He provides a well thought out roadmap for assessing a company's performance management readiness and describes the steps for putting it into action. The case studies use real-world examples to show how it's done.

The key sentence for me is on page 149: ". . . their stories are all about change: how to create and foster change; how to manage and sustain change; and how to overcome impediments to it."

A worthy book by any measure.