Citation
(1999), "On the line", Work Study, Vol. 48 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.1999.07948bad.002
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1999, MCB UP Limited
On the line
Office update
On the line
"Every activity currently undertaken by finance could be better done elsewhere. This may be in a shared services centre or outsourced, distributed through the business or inside a computer". This is the stark claim made by Paul McCunn, Service Leader for Executive & Management Information, at KPMG Management Consulting. He went on to suggest that the finance function, as we know it, will not exist by 2010. This is either very threatening, or a rich source of opportunity to finance professionals. To succeed, they must reshape their role and add more value to their organisations. Some must move into general management positions, helping their colleagues understand financial issues and helping them acquire financial skills; others will become team leaders in shared service centres and will need the skills and attributes we associate today with call centres. Finance professionals can learn from their colleagues in IT and HR. The "discipline" needs to be managed as will the infrastructure required for financial decision making. These tasks need the skills we associate with HR and IT managers today and must become part of the armoury of finance professionals in the future.