These are demanding times for senior finance executives. Investors want higher returns. Regulators require more complete documentation of companies' compliance with stricter requirements. And in the face of stiffer market competition, business managers want more capital to invest in the business and more assistance in making investment and operating decisions for their increasingly complex businesses. Companies and their stakeholders have always had high expectations for their finance teams. But this research program reveals that, most recently, these pressures -- from regulators, from investors, and from competitors -- are pushing companies to look for more from their finance teams in two main, but often conflicting, areas.

In recent years, trust in corporations has been profoundly shaken by startling revelations of poor compliance. What can you do to rebuild trust? Leading business strategist Don Tapscott says an integrated approach to governance, risk and compliance management (GRC) can improve relations with your stakeholders and ultimately facilitate competitive advantage. Read the details and learn from case studies of leading corporations in his informative white paper from SAP. Build stakeholder trust and competitive advantage. Download Don Tapscott's "Trust and Competitive Advantage" now.

Discover how companies like yours have achieved a 2-3% increase in topline results – plus a substantial reduction in operating expenses – by optimizing employee performance. Get the eGuide "Roadmap to Success: Driving Bottom Line Results with People Performance" today to learn how you too can enjoy positive bottom-line results like these. You’ll discover: • How increased employee engagement, reduced turnover, and alignment of individual goals to company objectives deliver tangible value and cost savings; • A simple, but effective model to drive higher levels of employee productivity, motivation, and retention • How your organization compares to other large companies in maximizing employee performance to drive results. Download your complimentary copy today!

The sales performance management (SPM) and incentive compensation management (ICM) markets are rapidly evolving and converging.

Today's CFOs are under intense pressure to help the business grow revenue, decrease costs and maximize profitability, all in the name of shareholder value. It's a monumental task. How do you get ahead of all the basic financial management tasks in order to make strategic contributions to the business -- without extending the day to 26 hours? See how in this SAP Business Objects complimentary white paper, "Enterprise Performance Management - Financial Excellence and Beyond."

Incentive compensation plan modeling gives companies the ability and confidence to respond promptly to market opportunities by reducing the risk of change and increasing the accuracy of variable compensation planning, budgeting and forecasting.

Frustrated with its tedious, labor intensive Excel-based consolidation process, Alpharma, a global specialty pharmaceutical company, was able to achieve “radical results” using a performance management application from Longview Solutions.

Growing global risks. Rapidly changing business environments. How are CFOs responding? Learn more about what more than 1200 CFOs and Senior Finance Executives from 79 countries have to say and what actions can be taken to build new flexibility and agility into financial organizations to help drive enterprise growth.

Performance gaps are now under siege as forward-thinking organizations adopt broad capabilities for enterprise-level business analytics, and apply greater analytical rigor to their business processes.

BPM 2.0 is a natural outgrowth of core performance management. It builds upon first-phase BPM implementations, leveraging what companies already have in place.