Building Better Reports

Learn to use Excel dashboards and reports to better conceptualize data Updated for all the latest features and capabilities of Excel 2013, this go-to resource provides you with in-depth coverage of the individual functions and tools that can be used to create compelling Excel reports. Veteran author Michael Alexander walks you through the most effective ways to present and report data. Featuring a comprehensive review of a wide array of technical and analytical concepts, this essential guide helps you go from reporting data with simple tables full of dull numbers to presenting key information through the use of high-impact, meaningful reports and dashboards that will wow management both visually and substantively. Details how to analyze large amounts of data and report the results in a way that is both visually attractive and effective Describes how to use different perspectives to achieve better visibility into data, as well as how to slice data into various views on the fly Shows how to automate redundant reporting and analysis processes Walks you through creating impressive dashboards, eye-catching visualizations, and real-world What-If analyses Excel Dashboards and Reports, Second Edition is part technical manual, part analytical guidebook, and exactly what you need to become your organization's dashboard dynamo!

For decades, public service organizations have been under constant and growing pressure from citizens and stakeholders to provide more integrated, effective and accountable programs and services. Governments are beginning to acknowledge that they can't own every issue and increasingly look to collaboration, networking and consultation at many levels as they design and develop polices, programs and service delivery mechanisms. Building Better Public Services explores the challenges facing public services in the 21st century, including the need for systemic cultural change, enhanced governance, evidence-informed policy and program design, and shared approaches to service delivery. Based on case studies and interviews, supplemented by first person experience, Building Better Public Services will take you inside the world of public services in Canada and the United Kingdom to explore capacity building successes and lessons learned. The book offers insights into innovations that will inform public servants as they work to improve services for citizens and gives directional advice and observations on the importance of public services leadership, an area rarely explored in business leadership literature. "An essential handbook on how to improve public policy and services. This is not yet another book focused primarily on making government smaller or driven by an ideology of austerity. It is rather grounded in a deep appreciation of the importance of public service to our quality of life and well-being and of the great advantages Canada's professional, nonpartisan public service affords. Drawing on examples across Canada and internationally of what works and what does not, Tony offers concrete recommendations for building a more citizen-centred, open, collaborative public service." -Alex Himelfarb - Former Clerk of the Privy Council - Government of Canada, and current Chair of WWF-Canada and the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. "I hope Tony Dean's reflections bring a long overdue debate to a critical subject - how to make public services work better. Innovation in the public sector is a subject that cries out for real discussion, and Tony has done us all a great favour by analysing these issues with commitment and flair. It's not about cutting things, it's about creativity and getting things done, breaking down silos and making it happen." -Bob Rae - Lawyer, negotiator, and Ontario's 21st Premier. "This is a book written by someone who knows the day to day challenges and reality of making governments work. It should be read by both current and future politicians and public servants who want to improve their governments' focus on outcomes for, and with, citizens. Dean underpins this book with relentlessly wanting to achieve more. He celebrates the passion, commitment and innovation of public servants but is not blind to the need for change." --Ray Shostak - International Government Adviser and former head of the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and Director General, Performance, HM Government (UK)

Monitoring and Evaluation Systems are a critical component of evidence-based policymaking. This book aims to help governments and civil society organizations design, implement and use M and E information drawing from best practice experiences.

This highly topical report provides much needed evidence to inform the re-configuration of services for children and young people. Focusing on the Connexions strategy and service in England, it explores the effectiveness of inter-agency working in this area. The report is based on two years research in three contrasting Connexions Partnerships and around 300 hours of interviews with key stakeholders, young people's Personal Advisors and young people themselves. It examines the inter-agency strategies developed by the partnerships but, most importantly, what impact they have had on the interventions made with young people facing acute and complex needs. It will be of particular interest to Connexions professionals and managers, others involved in partnership working, those involved in the development and implementation of Children and Young People's Strategic Partnerships and Children's Trusts, as well as youth researchers and policy makers.

The report brings together evidence, international experience and policy insights for the design of housing policies. Emphasis is placed on three broad aspects: inclusiveness, efficiency and sustainability. Inclusive access to housing has become increasingly challenging in many OECD countries due to a large extent to rising housing costs, which reflects the failure of housing supply to meet demand, particularly in jobs-rich urban areas.

This report outlines the essential features of a Tax Control Framework (TCF) and addresses revenue bodies’ expectations of TCFs.

Praise for Building Better Boards "Building Better Boards bridges the gap between talk and action. A must-read for board members, CEOs, governance experts - really for anyone who cares about the future of the corporation." Anne M. Mulcahy, chairman and CEO, Xerox Corporation "Building Better Boards covers all the key issues facing boards in the post-Sarbanes-Oxley era. It provides practical advice based on the authors' wide-ranging experience with major companies that have built successful boards." Marty Lipton, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen Roger W. Raber, president and CEO, National Association of Corporate Directors "This book provides a comprehensive review and effective guide to making any board an effective team, and thus an asset, for their company." Richard H. Koppes of Counsel, Jones Day, and former general counsel, CalPERS "A balanced, insightful, thoughtful, and, above all, useful look at what can be done to create excellent boards." Edward E. Lawler III, director, Center for Effective Organizations, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California "Improving board effectiveness is easier said than done. Building Better Boards lays out the how-tos in a clear and compelling way that is of practical value for directors and CEOs alike." Kenneth W. Freeman, former chairman and CEO, Quest Diagnostics Inc.

An examination of the true role of governance as a driver of high-quality strategic decision-making, which can help an organization achieve its strategic objectives more efficiently and effectively. Many boards approach the subject of governance from a compliance perspective, which leaves value lying on the table. When boards complain that “we're spending too much time on governance”, what they're usually referring to is 'compliance'. A compliance focus leads to an emphasis on governance as an area of subject-matter expertise, a cost, an overhead, a back-office activity, something which 'has to be done' to satisfy regulation and Code. It manifests itself through a culture of box-ticking. Directors and senior management perceive, and derive, little value from the exercise. Seamus Gillen believes that governance is a commercial discipline, providing a fundamental underpin to the process of value creation, value protection and value preservation. Governance drives the quality of strategic decision-making that helps an organization achieve its strategic objectives more efficiently and effectively. High standards of governance create competitive advantage, a concept as applicable to not-for-profits and public sector bodies as to commercial entities. For organizations pursuing this approach, governance becomes a liberating theology, and a critical business enabler. Building Better Boards resonates with professionals operating across international jurisdictions, and is inclusive rather than exclusive. The book emphasises, and demonstrates, that governance is a live issue, an ongoing priority area of board focus, with developments occurring around the world on, literally, a daily basis. It identifies good practice and progressive thinking across sectors and geographies. It builds on thought leadership and case studies, as well as regulatory guidance and Code principles. It offers new models and approaches based on real-life experience. All to provide boards and directors - as well as senior executives - with the means to leverage governance to achieve their strategic objectives. To help them lead and succeed in a changing world.