Depth of Detail

The depth of financial information available to you will differ depending on whether you are internal or external to your target organization. Other than what is required by law to be published, financial information is usually treated very confidentially. Many readers, such as OD directors, instructional designers, or on-staff instructors, have access to internal memos, white papers, intranets , and management financial reports. Management financial reports are more detailed versions of public financial reports, plus additional reports that allow managers within an organization to monitor their daily operations and take informed action. Financial statements prepared for external publication are less detailed on the theory that it is best not to tell your competition too much about how you are running your day-to-day operations.

Readers who are external consultants , training vendors , or job seekers may benefit by understanding the financial statements and value chain examples presented in the next few chapters. Your strategy for researching financial value chains will differ in that you will need to rely more heavily on additional external sources of information, networking, and a sound strategy for asking excellent questions during sales calls or interviews.