GAP Analysis, as we all know, measures where your company stands against where your company wants to be, should be or needs to be.
It is a great tool for clearly delineating issues; finding problems and using the results to formulate corrective measures.
Do you do GAP Analyses, and if so, how often?
Basic GAP analysis should be performed monthly. The period-to-period trend observed would indicate if deeper analysis would be necessary.
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Regis, question.
How basic is basic (what are you looking for/at)?
Is this just a financial GAP or a full-fledged company wide "basic"?
Is a 30-day window enough time to see improvements?
Is the time involved (see what is basic question) worth the ROI on a monthly basis (see 30-day window question)?
At my former financial services company, as we rendered statements regarding performance to plan quarterly, that's when we did detailed segment gap analysis.
At my former top tech company we did gap analysis with every close, and the bigger the period (i.e. quarterly, annually) the deeper the analysis. We would look at period over period monthly, vs. year-ago period, and do analysis on most of the primary angles of the budget/forecast. That is, by region, by product, etc.. Then we would do commentary against the biggest movers/offenders. This was just part of business as usual - that is, explain why the numbers differ from what we anticipated. I would say that things heated up the later we got in the year b/c you have less wiggle room with each passing month.
I must admit to being ignorant, or maybe uninformed depending on one’s opinion, but what is a GAP Analysis? I work for a construction GC that also has a property development segment. Are GAP analyses related somehow to SWOT analyses? What resources would you recommend for one to become more knowledgeable in GAP analysis?
There are many different types of analysis approaches, but they all answer the same question - Am I where I thought I would be? I believe Bryan is primarily speaking about variance analysis, i.e. financial results to financial plans. Non-production services are a little different and GAP and Variance Analysis are closer for them.
But GAP analysis looks at more of the
For your situation, your variance analysis may show revenues are down as business is slow, but from an Operational side that means your truck utilization is down. GAP analysis focuses on the truck utilization. What can you do to improve utilization or reallocate the resource?
Hope that helps.
It is all very much interrelated I would say (variance analysis, GAP analysis etc.). If we start by looking at grand scheme of things you start by creating a strategy for your business. That strategy will contain both financial and non financial measures. In terms of following up on the strategy the GAP analysis will be useful looking at both the financial and non financial parameters you want to achieve. The variance analysis is more of a financial tool where you identify whether or not your actuals are on level with your budget and/or forecast.
In my company the senior
