In many companies, days, weeks, or even months can go by between the time a sale is made or an expense generated and the time the finance department provides an accurate report of these events to management. As a result, executives, salespeople, and production managers have to make important day-to-day decisions without an up-to-date, concrete understanding of the business’s status. In effect, employees have to act in the dark.
A version of this article appeared in the April 2001 issue of Harvard Business Review.