A Cell Phone for an 11-year old?
Posted by Rakesh Shukla on Mon, May 19, 2008 @ 04:34 PM
My son recently turned 11 years old. For months leading up to his birthday, he was bugging his mom and me for a cell phone. But he just didn't want just an ordinary phone, he wanted a phone that browses the internet, downloads video clips, plays music and does his daily chores. He had a very sleek model all picked out.
But I know he wanted the phone for one reason and only one reason - to be cool.
But when I asked him why he needs a phone, I got a much more thoughtful answer than I expected.
"Dad, there are so many good reasons I should have a cell phone - in case of emergencies, in case you need to locate me, and so I can let you know where I am."
Impressive answer for a yet-to-be 11 year old! He must have had help from his mother but I have to admit that those reasons played right into my protective instincts as a parent.
"Do you really need a phone that browses the internet and lets you watch video clips?"
"Yea, dad -- it will keep me busy instead of fighting with my sister on car rides. I can even use it to help with my homework! I'll just become a lot more productive."
"Hmmm, sounds like you have been thinking about this for a while. How much more productive will you be?" I responded.
"A lot more dad. A lot more. " he answered very seriously.
"So how much does it cost?"
"Cost?"
"Yes, how much does the phone cost and what is the monthly charge including the extra costs for those internet and video features?
Silence.
My son didn't have a clue about costs (a trait he must have picked up from his mom). So what does all this have to do with AP? Check out this chart:
Can You Guess the Survey Question?
This is a fascinating chart from the recent IOMA report titled, "Paperless Accounts Payable: The AP Department's Complete Guide to Electronic Invoicing."
Can you guess the survey question which elicited these responses?
... It's NOT "Do you plan to use e-invoicing?"
... It's NOT "Do you plan to use outsourcing?"
... It's NOT "Do you like the folks in Procurement?"
... It's NOT "Are approvals done in a timely fashion?"
In fact, the survey question has nothing to do with technology, globalization trends, processes or future plans.
OK then, what is the survey question? Well, the question is "Do you know the average cost to process an invoice?" Looking at the results ... a stunning 71% of respondents have no idea of costs! These people are as clueless about costs as my son! That's excusable for an 11 year old but not a finance manager ... especially an AP manager.
What makes this a real head scratcher though is that survey after survey after survey shows that the #1 priority for most AP departments is cost reduction. Well, how can you make the case to save money with proposed/desired initiatives if you don't know your current costs???
The other benefits of a formal cost analysis are a better understanding of your current AP processes and inefficiencies, as well as establishing the groundwork for future benchmarking to measure how you are improving as an organization and how you compare to other organizations.
IOMA also states that when it comes to technology investments, "traditionally, AP has not been a priority, which is why so many organizations rely on completely manual processes. ... The problem is that most AP Managers do NOT build a good enough case."
How can you build a case for any type of investment if you don't have a handle on current costs? Understanding costs would be a NECESSARY first step to building a case for technology investments or cell phone investments for kids.
-Rakesh Shukla
@rakesh170
P.S. For those of you wondering, yes, I did cave in and get my son the phone. After understanding the costs and heavily discounting his "less fighting with his sister" claims, we purchased a basic phone with no internet browsing that shares minutes with our family plan. Honestly, he hardly uses it (because very few of his friends have phones yet) but he is very happy making a fashion statement with a high "coolness" factor and I have peace of mind that we can reach each other if he is in trouble.
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