The fundamentals of management information – G

A common style element in → dashboards. Gauges are a fad that has both con­ceptual and visual issues; you could call them the “bell-bottom pants” of Business Intelligence. They have poor → readability and require large amounts of space due to the low → resolution. On an ironic side note, analog tachometers in cars are ana­log because there are no other technical alternatives. In race cars and sports in general, speed is displayed digitally. RPM, however, is presented in a gauge so that the drivers can see how far they can go until they hit the red. DeltaMaster does not use gauges. Period.

KPI view that derives gross profit from revenues over a series of steps. Gross margin plays a fundamental role in steering short-term profitability and builds a bridge to P&L in the balance sheet. Gross margin can be reported in several dimensions through calculations related to standard costs. Accordingly, you can also calculate the gross margin for smaller profitability segments such as products, regions, customers, etc. In addition to being part of the → template concept and → rules in DeltaMaster, gross margin is the most important component of the → central report.