Every year, a new term surfaces to become a rallying cry for businesses, for a few months at least. Integration, collaboration, transparency - each has had its vogue. And while none of these have quite gone out of style yet, they're now being trumped by "alignment." Like the rest of the terms mentioned here, it's a valuable one that we don't always consider.

Streamlining reporting systems in any organization can be a challenge. When Ontario's Halton Region wanted to establish an organization-wide standard for its activity and attendance reporting, it definitely looked like it would be an uphill climb. But as Ed Archer, CMA, and Sherri Harris, CMA, explain, by engaging both management and employees, and clearly understanding their needs, it wasn't an impossible task. What it demanded was an alignment of needs within a new framework. For the whole story, turn to page 32.