The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment

The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment Features

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Now, the creators of the revolutionary performance management tool called the Balanced Scorecard introduce a new approach that makes strategy a continuous process owned not just by top management, but by everyone. In The Strategy-Focused Organization, Robert Kaplan and David Norton share the results of ten years of learning and research into more than 200 companies that have implemented the Balanced Scorecard. Drawing from more than twenty in-depth case studies-including Mobil, CIGNA, Nova Scotia Power, and AT&T Canada-Kaplan and Norton illustrate how Balanced Scorecard adopters have taken their groundbreaking tool to the next level. These organizations have used the scorecard to create an entirely new performance management framework that puts strategy at the center of key management processes and systems.

Kaplan and Norton articulate the five key principles required for building Strategy-Focused Organizations: (1) translate the strategy to operational terms, (2) align the organization to the strategy, (3) make strategy everyone's everyday job, (4) make strategy a continual process, and (5) mobilize change through strong, effective leadership. The authors provide a detailed account of how a range of organizations in the private, public, and nonprofit sectors have deployed these principles to achieve breakthrough, sustainable performance improvements.

Presenting a practical, proven framework steeped in rich case study experience, The Strategy-Focused Organization helps solve a universal management problem-not just how to formulate strategy, but how to make it work. Building on one of the most revolutionary business ideas of our time, this important book shows how today's leaders can shape their own companies to meet the challenges and reap the rewards of a new competitive era.

Robert S. Kaplan is the Marvin Bower Professor of Leadership Development at Harvard Business School. David P. Norton is President of Balanced Scorecard Collaborative, Inc.

What Customers Say About The Strategy-Focused Organization: How Balanced Scorecard Companies Thrive in the New Business Environment:

Great book. Excellent examples of different companies. It seems a little lengthy at times, but with many jewels of information throughout the book. I bought this after checking it out from the library; I want to keep it as a reference as I implement the scorecard at work.

In today's business landscape, it has never been moreimportant to implement solid strategies -- the uniqueand sustainable ways by which organizations createvalue. Yet, research reveals that companies have anincreasingly difficult time executing the strategies theyneed to remain competitive. One reason for this is clearlythat while these strategies, and the business issues behindthem, are changing constantly, the tools for measuringthe effectiveness of these strategies have not kept pace.

I have yet to find a more important or transparent approach to the creation of long-term strategy for organizations. Its failings in general come from a few basic misunderstandings about what strategy is as contrasted with tactics, and from the dearth of a way to articulate what may be intuitive for a visionary leader. Strategy is a largely misunderstood, mis-directed and inscrutable part of business. This is not a "page-turner", it is a text book. Norton and Kaplan put forth a method for conceiving, articulating, sharing and measuring strategy that is elegant, simple, translatable and executable. Its basic foundation, a visual representation of the cause and effect relationships necessary to generate strategic goals is breathtaking in its simplicity and brilliance. As such, don't expect scintillation--expect to learn the tools that are indispensable to creating real, manageable and measurable results. This is an essential part of every business-person's library.Amie Devero, Author of Powered by Principle: Using Core Values to Build World-Class Organizations

An outstandingly well written book that decribes the balanced scorecard and provides excellent examples. An effective, practical guide for C-level executives and mid-level managers for implementing strategic scorcarding. I recommned this book for the breadth and depth of the explanation of the subject matter and concise implmentation examples.

This principle accomplishes this by using the Balanced Scorecard to view strategy from 4 different perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning.Principle 2: Align the Organization to the Strategy.The Balanced scorecard can link the many different and dispersed functions. Organizations focused on strategy have taken the Balanced Scorecard and transformed it into a strategic tool for measurement. The Balanced Scorecard was initially designed as a financial and non-financial corporate performance measurement tool. It can clarify the values, beliefs and ideas that reflect the organization's identity, and clarify the actions mandated at the corporate level that create synergies at the business unit level.Principle 3: Make Strategy Everyone's Everyday Job.This principle, utilizing the Balanced Scorecard, focuses on three processes to align employees to the strategy: creating strategic awareness, defining personal and team objectives, and linking compensation to the Balanced ScorecardPrinciple 4: Make Strategy a Continual Process.The Balanced Scorecard creates a reporting system to monitor progress and serve as a link between managing strategy and managing operations. These 5 key principles transform the Balanced Scorecard:Principle 1: Translate Strategy into Operational Terms. Describing the strategy of the organization, communicating it via the Building Scorecard in an insightful, consistent and operational manner is the cornerstone to putting strategy at the center of an organization. This system enables organizations to accomplish three things: link strategy and budget, close the strategy loop, and test, learn, and adapt.Principle 5: Mobilize Change Through Executive Leadership.The Balanced Scorecard helps executive leadership implement large scale changes that are necessary to implement new strategies. Specifically, it helps organizations specify, in detail, critical elements:·Target customers where profitable growth will occur·Value propositions that lead customers to do more business and at higher margins with the company·Innovations in products, services and processes·Investments in people and systems to enhance processes and deliver differentiated value propositions for growth