Remember the "Balanced Scorecard"? In that groundbreaking 1996 book, authors
Robert Kaplan and David Norton provided a measurable framework to help executives align individual and organizational initiatives with corporate objectives. Today, there's
an entire institute devoted to the management system.
In their latest effort, "The Execution Premium: Linking Strategy to Operations for Competitive Advantage," Kaplan -- a Harvard Business School professor -- and Norton -- founder of the strategic consulting firm
Palladium Group Inc. -- synthesize the concepts of the
four-book "Balanced Scorecard" series into a six-stage model. Here's a short description of the stages from Norton's Palladium Web site:
- Develop the Strategy - your organization must be able to state exactly what business you're in, identify the key issues you face, and determine how best to compete. Developing the strategy uses an array of strategy tools such as mission, values, and vision (MVV) statements; external competitive, economic, and environmental analyses; methodologies such as Michael Porter's five forces and competitive positioning framework, the resource-based view of strategy, and blue ocean strategies, as well as scenario planning, dynamic simulations, and war-gaming.
- Plan the Strategy - your organization must be willing to develop strategic objectives, measures, targets, initiatives, and budgets that will ultimately guide action and resource allocation. You'll need to be able to describe your strategy, measure your plan, identify plans of action, figure out how to fund your initiatives, and decide who will lead the strategy execution process. Planning the strategy uses such tools as strategy maps and Balanced Scorecards, along with targets and strategic initiatives.
- Align the Organization - your organization must be able to link company strategy to the strategies of individual business units while both aligning and motivating employees to optimize strategy execution. You align the organization with the strategy by cascading strategy maps and Balanced Scorecards to all organizational units, by aligning employees through a formal communications process, and by linking employees' personal objectives and incentives to strategic objectives.
- Plan Operations - your organization must link long-term strategy with day-to-day operations, aligning strategy with operating plans and budgets while focusing on those process improvements that are most critical to the strategy. Planning operations uses tools such as quality and process management, reengineering, process dashboards, rolling forecasts, activity-based costing, resource capacity planning, and dynamic budgeting.
- Monitor and Learn - your organization must be committed to monitoring performance results once a strategy has been developed, planned and implemented, enabling you to determine if the strategy is being properly executed. It requires monitoring and learning about problems, barriers, and challenges. This process integrates information about operations and strategy into a carefully designed structure of management review meetings.
- Test and Adapt - your organization must also test fundamental strategic assumptions to determine if you, indeed, do have the right strategy. This involves testing and adapting the strategy, using internal operational data and new external environmental and competitive data-- thus launching a new cycle of integrated strategy planning and operational execution.
The most successful corporate acquirers are those that can align M&A with the strategic objectives of the organization. Kaplan and Norton have spent years figuring out how to do that well. For that reason alone, "The Execution Premium" is worth a look. -
Suzanne Stevens
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