THE STRATEGY-FOCUSED ORGANIZATION

Intoday'sbusinessenvironment,strategyhasneverbeenmoreimportant.Yetresearchshowsthatmostcompaniesfailtoexecutestrategysuccessfully.Behindthisabysmaltrackrecordliesanundeniablefact:manycompaniescontinuetousemanagementprocesses-top-down,financiallydriven,andtactical-thatweredesignedtorunyesterday'sorganizations.Now,thecreatorsoftherevolutionaryperformancemanagementtoolcalledtheBalancedScorecardintroduceanewapproachthatmakesstrategyacontinuousprocessownednotjustbytopmanagement,butbyeveryone.InTheStrategy-FocusedOrganization,RobertKaplanandDavidNortonsharetheresultsoftenyearsoflearningandresearchintomorethan200companiesthathaveimplementedtheBalancedScorecard.Drawingfrommorethantwentyin-depthcasestudies-includingMobil,CIGNA,NovaScotiaPower,andAT&TCanada-KaplanandNortonillustratehowBalancedScorecardadoptershavetakentheirgroundbreakingtooltothenextlevel.Theseorganizationshaveusedthescorecardtocreateanentirelynewperformancemanagementframeworkthatputsstrategyatthecenterofkeymanagementprocessesandsystems.KaplanandNortonarticulatethefivekeyprinciplesrequiredforbuildingStrategy-FocusedOrganizations:(1)translatethestrategytooperationalterms,(2)aligntheorganizationtothestrategy,(3)makestrategyeveryone'severydayjob,(4)makestrategyacontinualprocess,and(5)mobilizechangethroughstrong,effectiveleadership.Theauthorsprovideadetailedaccountofhowarangeoforganizationsintheprivate,public,andnonprofitsectorshavedeployedtheseprinciplestoachievebreakthrough,sustainableperformanceimprovements.Presentingapractical,provenframeworksteepedinrichcasestudyexperience,TheStrategy-FocusedOrganizationhelpssolveauniversalmanagementproblem-notjusthowtoformulatestrategy,buthowtomakeitwork.Buildingononeofthemostrevolutionarybusinessideasofourtime,thisimportantbookshowshowtoday'sleaderscanshapetheirowncompaniestomeetthechallengesandreaptherewardsofanewcompetitiveera.RobertS.KaplanistheMarvinBowerProfessorofLeadershipDevelopmentatHarvardBusinessSchool.DavidP.NortonisPresidentofBalancedScorecardCollaborative,Inc.