StrategyDriven

An organization’s mission statement defines its purpose, its reason for being.  These statements, however, tend to be broad and somewhat vague; making it difficult to identify the specific products, services, initiatives, and people that will most directly enable the organization to achieve its purpose.

Making the mission measureable provides the added clarity needed to focus decisions and drive actions toward achievement of the organization’s purpose.   The mission is translated into a time-bound measure of performance rather than a specific goal.  The value of competing alternatives can then be evaluated against the measure; offering executives and managers a mission contribution basis for the selection and pursuit of specific business opportunities.

Popularity: 6% [?]

If you're new to StrategyDriven, please consider subscribing to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Well-constructed performance measurement systems provide a means of comparison between various products, services, and business units by ensuring relevant measures are horizontally shared across the organization.

Horizontally shared performance measures, having consistent units of measure that are uniformly and precisely interpretable, enable comparison between products and services, divisions, departments, work groups, and individuals. Possessing these qualities and being cascaded from the organization’s mission, the contribution of each monitored item to the bottom line becomes evident. This arms executives and managers with the critical information needed to make decisions relative to existing and new products as well as individuals.

Read More »

Popularity: 5% [?]

Performance measurement systems should be anchored on the single measure of organizational success (defined by the organization’s mission) and vertically cascaded down through the organization.  Each successive measurement tier becomes more specific than its predecessor with the lowest tier describing individual contributor behaviors and resulting outcomes.

A vertically cascaded performance measurement system drives alignment to the organization’s mission.  The well-constructed system clearly communicates and routinely reinforces performance and behavioral expectations to every member of the organization.  Individuals assume responsibility for the measures which their actions and decisions effect.  Over time, the measures reveal the impact of each individual’s performance at their level of the organization.  As these measures are rolled-up, the individual’s contributions, both positive and negative, to higher tiered goals and ultimately the success of the company becomes evident.

Read More »

Popularity: 6% [?]

A company’s true value is largely determined by its long-term performance potential as shaped by management’s decisions made today. These decisions guide the translation of the company’s mission, its purpose for existing, into the products and services it provides and hopefully the market wants.

Strategic planning is an iterative, ongoing process consisting of:

Analysis: assessment of the internal and external factors effecting the organization’s ability to achieve its mission     

Alternative Development: detailed assessment of the costs, benefits, and risks associated with strategic alternatives including both major, ongoing and newly proposed activities     

Alternative Selection: identification of the current portfolio components and proposed activities that will be pursued and the timeframe for execution     

Resource Projections: aggregation of the personnel, financial, physical, and technological needs including an assessment of the ability to acquire these resources within the needed timeframe     

Plan Development: final validation of the organization’s mission and compilation and approval of its long-range and annual business plans     

Execution of these iterative processes takes place throughout the year with a frequency dictated by the pace of market change.

Posts in this category are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that successfully execute strategic planning processes to define objectives, drive alignment and enhance performance.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Performance measures serve to align an organization’s efforts to the achievement of its mission.  As part of a company’s evaluation and control program, they quantifiably monitor important characteristics of the company’s products and services and the performance of the individuals and processes creating them.  Performance measures support managerial decision-making by providing useful information regarding:

• how efficient and effective are the company’s processes and the individuals implementing them
• if product or service improvements are necessary
• if the company’s customers and stakeholders are satisfied
• if the company is meeting its stated goals

Performance measures best serve an organization when they are understandable, broadly applicable, uniformly interpreted, and economic to apply.  They should cascade through and organization’s hierarchy such that achievement of lower tiered performance goals support higher tiered goals that in turn ultimately support achievement of the company’s mission.

Posts in this category are dedicated to discussing the leading practices of companies that successfully use performance measures to drive organizational alignment and operational performance.

Additional Information

Additional information regarding organizational performance measures can be found in the StrategyDriven whitepaper series Organizational Performance Measures. Whitepapers are available to Registered Members and registration is FREE! If you have not already registered, please do so and join the conversation.

Popularity: 10% [?]