More than 90% of regional business leaders say good strategy can beat downturn

94% of the regional business executives believe so, according to the survey conducted by Leaders Presents, the organiser of the Balanced Scorecard Forum 2009.

The survey also noted that 64% of the regional executives believe that 80% of a company's success is related to implementing the right strategy.

The survey, which reflects the opinions of nearly 60 regional business leaders and key decision makers from across the region, revealed that regional executives think that strategy could help organisations ride out the current financial storm stressing on the importance of execution in enabling an organisation to take a strategy and make it work.

Without a careful, planned approach to execution, strategic goals cannot be attained. Developing such a logical approach, however, represents a formidable challenge for top management as well as employees. So which is more important in managing strategy execution, leaders or employees? Most of the respondents agreed that both leadership (87.5%) and human resources (81%) are very important in strategy execution, as "employees cannot follow if executives do not lead."

"Effective strategy execution requires that employees be personally committed to helping their enterprises achieve strategic objectives. To align employees with the strategy, leaders have to communicate, educate and link employees' personal objectives and incentives to the strategy, in addition to align personal training and development programs to provide employees with the knowledge, skills, and competencies they need to help implement the strategy."

said top U.S. management scholars Dr Robert Kaplan.

Dr Kaplan, together with David Norton, will provide hard-hitting advice and recommendations to local businesses anxious about the effects of the spiraling economy during Leaders Presents Balanced Scorecard Conference 2009.

The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that was originated by the two professors as a performance measurement framework that added strategic non-financial performance measures to traditional financial metrics to give managers and executives a more 'balanced' view of organisational performance.

According to the survey, more than 69% of the business regional leaders said that they use balanced scorecard to measure performance, while 81% said that using the balanced scorecard was very helpful in achieving business's growth.

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority is one of the organisations that have been using the balanced scorecard for 8 years now. According to H.E. Saeed Mohamed Ahmad Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, "The Balanced Scorecard has moved DEWA to a more focused long-term strategic framework."

He adds: "The current crisis should allow top organisations to pause and re-think about their operational efficiencies and translate them into long-term strategic initiatives. In DEWA, we focus on achieving greater process efficiencies by picking the right lead indicators and bolstering them with right strategic initiatives."

Using compelling examples from local and regional enterprises such as DEWA, the Abu Dhabi Government and Abu Dhabi for Onshore Oil Operations among others, The Leaders Presents BSC Forum will feature live presentations from Kaplan and Norton, pre- and post-Forum sessions, plus invaluable networking opportunities.

Leaders Presents BSC Forum is in collaboration with Palladium and supported by ADDIMA, Microsoft, QPR, IYCON, and Logic Management Consulting. Media Partners include The Times, and Sunday Times.