Balanced Scorecard Forum success proves management tool critical in global crisis

Attendance at the six-day, intense brain-storming event held at the JW Marriott Hotel in Dubai, was on a par with the number of delegates last year, indicating strongly that companies feel the Balanced Scorecard management tool is still a vital part of their corporate strategy and measurement - especially in a downturn.

Companies and organisations represented at the conference included, among many others, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Police, HH The Ruler's Court, the Court of HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Dubai Government's Department of Finance, ENOC, Saudi Arabia's King Abdulaziz Medical City, Microsoft Gulf, the Royal Air Force of Oman and Qatar Telecom.

During a two-day masterclass as part of the forum, world-renowned corporate strategists Dr. David Norton and Dr Robert Kaplan explained how organisations can bridge the common divide between strategy and operations.

Drawing upon the experiences of local and regional enterprises such as Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), the Abu Dhabi Government and Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) among others, the two professors demonstrated how the Balanced Scorecard technique can enhance corporate processes in the current global crisis.

The forum featured pre and post-forum sessions, plus invaluable networking opportunities and promoted the two academics' latest must-have book, The Execution Premium which demonstrates how the Balanced Scorecard is successfully applied across a wide array of organisations.

During this, the annual Balanced Scorecard Forum, business management guru Dr. David Norton told an enthralled audience that successful strategy execution requires 'a system'. He explained:

"Most organisations have parts of a strategy management system, such as strategy planning, budgeting, HR planning, or performance reporting. But they function as silos, losing much of their potential value through lack of integration. Companies generally fail at implementing a strategy or managing operations because they lack an overarching management system to integrate and align these two vital processes."

Opening the forum's plenary session, H.E. Saeed Mohamed Ahmed Al Tayer, Managing Director and CEO of DEWA, Dubai's government-run utility authority, said: "We have used the Balanced Scorecard to create a focus on our strategy... with unprecedented results." DEWA is both the first organisation from the United Arab Emirates and the first in the Middle East to be inducted into the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame.

Delegate Yousef Al Gablan of King Abdulaziz Medical City, Saudi Arabia, praised the forum. "I've thoroughly enjoyed the event. IIR is a distinguished training centre which is well organised with highly-distinguished speakers," he said.

"That is why I am here. It's still early days, but we need to introduce the Balanced Scorecard more in Saudi, particularly within the government sector. We're thinking about implementing it at the medical centre and are looking for help with ideas on how to facilitate development. What I've heard today will be extremely useful."

Meanwhile, another attendee, Hattem Al Hameli, Finance Director at Emirates Identity Authority, was initially attracted to the forum by the glowing reputations of the headline speakers. He said: "Kaplan and Norton are so famous - I wanted to get their autographs and learn from the highest level. I wanted business case studies that I'll be able to apply immediately and found it very interesting and straight to the point... I can actually relate to those case studies. This has been highly insightful and of great benefit."

The collation, segregation and retrieval of crucial corporate data was a theme that surfaced frequently during the forum. Glyn Heatley, VP of Performance Management in the Business Intelligence (BI) Practice at Palladium Group (MEA), stressed that linking strategy to operations seamlessly using technology was imperative when data needs to be scrutinised at a more 'granular level'.

According to Heatley, different levels of management often need tailored performance management and business intelligence solutions. Shrewd manipulation and exploitation of useful corporate data was fraught with common organisational challenges, he claimed. "Companies often struggle to deliver basic information. Executives lack visibility into key performance drivers. Business users lack the tools to make effective decisions. And IT organisations haven't responded to complex management needs."

This problem is at the top of organisational agendas, judging by a recent CIO survey published by Merrill Lynch which revealed that business intelligence and data warehousing are the top IT spending priorities for firms surveyed.

Yet effective IT solutions are available, said Heatley, though implementation takes time. "Next-generation 'dashboards' can now fulfill the role of fully-fledged management tools. But it's a journey, not a destination. Take a phased approach to developing a best-in-class information architecture."

Another dominant theme running through the forum was how companies need to focus not only on day-to-day operations and short-term problem solving, but the bigger, strategic picture. As Dr Norton elaborated: "The senior management team needs to have regular, probably monthly, meetings that focus only on strategy. We do not advocate abandoning an intense focus on operations and their improvement. But we do advocate planning strategy, not just describing it as important."

He also noted that without strong visionary leadership, no strategy will be executed effectively. "To be successful, leaders need to be as diligent in guiding the execution as they are at setting and communicating strategic direction."

Balanced Scorecard Forum 2009 developed by IIR Middle East was in collaboration with Palladium Group and sponsored by Addima Consulting, Microsoft, QPR and IYCON. Preparations are already underway for next year's forum.