November 2006

Welcome to the BBRT global news letter. This is designed to keep you informed of developments in BBRT and contains the latest news, events and research activities in the BBRT community. We hope you enjoy it. 

Performance Management INSIGHTS
BBRT are continuing to receive the latest series of research papers - the INSIGHTS series. The purpose of this series of papers is to provide a number of insights that will help the BBRT members to answer many difficult questions that would otherwise prevent them from making progress in implementing the Beyond Budgeting principles and introducing a new management model for the innovation age. Insight 2 was sent out in October and Insight 3 this month. Here are the abstracts for Insights 2 and 3:

INSIGHT 2 - Abandon fixed targets and champion relative success
Abstract: Over the past 20 years or so fixed targets (or fixed performance contracts) have become more pervasive as leaders aim to make managers more accountable for improving performance. But nothing in the management toolbox is guaranteed to drive dysfunctional (and invariably short-term) thinking and action more than fixed targets. To break free from this trap, some organizations have abandoned target-setting and moved to measurement frameworks based on relative performance. While no measurement system is perfect, relative measures do not carry the same toxic side effect as targets. This paper looks at the problem of targets and how to manage without them. 

INSIGHT 3 - Why decentralized decision-making is key to the adaptive and innovative organization
Abstract: Few leaders know how to decentralize their organizations effectively. Just delegating more authority within the tramlines of fixed targets and budgets will not get you there. They need to create as many small units as possible and then give them real autonomy and make them accountable for their performance. This requires the full backing of the board, a realignment of head office roles and the creation of self-managed teams as well as performance management processes that support those roles. This paper explains what needs to be done to make decentralization move from a pipedream to a reality. Done well, stifling controls and micro-management is replaced by learning, innovation and continuous improvement.

BBRT Members can download the complete papers from the BBRT Private Forum 

BBRT Public Sector Interest Group
The next meeting is on 5 December in London at which the theme is "Prioritization and making opportunity cost choices". Each participating organization will provide insights into how they are addressing this theme. The resulting discussion will enable us to understand how the Beyond Budgeting principles can help with this very important topic. The full agenda can be  fund on our web site at www.bbrt.org.

International Executive Forum Basel - a great success!

BBRT DACH (German-speaking countries) organised a very successful Seminar on the new management model in Basel this month. The event was attended by over 100 delegates who heard from eminent speakers about how Svenska Handelsbanken, UBS, Dell, dm-drogerie markt and ALDI share common features: they have left the traditional management strategies behind and have turned to a new management model for today’s conditions. Instead of focusing on hierarchy, they believe in decentralised leadership to facilitate a rapid and flexible response to ever changing market conditions. Adaptive management processes, such as “Beyond Budgeting”, are essential elements of this new management model. Franz Röösli (BBRT Director DACH) and his team are to be congratulated on the success of this first event in the region.

BBRT European Members' Meeting, Basel

The latest BBRT European Members' meeting was held in Basel on 8 November. Speakers from the Swiss Federal Government and Toyota Motor Europe provide very interesting input that stimulated a very active and lively debate. This culminated in parallel discussion groups on the Toyota management model, the implications for the public sector and the transformational approach to implementing Beyond Budgeting. The conclusions from these debates added considerably to our learning on Beyond Budgeting.

BBRT gets off to a great start in Iran

The recent banking seminar in Iran attracted over 270 delegates from all the major banks in Iran. Magnus Uggla (Head of Handelsbanken in the UK) presented Handelsbanken's radically decentralised and devolved management model. Robin Fraser introduce the Beyond Budgeting model and then explained how this can best be implemented. Robin and Magnus gave a TV interview for Iran's Channel 2. The event was chaired by Dr Rasoulof, the CEO of EN Bank. Ghasem Fakharian (BBRT Director Middle East) and his team are to be congratulated on this success first event.

Public events

29 November

Webinar on "Rolling forecasts" - USA

12 December

Webinar on "Using driver-based planning" - USA

For details of these and other event please see the events page on our web site.

BBRT Members' meetings

5 December

BBRT Public Sector Interest Group Meeting

London, England

BBRT is an independent international shared learning network for all organisations that seek to improve their performance management through sharing information, past successes and implementation experiences. Our purpose is to help organizations introduce a new management model for the innovation age.

For more information, please visit www.bbrt.org, email Peter Bunce, or call +44 1590 679803