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Welcome to the BBRT global newsletter, which is designed to keep you informed of developments in Beyond Budgeting and the BBRT. For further information visit our web site at www.bbrt.org.
The next set BBRT INSIGHTS papers are examining the Finance and Planning perspective. Three papers have been circulated to BBRT members in October and November:
How Finance can cut complexity and costs and provide more performance insights
Abstract: Surveys show that most CFOs want to upgrade their role from accounting specialists to strategic or business partners. But this aspiration has remained exactly that - an aspiration. The gap between rhetoric and reality has remained uncomfortably large and reasonably consistent for the past ten years. Few CFOs have actually made the change primarily because they have neither the time nor the necessary capabilities within the current finance team. But for those who have, the rewards have been tangible. They have become trusted and indispensable members of the business development team, people who can add real value through incisive analysis and experienced interpretation of historic and emerging knowledge. This paper looks at what the Finance team needs to do to make these changes effectively.
Why targets stifle innovation and how to stretch and evaluate performance without them
Abstract: Targets have become more pervasive in both the private and public sectors over recent years as senior executives look to make managers more accountable for delivering improved results. But do they work? Do they deliver the results expected? In some cases the answer is yes but the collateral damage is often too great to bear as managers resort to a range of unethical practices to meet the numbers. This paper examines the evidence and suggests ways that leaders can drive step changes in performance without the damaging effects of fixed targets.
Why planning needs to be continuous and adaptive
Abstract: At the core of performance management is the planning process. For most firms plans and budgets are negotiated, annual and fixed. Nothing is more likely to stifle adaptive and innovative management than this rigid, sterile process. That’s why organizations need to move to a more continuous, rolling process and abandon annual planning and budgeting. This paper examines these issues and how managers can implement a more continuous approach to planning.
The BBRT INSIGHTS research papers are delivered to BBRT members on a regular basis. BBRT members can download the full paper from the BBRT Private Forum. Join the BBRT to get access to the full papers and all the past BBRT research material.
December 2007
April 2008
BBRT European Members' meeting, 17 October
The focus of this meeting was on the implementation of the Beyond Budgeting principles in organizations. Members shared information about the progress of current implementations and plans. Peter Bunce then presented what it means to become a truly Lean and Agile Organization as a way of providing valuable implementation insights for the BBRT. Robin Fraser and Franz Röösli examined how organizations might lift their implementations to a transformation of the whole management model, so as to obtain the full benefits of our ‘star’ cases. Jeremy Hope described the pitfalls of just relying on tools alone and that their full potential can only be realized by changing the management model to remove the 'management factory'. Niels Pfläging described two recent 'transformational' cases. He and Gebhard Borck demonstrated a new intensive approach to building buy-in, the ‘Knowledge Turntable’ method which used experienced facilitation to tackle two of our key implementation issues. This method was very powerful and the conclusion reached was that the top management team needs to be committed and involved in such a transformation, but that we still have to develop our understanding about how best to get these folks involved.
The next BBRT European Members' meeting will be held in April/May 2008. Contact Peter Bunce for more details about the meeting and BBRT membership
BBRT Directors Steve Player and Peter Bunce gave a four-hour workshop on Lean Planning at the recent Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) conference in Chicago. This workshop examined why you must move beyond traditional budgeting to achieve LEAN success. If you are charged with leading your finance organization in support of becoming a Lean enterprise you need to understand what is required to transform finance and the way the organization is managed. In many ways finance and the whole 'management factory' serves to impede progress rather rather than enable change. This workshop generated considerable interest in Beyond Budgeting and it showed that the Beyond Budgeting principles have a big role to play in developing Lean Performance Management.
Please contact Peter Bunce for more information on Lean Performance Management
The recent Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME) conference in Chicago was attended by over 1,800 delegates who heard some excellent presentations from industry speakers on improving the performance and competitiveness of their organizations. One of the keynote presentation was given by Terri Kelly, CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates, a company being studied by the BBRT research team because the way it is managed has many resonances with the Beyond Budgeting principles. Gore also gave three other presentations at the conference. Another keynote speaker John Shook, President TWI Network Inc. and a leading Lean Thinking guru shared his experiences as a Toyota manager and advisor to senior leaders of many global organizations. Of particular relevance to Beyond Budgeting John commented that most organizations implementing Lean Thinking focus on eliminating waste (muda), but pay little or no attention to reducing the overburden (muri) above the shop floor and the fluctuations and instability (mura) in the processes and business. This is the area we believe needs to be addressed by Lean Performance Management.
BBRT is an independent international shared learning network for all organizations 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
BBRT, 1st Floor 745 Ampress Lane, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 8LW, UK Tel: +44 1590 679803 Fax: +44 870 705 8799 Email: info@bbrt.org
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