Kenyan Peter Kahihu is Executive Director of the Programs Execution at Balanced Scorecard Institute EMEA. He is a veteran in the field of strategy execution and author of four best selling books on Strategic Planning, Balanced Scorecard, Government Performance Management and Public Sector Reforms. Africa Business Communities interviews him on the current programs and events of the Institute: Balanced Scorecard Institute EMEA is a strategy management company that provides training, certification and consulting and technology services to commercial, government and non-profit organizations. I am the Executive Director in charge of programs execution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. |
How does Balanced Scorecard assist organizations to manage performance beyond bottomline profits and sales? Any institution is guided by its mission, vision and of course the people driving these values. Typically institutions tend to focus on financial aspects, profits and sales. This approach is no longer delivering desired results. This is because focus was not given to the real value drivers such as customer service, customer loyalty and the employee satisfaction and culture, which are key to delivering results. Organizations were generally more operational driven. Balanced Scorecard is more forward-looking and strategic. It’s about how to manage your future performance today, by focusing efforts on the real drivers of performance on a more regular basis as opposed to the traditional and outdated annual performance reviews. Balanced Scorecard Institute is the only organization that trains and certifies in the 10 Steps XSP process. Tell a bit more about it? Our unique execution success process (XSP) is the only integrated strategy execution system proven to deliver breakthrough results. This BSCi EMEA’s 10-Step Execution Success Process shows you how to construct and sustain a strategy management system tailored to your organization. It walks managers through the process of developing the strategy to successful execution applying the system’s thinking approach. Our goal is to become your long-term partner, earning your trust through our expertise, excellent advisory skills and commitment to your success. One aspect of benchmarking for employees in Africa is performance contracting. How would you rate its success in the continent? Nigeria, Gambia, Ghana and Kenya have developed performance contract systems to manage productivity of their public sectors. From our analyses, we have noted that the results of performance contracting have been mixed. In some countries, there has been a general and sustained public enterprise improvement. In others, public enterprises have not responded or have been prevented by government policies from doing so. Public enterprises in Africa are suffering financially, many seeking financial assistance. Their problems stem from unclear and conflicting objectives and a lack of autonomy and accountability. The other major problem is the lack of expertise in coming up with great execution frameworks that ensure that people, processes and resources are effectively aligned to the strategy. Are there success stories of balanced scorecard in Africa that you can speak on? In the countries where we have a presence including Kenya, Mauritius, Zambia, Botswana, Ethiopia, Namibia, Nigeria, Lesotho, Swaziland and Sudan we have noted a structured and impressive uptake of our services as businesses increasingly become aware of the need to execute their strategies and to streamline activities in accordance to the vision and mission of those organizations. We have received impressive feedback from organizations that say that it has become easier for them to manage employees, stick to and meet targets while managing risks. Source: APO |