BOSTON, Jan. 23 --MediaNet International-AsiaNet/InfoQuest In the lead up to Professor Kaplan's visit to Thailand at the end of March, we posed some rather tricky questions to him regarding his latest thinking on the Balanced Scorecard. Robert S Kaplan LIVE in Thailand Turning Execution Into Competitive Advantage 27th March 2006, Plaza Athenee, Bangkok Our first question was: There are many metrics-based performance frameworks: Six Sigma, Balanced Scorecard, COBIT etc. The market is also highly fragmented with vendors and consultants promoting their own flavours to the point of confusing end-users. What step-by-step approach companies should take to select the right frameworks to suit their organisational needs? Professor Kaplan replied: No one technique is adequate for all the issues faced by complex organizations. For me, quality is extremely important. If an enterprise cannot run its processes efficiently and with few defects, it has little hope of implementing any kind of strategy. So I would hope that all companies implement some kind of quality management system, whether it is six sigma, kaizen, or any other disciplined approach that identifies and correct root causes of defects. The Balanced Scorecard is especially helpful for enterprises - both private and public - that are trying to articulate and implement new strategies. The challenge for implementing a strategy is how to align all the disparate business units and all an enterprise's employees to focus on doing those things that contribute the most to the value proposition being offered to customers. Also, resource allocation, reporting, and management reviews all should serve the primary purpose of advancing the strategy. No management tool is more effective than the BSC for successful strategy execution. If a company has a large and growing indirect cost base, caused by an extensive overhead support infra-structure, then it is an excellent candidate for activity-based costing. In my one day event in Bangkok in late March, I will present a new, simpler, and far more powerful way of implementing activity-based costing, which I call time-driven ABC. This approach has proven practical and powerful in enabling significant profit improvements for companies in short time periods. It enables companies to re-define customer relationships into more profitable and productive ones. For a full copy of the interview please contact Claire Barber Tel: +61 2 8211-2717 Fax: +61 2 8211-0530 email: [email protected] Further information and event press passes also available www.globalleadersevents.com Source: Global Leaders --Distributed by AsiaNet (www.asianetnews.net)--