Implementing Beyond Budgeting (eBook)

BJARTE BOGSNES has had a long international career, both in Finance and HR. He has been advocating Beyond Budgeting for more than twenty years and led its implementation at two large European companies, Statoil and Borealis. Bjarte is the chairman of Beyond Budgeting Roundtable (BBRT) and is a popular international business speaker. He is the winner of a Harvard Business Review/McKinsey Management Innovation award.

Foreword xi

Acknowledgments xiii

About the Author xv

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 Problems with Traditional Management 1

Introduction 1

Which Way in a New Business Environment? 4

The Trust and Transparency Problem 7

The Cost Management Problem 14

The Control Problem 22

The Target-Setting Problem 26

The Performance Evaluation Problem 30

The Bonus Problem 34

The Rhythm Problem 45

The Quality Problem 49

The Efficiency Problem 52

Chapter 2 Beyond Budgeting 55

The Philosophy 55

Beyond Budgeting Roundtable 65

The Beyond Budgeting Principles 69

Handelsbanken--the Pioneer 74

Miles--a Master of Servant Leadership 80

The Reitan Group--Values at the Core 84

Chapter 3 The Borealis Case 91

Introduction 91

Creation of Borealis 92

The Journey Begins 94

The Borealis Model 99

Implementation Experiences and Lessons Learned 115

Borealis Today 119

Chapter 4 The Statoil Case 123

Introduction 123

Creating the Foundation 126

Starting Out 130

The Statoil Model 134

A Dynamic Ambition to Action 190

What Could Be Next? 199

The Beyond Budgeting Research Program 210

How Are We Doing? 212

A New Start for Statoil? 217

Chapter 5 Beyond Budgeting and Agile 221

Chapter 6 Making the Change: Implementation Advice 229

Create the Case for Change 232

Handle Resistance 238

Design to 80 Percent and Jump 240

Keep the Cost Focus 241

Don't Start with Rolling Forecasting Only 243

Involve Human Resources and Agile IT 244

You Can't Get Rid of Command and Control through Command and Control 246

Do Not Become a Fundamentalist 249

Balanced Scorecard Pitfalls 250

Revolution or Evolution? 260

Closing Remarks 263

Index 265

"Budgeting, which lies at the heart of management, is typically backward-looking, inflexible, politicized, and overly conservative -- in other words, it's a drag on organizational vitality. But in this provocative book, Bjarte Bogsnes shows you how to radically retool the budgeting process in your organization. Based on his experience in large and complex organizations, he takes you through a step-by-step process for transforming the way your organization is managed. This is essential reading if you want to build an organization that is fit for the future."
--Professor Gary Hamel, London Business School

"This book is about how to create the right conditions to liberate people from traditional management practices, which organizations build as they grow, but which usually lead to reduced agility, employee disengagement, and ultimately decline. Since his 2009 book, Bjarte has journeyed a lot further beyond budgeting, gaining substantial new insights from practical experience, told in this edition as ever with great readability, authenticity, and enthusiasm."
-- Robin Fraser, co-founder of the Beyond Budgeting Roundtable; co-author with the late Jeremy Hope of Beyond Budgeting

"While it is common to hear managers complain about budgeting activities, too few are aware that the problems with budget management are more insidious. Budget management is a major cause of sub-optimisation; in simple terms, it makes performance worse. As with many human inventions, it solved problems of its time, but as time has moved on the problems and opportunities have changed. This book charts the development of better methods, balancing purpose and practice; improving the effectiveness of decision making; and, hence, organisation performance."
--John Seddon, Vanguard

Praise for the First Edition

"At last, Bjarte Bogsnes has made his experience and enthusiasm for Beyond Budgeting available for a wider audience with this remarkable book. I have appreciated his engagement in these important management issues for many years, and his knowledge and leadership have been critical in the transformation of our organization."
--Eldar Sætre, CFO (now CEO), Statoil

"This is an excellent book for those who want to grapple with the difficult task of radically changing conventional ways of running a company to more effective ways of doing it and ways more in accordance with human nature."
--Jan Wallander, Honorary Chairman of Handelsbanken