Smart business metrics

A CEO receives a full bonus in a year when the share price fell by 70%. Why? Because the remuneration committee say he has 'met all his operating targets'. Have the right operating targets been set?

If you are going to manage by numbers, make sure they are the right ones. Understanding your organization's key performance drivers is crucial to the success of your business. Too often, the wrong operating targets are set, and bad targets can bring bad performance.

Smart Business Metrics provides the tools that will enable you to make strategic decisions based on factual analysis. It shows how smart metrics can produce joined-up management to allow all parts of your business to work together to create value for the firm. Smart Business Metrics will:

• help you understand your organization's key performance drivers
• show you how to set the right targets and measures for your business
• enable you to apply quantitative measures to the behaviour of your managers, customers and employees
• allow you to make financial and operational decisions
• provide you with the tools to enable you to make strategic decisions based on factual analysis.

Contents

• Introduction
• Metrics at the Heart of Management
  • Metrics and Clarity
  • Metrics at the Heart of Success
  • Metrics at the Heart of Failure
  • The Problem of Designing Good Measures
  • Metrics and the Implementation of Strategy
  • Setting the Foundations to Build the Metrics
  • A Tale of Two Metrics
  • From Management Fashions to Management Engineering
  • Why Do Managers Need a Metrics Framework to Make Good Decisions?
  • The ABC of Decision Barriers
  • Rocket Science for Managers
  • The Metrics Audit
  • Overcoming Objections
  • Learning points
• Rocket Science: The Principles of Smart Business Metrics
  • The Value Web: A Framework for Constructing Smart Business Metrics
  • Other Metrics Frameworks
  • Principles of Analysis
  • Variation
  • Linkage
  • Preferences
  • Dynamics
  • Developing Smart Business Metrics
  • Learning points
• The Design of Smart Business Metrics: How to Achieve Clarity and Balance
  • Designing Output Metrics
  • Criteria for Output Metrics
  • Output Metrics Case: Financial Services
  • Output Metrics Case: Public Sector Broadcaster
  • Designing Value Driver and Value Builder Metrics
  • Criteria for Value Driver and Value Builder Metrics
  • Driver and Builder Metrics Case: Financial Services
  • Driver and Builder Metrics Case: Public Sector Broadcaster
  • Driver and Builder Metrics Case: National Health Service
  • Weighting the Metrics Learning points
• Smart Business Metrics for Value Drivers
  • Criteria for Smart Business Metrics
  • Levels of Analysis
  • Value Driver Case: Customer Value
  • Value Trees
  • Value Driver Case: How to Retain Customers
  • Value Driver Case: Retail Store Sizing
  • Value Driver Case: Sales Team Performance
  • Value Driver Case: Employee Productivity
  • Value Driver Case: A Performance Scorecard for Retail Employees
• Smart Business Metrics for Value Builders
  • Position Value Builders
  • Position Value Builder Case: Office Lease Option
  • Position Value Builder Case: Virtual Reality Training Investment
  • Capability Value Builders
  • Customer Capability Value Builder Case: European Bank
  • Customer Capability Balue Builder Case: Telecommunications Growth
  • Customer Capability Value Builder Case: Internet Site Design
  • Employee Capability Value Builders
  • Employee Capability Value Builder Case: Hotel Guest Loyalty
  • Employee Capability Value Builder Case: Designing the Benefits Mix
  • Culture Capability Value Builder Case: Instilling an Entrepreneurial Approach
  • Culture Capability Value Builder Case: Innovation
• The Dynamics of Smart Business Metrics: Joined-up Management and the

  Competitive Environment

  • The Internal Perspective: Joined-up Management
  • The Steps to Joined-up Management
  • Joined-up Management Case: Pricing
  • Joined-up Management Case: Animal Welfare
  • Joined-up Management Case: IT Spend
  • The External Perspective: Market Dynamics
  • The Steps to Dynamic Strategy Metrics
  • Strategy Dynamics Case: Internet Banking
  • Strategy Dynamics Case: Negotiations
  • Detailed Modelling
  • Learning points
• The Way Forward: How to Implement Smart Business Metrics Within Your Organization
  • Strategic Clarity
  • Objectivity
  • Teamwork
  • Closing the Loop
  • The Human Dimension of Smart Business Metrics
• Further Reading
• Index