Best Practices In Planning And Performance Management, Third Edition: Radically Rethinking Management For A Volatile World

"Since the first edition of this book, Axson has provided pragmatic insights about investments in business analytics. After spending billions, most enterprises found out in 2008, in spite of their massive investments, that their business forecasting was off---and off spectacularly. Against that lens, the Third Edition of this book is even more timely and relevant. Use it to reevaluate and reenergize your analytical mindset."---Vinnie Mirchandani, author of The New Polymath

"David Axson could easily be considered one of the patriarchs of modern best practices. This book is not only a complete resource on all things strategic, it also challenges conventional thinking related to the business experience and recognizes that tactically, today's business environment is unlike any other time in history. This complete `how to' guide simplifies the application of key strategic principles and is a must-have resource for any business leader serious about growing their business."---Robert U. Craven, President, ScalePassion and author of Scale Your Passion

Filled with new examples and case studies from companies such as Apple, IBM, Starbucks, Target, Toshiba, and Facebook, Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management, Third Edition is updated to reflect what it takes to be an effective manager in an uncertain world, the implications of the global economic crisis for management practices, and new benchmarks for performance management processes and practices.

David Axson offers a must-read for anyone looking for a complete framework for building best practice management processes in today's complex and uncertain world.

The housing bubble, the failures of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, and the near-collapse of the global financial system made it abundantly clear that the management processes on which organizations have relied for more than fifty years are totally broken. Updating indispensable best practices and examining the lessons learned from the Great Recession, Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management: Radically Rethinking Management for a Volatile World, Third Edition is your road map for driving fundamental change in your organization.

David Axson's innovative text helps you significantly upgrade your management practices to better meet the needs of today's increasingly complex and global markets. By providing a framework for identifying best practices in performance management, Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management, Third Edition defines clear action plans for successfully developing, implementing, and profiting from the strategic applications of key performance metrics.

Part One makes the case for a radical change in the way managers manage performance, explaining why effective performance management is needed in today's fast-paced world, and providing a series of diagnostic tools and measures to help you size up the improvement opportunity. Now including "Lessons for a Volatile World" in each chapter, Part Two summarizes key lessons managers can take away from the events of 2007-2009 and describes the principal best practices for each element of the performance management process---strategic planning, tactical and financial planning, management reporting, forecasting, and risk management. Finally, Part Three provides insights into the steps required to design a best practice-inspired process that is right for your organization, as well as the critical success factors for implementation.

There is nothing like a good economic downturn to get companies to see that using performance management best practices is absolutely essential. Just in time, Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management, Third Edition is the proactive guide you need right now to help you consistently make and execute better decisions faster.

David A. J. Axson is President of the Sonax Group, a business advisory firm. He is a former head of corporate planning at Bank of America and was a cofounder of The Hackett Group, where he was the architect of the firm's market-leading benchmarks bank. He is a sought-after speaker and writer on best practices in planning and performance management reporting, and is widely regarded as a thought leader in the industry.