BCG PDF
BCG PDF
BCG PDF
April
AT A GLANCE
E C: A N R
Given the lack of stability and predictability in the new global reality, companies
have to learn to be as agile and adaptable as possible.
I S: H C H T
Internal obstacles to planning include strained resources and employees; process
ineciencies; unreliable, low-quality data; and, oen, a companys own culture.
E C: T P D B P
Ten principles can serve as an overall guide to improving an inecient planning
system: make top-down target-setting a priority, take an analysts perspective, plan
in less detail, apply a dierent level of detail at each stage, shorten the planning
cycle, balance ambitions against forecasting, be adaptable and flexible, rethink the
incentive system, manage tradeos, and clarify governance and objectives.
T A P
H , been relatively straightforward for
company leaders: assess the business environment; agree on objectives and the
means for reaching them within the context of a relatively stable corporate strat-
egy; set target revenues, costs, and time frames; and move on. Today, however,
companies face new challenges that complicate the process and necessitate dynam-
ic and very dierent planning strategies. In this new era of heightened economic
volatility, planning becomes more, rather than less, relevant and critical.
Since businesses face more aggressive competition than ever before and have to
assume increasing risk, they need to prioritize their deployment of resources even
more carefully and govern their wide-ranging global activities more diligently.
Smart planning has never been as important as it is today.
In this Focus, we delve into the changes and challenges that have altered the
context in which companies must now undertake their planning. We break down
the impact of external issues stemming from an increasingly complexand less
predictableglobal economy. We also investigate company-specific internal prob-
lems, which include basic planning missteps, pseudoaccuracy, and poor time
managementshortcomings whose root causes oen run deep. These issues
become even more important in an uncertain environment because they amplify
the impact of external challenges.
How can companies cope with these external and internal changes and challenges?
BCG has worked with clients to help them actively prepare for todays altered
environment. Here, we examine best practices at several of these companies and
reveal ten key principles that have improved eectiveness and eciency in their
planning processes. As companies incorporate more of these principles and related
practices into their playbooks, they will become stronger, more flexible, and more
dynamicready for a new world of business.
T B C G
World markets have become rife with volatility, large-scale default risks, and
refinancing uncertaintiesan atmosphere that has led to shis in consumer behav-
ior and increased risks in regulation and policy. The eects of globalization, the
fiercer fight for resources, and the emergence of what we call a two-speed world
that is, a world divided into fast-growing emerging markets and struggling devel-
oped ones experiencing slow or no growthwere all felt more acutely as a result of
this economic slowdown.1
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Corporations around the world are feeling the heat from a variety of external
sources. Competition is intense and heterogeneous, with a continuous string of new
upstart players jumping into the ring. New technologies add to the pressures on
corporations as well. The lack of stability and predictability in this new reality
make it that much harder for organizations to flex their muscles, and they now have
to learn to be as agile and adaptable as possible.2
T A P
Internal Strife: How Companies Hobble Themselves
The new reality that has taken hold in the world today brings with it specific
requirements and a new learning curve. Internal, company-specific issues contrib-
ute to planning diculties as well, especially because they leave organizations
ill-prepared to cope with the external situation. Oen, these company-level short-
comings have root causes that run deep, and making adjustments will take commit-
ment. The following are examples of internal issues that limit successful planning
at many companies.
Process Ineciencies. Many employees say that even when initial planning
seems to occur eciently, they find their figures challenged several times as they
move through the process, which causes parallel planning and redundancies.
Requiring heavy detail early on is unproductive, leading to unnecessary iterations
and number crunching. And all that detail keeps a company sti just when a shaky
economy requires adaptability in working through eective scenario planning.
T B C G
precisely but never to exceed them, since doing so would mean having to reach
even higher goals the following year. This plan low so you can perform high
approach by employees, in turn, fosters a mindset among top management of
mistrusting data and asking almost by default for still-higher performance. Overall,
this type of planning leads to budgets and targets that reflect internal negotiation
and corporate networking skills rather than true business opportunities.
We argue that given todays volatile environment, the overall focus for planning
must move away from precise forecasting and toward more strategic, top-down
ambition-setting that is validated with bottom-up business insight. This approach
should be tied to contingency plans in case the targets cannot be metand comple-
mented by more frequent short-term forecasts of key metrics. However, embracing
The overall focus for unpredictability and encouraging entrepreneurship within reasonable limits entails
planning must move a significant shi in the management culture of many large corporations.
away from precise
forecasting and
toward more strategic, Embracing Change: Ten Principles Driving Best Practices
top-down ambition- Many organizations have already succeeded in changing their planning processes to
setting that is validat- become more eective and ecient in todays new reality. We have helped clients
ed with bottom-up across several industries make this transition, a process that has revealed the key
business insight. principles that drive the best practices for success. Not every exemplary company
applies all of the principles, and the approach to implementation varies in each
instance. How the best practices are applied depends on the preferences of key
decision makers and on corporate characteristics such as business dynamics,
company culture, and legacy. Still, these ten principles can serve as an overall guide
to improving an inecient planning system. (See Exhibit 2.)
T A P
E | Ten Principles for Eective and Ecient Planning
5 Shorten the planning cycle Start planning later in the year, with a shortened
duration for planning
One organization that makes eective use of the analysts perspective is a pharma-
ceutical company that now plans deviations from the previous year only on the
basis of underlying business drivers, such as market growth, market share develop-
ment, the development of the relative price point, and the price index for raw
materials. As more companies alter their attitudes toward the details of planning in
T B C G
E | Using Value Drivers Streamlines the Planning Process and Improves Planning Quality
Client example
Illustration: Revenue driver tree
Raw material
increase Improved process eciency
Price (mix) Competitive
growth pressure A dedicated accountability for inputs
Growth +
Base x Customer The exibility to update plans easily
business Volume mix
Base growth
business Important KPIs for business review
(last year) Market growth meetings are included in the driver tree
Net
external New Innovation Driver trees can be used with dierent
revenue business + levels of detail as the context dictates
Net New
total + projects
revenue Improved quality of planning
Cannibali-
Attrition x zation Drivers map business logic and focus
on key levers
Historical
attrition The driver model allows for more-
Other strategic discussions
drivers
Output can be easily validated
Net sales
to other Historical The driver model enables scenario
entities ratio simulation
Net sales (baseline) Net
to other external
entities Change revenue
this way, they can be increasingly flexible in scenario planning, tooa capability
that is crucial in meeting the new external challenges.
Principle 3: Plan in Less Detail. Reduce the scope of the planning process by
validating fewer planning targets. Less detail makes for greater flexibility, quicker
response time, and better simulation capabilities. Some companies are even limit-
ing themselves to considering only the major possible eectsknown or predict-
able factors that will aect future businessand leaving everything else in their
forecasts constant.
One BCG client, a global diversified company, has significantly reduced the amount
of detail included in the planning activities of each of its business units. Globally,
several hundred planning items have been reduced in number by 60 to 70 percent.
Again, the fewer details, the simplerwhich translates into being faster at adapting
and better prepared for competition in a changed world.
Principle 4: Apply a Dierent Level of Detail at Each Stage. Spell out the key
planning parameters before initiating a full-fledged bottom-up validation of targets.
Start detailed budgeting as soon as the targets have been agreed on.
T A P
The company now conducts high-level plans while validating planning targets for
volume, prices, sales mix, marketing, variable costs, and fixed costs. Aer targets are
approved, the company budgets in greater detail. Another client, an international
automotive company, requires clearly distinct levels of detail at each stage of plan-
ning, including a benchmark-derived target during strategic planning, a systematic
breakdown of strategic targets during operative planning, and a breakdown of targets
to cost centers once the high-level targets have been approved. (See Exhibit 4.)
Such strategies make the most sense, considering the current external realities of
volatility and changeand the call for simplification in Principle 3 above.
Principle 5: Shorten the Planning Cycle. Start the planning process later in the
year and shorten its overall duration. A shorter cycle puts the emphasis on speed
and flexibility and results in less overall company coordination, fewer parallel and
redundant activities, and less frustration. Furthermore, getting a later start trans-
lates into using the most recent information and basing targets on more accurate
data. Less detail, greater process discipline, and more eective use of planning tools
will help ensure a shorter planning cycle.
We helped one global FMCG company reduce its cycle from 120 days to 60and a
German conglomerate cut its entire cycle from ten months to five, enabling it to
begin the planning process in July instead of February. An international automotive
company we worked with now starts its operative planning for the following year
T B C G
on September 1. In this new economic environmentwith change occurring at a
rapid pacedelayed planning is the best strategy.
The key is to focus the mid- to long-term plans and the one-year plan more strongly
on ambition setting and to use annual planning for a review of strategies and key
Is it more important business objectives. Detect risks and early deviations from the plans and get input
to stretch the organi- for the short-term optimization of resource deployment such as cash management
zation to improve and short-term liquidity management. Then create a quarterly, or even a monthly,
performance, or is the forecast. Here, scenario planning can be a good strategy: look for trends that
goal to set targets as deviate above and below the plan, and start creating contingency plans early on.
precisely as possible? When forecasts suggest deviations above plan, think about production and the
logistics needed to handle more volume. When deviations below plan are expected,
consider countermeasures, such as sales activation and pricing.
We saw this best practice put to use by a shipping company we worked with. The
company developed a new forecasting system based on value drivers to allow route
managers to adjust volumes within their areas of responsibility. The new targets are
then extrapolated using standard costs.
Alternatively, companies can explore having a base plan as well as a stretch plan;
this dual approach requires clear top-down expectations for targets. In the past,
planning may have been used as more of a disciplinary tool than a visionary one.
T A P
Now, it is crucial for management to alter its style and be more willing to accept
degrees of uncertainty, which the dual approach allows.
T B C G
and planning and reporting frequently share the same systems and use similar data
fields. But integration does not always make sense because both views should be re-
ported separately to best meet planning requirements.
Furthermore, as new planning concepts are put into place, changes in IT tools will
be requiredan added cost that management must be willing to accept.
There are two components of change. So-called hard changewhich includes new
systems and processes, control of new process standards, and the avoidance of
Change cannot be parallel planningis indeed important. But just as key is the concept of so
driven by the finance change, which includes communication, the involvement of top management, and
function; it has to be decisions about tradeos. (Pilot programs are oen an eective means of making
fully endorsed by the so changes in planning succeed.) The best planning requires a combination of
CEO and key leaders, both of these components.
who are willing to
embrace change for A crucial type of soft change involves altering the mindset of the stakeholders.
themselves and in Companies must make sure that their key decision makers accept any planning
their leadership style. adjustments before a new approachthe hard changescan happen effective-
ly. Top-level business managers must be fully on board and believe in the
importance and pursuit of the impending changes. If they are not convinced of
the value of a new planning approach, it is likely to fail. Change cannot be
driven by the finance function; it has to be fully endorsed by the CEO and key
leaders, who are willing to embrace change for themselves and in their leader-
ship style. 4
These so changes in planning have to be achieved across all levels of the organiza-
tion. Top-level executives have to comply with certain rules of discipline, such as
not requesting further detail beyond the defined level needed for planning. Middle
management has to take part in honest discussions of business possibilities without
resorting to sandbagging. Collaboration between the business and finance functions
is crucial. And all changes have to be explained clearly to line managers, who then
must be sure to comply with the new tool requirements, timetables, and mandated
levels of detail. If there is open communication among all participants, a revised
planning system can be successfully established and embraced.
T A P
Rewrite the Rules
The status quo for business is no more. Companies have to participate on a world
stage that is more complicated and more unpredictable than ever. At the same time,
old habits die hard, and flaws inbred in organizations must be identified and
corrected. Rewriting the rules for planning is not easy. But with some companies
already leading the way, new best-practice examples are available for everyone else
to learn from and follow. With fine-tuned communication, transparent leadership,
and a willingness to change their culture, companies can implement eective
planning.
N
1. For more about the two-speed world, please see Threading the Needle: Value Creation in a Low-Growth
Economy, BCG Value Creators report, September 2010; Collateral Damage: In the Eye of the Storm; Ignore
Short-Term Indicators, Focus on the Long Haul, BCG White Paper, May 2010; Collateral Damage: Preparing
for a Two-Speed World; Accelerating Out of the Great Recession, BCG White Paper, December 2009; and
Thriving Under Adversity: Strategies for Growth in the Crisis and Beyond, BCG White Paper, May 2009.
2. To learn more about new approaches to strategy, organization, and, consequently, leadership in a
turbulent and unpredictable business environment, please see Adaptive Leadership, BCG Perspec-
tive, December 2010; Adaptive Advantage, BCG Perspective, January 2010; New Bases of Competi-
tive Advantage: The Adaptive Imperative, BCG Perspective, October 2009; and Does Your Strategy
Need Stretching? Adapting Your Strategy-Development Approach to Fit Todays Rapidly Changing Competitive
Environment, BCG report, October 2008.
3. For more about scenario planning, please refer to Rethinking Scenarios: What a Difference a Day
Makes, BCG Perspective, October 2010.
4. See Cascading Change, BCG Perspective, September 2009.
T B C G
About the Authors
Frank Plaschke is a partner and managing director in the Munich oce of The Boston Consulting
Group and the global leader for the oce of the CFO topic. You may contact him by e-mail at
[email protected].
Fabrice Rogh is a partner and managing director in the firms Dsseldorf oce and the German
leader for the organization design topic. You may contact him by e-mail at roghe.fabrice@
bcg.com.
Fabian Gnther is a project leader in BCGs Berlin oce. You may contact him by e-mail at
[email protected].
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Sarah Davis for her writing assistance, Ellen Treml for her assis-
tance with the graphics, and Gary Callahan, Mary DeVience, and Angela DiBattista for their contri-
butions to editing, design, and production.
T A P
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