Robert Simons

In <i>Control in an Age of Empowerment</i>, Robert Simons explains how to give employees the freedom to innovate while protecting your firm from loose cannons. Using powerful examples, Simons shows how to apply four powerful management «levers» to balance autonomy with control: Traditional diagnostic control systems, Belief systems, Boundary systems, and Interactive control systems. Used in concert, these four levers give you the control you need–without sacrificing the creative...

To stay ahead of the pack, you must translate your organization&apos;s competitive strategy into the day-to-day actions carried out in your company. That means channeling resources into the right efforts, achieving the right balance between innovation and control, and getting everyone pulling in the same direction. How to keep all this on track?Identify critical gaps in your strategy execution processes, focus on the most important choices you must make, and understand what&apos;s at stake in...

Based on a ten-year examination of control systems in over 50 U.S. businesses, this book broadens the definition of control and establishes a critical bridge between the disciplines of strategy and accounting and control. In addition to the more traditional diagnostic control systems, Simons identifies three new control systems that allow strategic change: belief systems that communicate core values and provide inspiration and direction, boundary systems that frame the strategic domain and...

The design of an organization–the accountability system that defines roles, rights, and responsibilities throughout the firm–has a direct impact on the performance of every employee. Yet, few leaders devote focused attention to how this design is chosen, implemented, and adjusted over time. Robert Simons argues that by viewing design as a powerful and proactive management lever–rather than an inevitable outcome of corporate evolution–leaders can maximize productivity across every level of the...