Ownership of Strategic Objectives

“Ownership” of BSC strategic objectives refers more to leading the discussion at strategy review meetings than to span of control. When Peter Drucker first wrote about MBO a few decades ago, a prime concern was to be held accountable for only those objectives that one directly controlled. Is that possible today—if it were ever? Indeed, Drucker predicted twenty years ago an environment today in which large business would be more knowledge-based, with half the old levels of management and much broader spans of control. Few strategic issues are under the purview of a single manager; most issues cross functions. Hence, it has become appropriate to have one member of a leadership team “own” a particular objective. She, at the strategy review meeting, accounts for progress towards meeting the target for the objective’s measure, identifies causes, develops alternatives, and proposes solutions for consideration at the meeting. She may have met with several experts not of her direct reporting line to prepare for her accounting. This practice has led to cross-functional cooperation and seems to make silos more transparent. Another practice, less common though noteworthy, is for organizations to have two “owners” for an objective—one line and one functional manager.