Counting What Counts: Turning Corporate Accountability To Competitive Advantage

by Marc J. Epstein, Bill Birchard

Who can deny the failures in corporate accountability? From questionable earnings reporting to outright fraud, businesses are coming under increasing scrutiny from shareholders and regulators alike. As Epstein and Birchard demonstrate in Counting What Counts, these practices prevent managers from successfully executing strategy and condemn companies to a purgatory of sub-par performance; by contrast, managers embracing the principles of accountable management can become responsive and responsible like never before. Drawing from the personal stories of dozens of managers, and from the collective experience of 25 years of research, writing, and teaching, the authors show that managers routinely tolerate shortfalls in four areas—governance, performance measurement, control systems, and reporting—and outline a practical approach to reforming and invigorating these essential drivers to improve decision making, clarify and communicate strategy, accelerate feedback and learning, and secure stakeholder loyalty—turning accountability into a competitive asset.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published May 6, 1999