Redefining Corporate Success

Andy Jordan is President of Roffensian Consulting S.A., a Roatan, Honduras-based management consulting firm with a comprehensive project management practice. Andy always appreciates feedback and discussion on the issues raised in his articles and can be reached at [email protected]. Andy's new book Risk Management for Project Driven Organizations is now available.

  Organizational Culture   Strategy  

As project managers have become more focused on driving value from their initiatives, so there has been greater recognition of just how broad the definition of “value” can be. While things like revenue, profitability, market share, and the like continue to dominate (particularly in the private sector), there is also understanding of the need for risk control, innovation, employee and customer satisfaction, and even strategic growth.

These are all important elements, and an organization cannot focus on only a subset of them if it is to be successful long-term. It’s no different from having to invest in different aspects of the business with discretionary work. While some areas may get more attention in any given business cycle, all areas must still improve.

Yet when we look at organizational success (again focusing on the private sector), the value metrics become much narrower.

Defining corporate success
At an enterprise level, company success is almost always measured solely in terms of profitability, supported by closely related metrics like revenue. Analysts may look at other factors—like market share or unit sales—that directly contribute to profitability and revenue, but it’s rare for corporate success to be measured much beyond that.

I understand why. In most cases, companies are investments—for shareholders of large …

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