THE TRADITIONAL annual budgeting process--characterized by fixed targets and performance incentives--is time-consuming, overcentralized, and outdated. Worse, it often causes dysfunctional and unethical managerial behavior. Based on an intensive, international study into pioneering companies, Beyond Budgeting offers an alternative, coherent management model that overcomes the limitations of traditional budgeting. Focused around achieving sustained improvement relative to competitors, it provides a guiding framework for managing in the twenty-first century.

Jeremy Hope is a Director of the Beyond Budgeting Roundtable, a not-for-profit collaborative that designs new performance management processes. He is a chartered accountant and a co-author of Transforming the Bottom Line and Competing in the Third Wave. He is a former venture capitalist and founder of several businesses. He lives in West Yorkshire, England. Robin Fraser is a Principal at the Beyond Budgeting Roundtable. Formerly a management consulting partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers, Fraser has 30 years experience in business planning, performance improvement, and cost reduction. He lives in Surrey, England.