Buzz Archive:
Going The Distance: How the World's Best Companies Achieve High Performance

by Tim Breene and Paul F. Nunes of Accenture, 7/29/2008

All entrepreneurs and fund managers want their companies to exceed expectations. Easier said than done--but now, consulting giant Accenture has, after three years of original research, industry analysis and rigorous testing, developed a compelling set of practical insights for companies that aspire to uncommon business success.

Specifically: What does high performance mean, and how can organizations increase their chances of becoming high-performance businesses?

These have been the driving questions behind an ongoing Accenture program of original research that is now entering its fourth year. Among the results produced by our research to date is a rich collection of published work, including more than 30 articles on high performance that have appeared in Outlook since October 2003 (see bottom of article for reference links).

In this article, Tim Breene and Paul F. Nunes of Accenture summarize, refine and integrate what they have learned in a single article and highlight a few of the latest insights gained from observing and working with a number of high-performance businesses during the past three years.