When you think of forces that contribute to the long-term growth and prosperity of your company, you don’t think of your budgeting process. Quite the opposite. Typical bottom-up budgeting, with its focus on earnings, its emphasis on making short-term numbers, and its death grip on performance measurement, control, and rewards, is one of the forces arrayed against you.
A version of this article appeared in the July–August 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review.
