Only about 34% of board members and top executives say their companies are proficient at monitoring critical non-financial indicators of corporate performance according to a new survey conducted on behalf of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The majority of board directors and senior executives surveyed for the study? called ?In the Dark: What Boards and Executives Don't Know about the Health of Their Businesses?? say that factors such as customer satisfaction, innovation, supplier relations and employee commitment are critical to corporate success. But they admit that there are difficulties in monitoring these drivers of organizational performance. By contrast, 86% of executives believe their companies are excellent or good at measuring and tracking the performance indicators necessary for financial reporting purposes.
?The findings are a warning sign that unethical behaviour by a small number of executives is not the only critical issue in corporate governance,? says William G. Parrett, Global CEO of Deloitte. ?It takes more than tracking financial performance to properly mind the store. And most board members and executives acknowledge that the tools and systems to monitor non-financial performance are either underdeveloped or are missing altogether.