Implementing Beyond Budgeting, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 3The Borealis Case

“One company, new, different and better.”

From Borealis Values

Introduction

You have now heard about the many problems caused by traditional management practices, where budgets and the budgeting mindset play a major role. I hope those first chapters made you realize the seriousness of the problem we are up against and its systemic nature. We have been through the Beyond Budgeting philosophy and main principles of the model, and we have looked at Handelsbanken, Miles, and the Reitan Group as great examples of Beyond Budgeting in practice.

We will now move to Borealis and Statoil, the two implementation cases I know the best since I have headed up both. Neither should be taken as the right way or as mechanical recipes. They are both rooted in the specific business, culture, and situation of each company. Nevertheless, I believe they offer quite a range of advice that should be relevant for many. Feel free to borrow and copy. There are no secrets and no copyrights. Steal with pride!

As you will learn, neither of the two could probably be called full-fledged Beyond Budgeting cases, although Statoil is closer than Borealis. Together, however, they do provide a good illustration of what a Beyond Budgeting journey can be about.

Creation of Borealis

In the early 1990s, both Statoil and the Finnish competitor Neste were struggling with their petrochemical businesses. Statoil's activity in this segment was small on a European scale, as the company mainly ...