Horváth study shows where execution discipline closes the delivery gap
Drawing on insights from more than 1,000 executives worldwide, a new report from Horváth shows boards in the Middle East how to close the gap between planned and delivered performance.
Authored by Middle East based leaders Saad Hamam (KSA) and Patrick Braunschweig (UAE), the report ‘Beyond Approval’ draws on Horváth’s long-running global CxO Priorities Study, which tracks the priorities of executives in 30+ countries across areas including strategy and transformation.
The key focus of the Middle East-focused paper is why organizations consistently deliver less than they forecast – or fail to achieve what they planned or budgeted for. According to the authors, this performance gap is “measurable, recurring and correctable.”
A significant source of underperformance lies in strategy execution, with transformation programs often stalling after sign-off because they lack the execution discipline needed to turn plans into sustained, embedded change. “The programs that do not reach their outcomes almost never fail at the point of approval. They stall later, quietly, in the middle of delivery,” said Hamam, Partner and Managing Director at Horváth.
The pattern carries particular weight in the Middle East, where transformation portfolios are central to the ambitious national vision agendas of governments and aligned private sector investments. “This region has never lacked ambition. The next advantage will belong to the organizations that build the discipline to deliver it. Execution discipline, not strategy, decides whether approved programs reach their outcomes.”
Beyond Approval identifies five recurring patterns behind most stalled transformation portfolios, each with an early warning signal that leadership teams can observe without a formal diagnostic. It also finds that the most expensive pattern – ownership dissolving between entities – is the one that existing governance mechanisms are least equipped to detect.
A proven approach
Drawing on Horváth’s extensive experience in bringing complex transformations to successful completion, the authors set out six practical instruments designed to address these five patterns – from establishing a quantified target picture before mobilization to embedding benefits directly into the financial plan.
The authors also outline what boards should expect to see change within the first 90 days to ensure transformations remain on track.
“Almost every governance instrument a large organization owns is built to catch the visible failure, and very few are built to catch the expensive one,” said Patrick Braunschweig, Managing Director at Horváth. “Correcting only the common pattern improves how the portfolio reads without changing what it costs.”
