Written by: Daniel Meier
Article summary: Business performance improvement, or BPI, is a results-focused approach to identifying process changes and measuring their financial impact. Using Integrated Business Planning as a framework, organizations align strategy and execution to improve business performance. Learn how to define metrics, prioritize improvements, and drive sustained growth and profitability.
To improve business performance, you need the right processes to adjust and the right metrics to measure your results. This can be determined through a business performance improvement (BPI) project. When done right, BPI creates an action plan for where your business needs to improve so you can close performance gaps and unlock value.
What Is Business Performance Improvement (BPI)?
A business performance improvement project is all about understanding your organization’s strengths and weaknesses — and which processes need to change to meet a short- or long-term business goal. Defining “performance improvement” and finding the right metrics to measure it are the keys to success.
While business process improvement is about adjusting methodologies throughout an organization, business performance improvement focuses on measuring how these process changes impact bottom-line financial margins and cash flow. Many organizations turn to BPI after an unexpected dip in financial performance, but the program also delivers value during periods of stability to increase revenue and market share.
Most importantly, business leaders need to be results-focused rather than looking exclusively at process changes. How a team works is important, but the ability to measure the impact of operational improvements is critical. This mindset shift, while seemingly minor, can inform how to make process improvement decisions and which performance indicators to monitor.
Why Business Performance Improvement Matters
The benefits of a business performance improvement project done right include:
- Technological improvements across your organization
- A better understanding of significant pain points and opportunity areas
- Streamlined processes and communication channels
- The ability to proactively manage uncertainty and market volatility
- Improved financial accounting and reporting
The processes you’ll need to improve will vary depending on which problems are holding you back. For some enterprises, that may mean restructuring to a simplified or centralized chain of command. Others may need to think about their communication strategies and technology, taking a big-picture view of any changes and thinking carefully about the performance metrics and timeframe you use to measure ROI.
The goal of your business performance improvement action plan shouldn’t be only to achieve a short-term positive result, but rather to set your enterprise up for sustained growth and continuous improvement. The ideal outcome of a business performance improvement plan is to increase overall revenue and market share.
Success Story: Business Performance Improvement In Action
Oliver Wight helped ZAGG Inc, a leader in mobile accessories and technology, improve business performance during a period of major upheaval. When company executives noticed declining profit margins, as sales continued to exceed $500 million, they turned to Oliver Wight to implement an Integrated Business Planning (IBP) initiative to improve performance.
Read more: See how IBP can create future-ready supply chains in 2026
Responding to Rapid Market Disruption
The company’s operating context quickly shifted when the COVID-19 pandemic changed the market seemingly overnight. IBP and business performance improvement efforts helped by:
- Instilling continued trust in a larger strategy
- Aligning plans around that strategy
- Enabling faster, more coordinated decision-making
The ZAGG team quickly reduced inventory to meet a low-demand year, keeping margins relatively intact while continuing category-level planning on a 24-month rolling horizon.
Results Within 12 Months
Despite challenging conditions, ZAGG started seeing results in as little as 12 months, including:
- More effective measurement of the reduction in the material cost of goods sold
- Improved visibility into business performance
- A stronger foundation for future profitability
Leadership believed the process left them in a far better position than if they had stayed on the previous course.
Building Confidence in the Future
Through IBP, ZAGG managed uncertainty while maintaining a long-term view. The company moved beyond focusing only on strategy to routinely examining execution and performance — creating a more balanced, forward-looking approach to running the business.
ZAGG’s Director of Product Management, Bryce Craig, reflected, “If we hadn’t had IBP, we wouldn’t have responded to COVID-19 as quickly. IBP created collaboration within the company and gave us a better lens on the business. We took the material cost of goods sold impact out of the business.”
From Insight to Impact
At Oliver Wight, our Business Advisors use their decades of industry experience not only to improve business processes but also to deliver real results. With IBP, we help organizations align strategy with execution and drive sustained performance improvement.
How can we do the same for you? Discover what IBP could do for your business