Companies have always strived to put in excellent performance and bridge the gap between plan and performance. This article delves into the finer aspects by focusing on tools used by CEOs and the top management to ensure better performance. It also explains how leading companies have been using tools like capitalizing on strategic inflection points, exploiting the core competency, complementary extensions, etc. Other aspects such as innovation and learning from best practices have also been stressed. These tools enable companies to get ahead of competitors in a world where differentiation is getting blurred with easy access to technology and markets.

Every CEO aspires to show a superlative performance and taking the company to newer heights. When it comes to setting the objectives, CEOs generally set formidable targets and goals that would make the stakeholders proud. However, when it comes to actual performance, most companies fail to achieve those formidable targets and end up leaving a big gap between the projected performance and the actual one. Therefore, CEOs need to work on bridging that gap and ensuring that the performance comes closer to the desired performance. Figure overleaf presents a framework that enables executives to focus on newer opportunities after taking into account the company's strengths and weaknesses as well as the environment. The executives need to define the critical success factors required for exploiting a particular opportunity and the attendant core competence. The focus here is on the tools that can be used by CEOs to better the core competence and enhance the competitive advantage, thereby accomplishing the onerous task of `bridging the gap'.

An industry gets revolutionized with the advent of new thresholds that redefine the contours and throw up new opportunities. For example, when television became a `must have' gadget in people's homes, various entities were threatened. However, some entities capitalized on the opportunity while others capitulated. National Geographic used the opportunity to launch its television channel that has found millions of viewers across the world (and reached out to many people who had never read their magazine). On the other hand, Encyclopedia Britannica found itself in a tough spot having failed to migrate to the digital domain in a proper manner. Therefore, when a company spots a strategic inflection point that can redefine the industry practices, a suitable game plan needs to be developed that would enable the company to capitalize on the opportunity. Similarly, Intel realized the importance of shifting to the microprocessor industry since the memory chips industry was getting commoditized in the 1970s. Therefore, it developed the expertise to design the microprocessor chips and this enabled Intel to become a formidable player. To ensure its dominance, Intel also had to invest in building its component brand through the `Intel inside' campaign. Therefore, to capitalize on the strategic inflection points, companies need to focus on all the value enablers. Similarly, Google betted on the power of the Internet and launched its search engine. Google realized the importance of creative and smart young people in its workforce to foster the Internet-based innovations. So, they had to create a culture that fostered creativity and enabled innovation.

Bridging the Gap, Strategic inflection points, Business Intelligence tools, Employees Stock Options Plan, Internet-based innovations, Microprocessor industries, Consumer electronic companies, Sony, Panasonic and Philips, Competitive advantages, Employees' Stock Options Plan, ESOP, Mechanical engineering industries.