CHICAGO — How do you measure the success of your business? That's the primary topic to be covered at the annual 2007 AED/Qualcomm Executive Forum, put on by the Associated Equipment Distributors in Chicago Sept. 13 and 14. Entitled “The Dealer ScoreCard: New Metrics for New Times,” the forum looks at the need for senior executives in the construction equipment industry to find new ways to assess how well their businesses are functioning, how to predict future performance, and how to align the organization toward new strategies to achieve breakthrough performance.

This year's Executive Forum will cover how to create breakthrough performance by aligning resources with strategy.

The authors of The Balanced Scorecard say: “Financial results are like looking into a window to the past.” The Executive Forum will attempt to look beyond the balance sheet to discover the relationship between people, processes and customers as each contributes to a company's results.

Executive Forum speakers will review The Balanced Scorecard management system and provide an in-depth look at new metrics used by leading equipment dealers. Also, industry experts will predict economic trends going into 2008.

Sessions include:

• The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy Into Action
• Industry economic update for 2008
• Employee engagement as a competitive advantage
• Business valuation - how much is your company worth? Grow the value of your dealership with a balanced scorecard
• Leverage technology to drive scorecard results.

Presenters include:

• David P. Norton, co-author of “The Balanced Scorecard”
• Eli Lustgarden, senior vice president, Longbow Research
• David Sirota, author of “The Enthusiastic Employee”
• Kristina M. Jakstys, US Bank, commercial lending
• Michael Marks, panel moderator, Indian River Consulting Group
• Information, housing and registration information can be obtained from www.aednet.org.