Madrid, 19 May 2010 (WAM) - Palladium Group, Inc., the global leader in helping organizations execute their strategies, today named Abu Dhabi Government among the five top-performing organizations to the Palladium Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing Strategy.

Abu Dhabi Government, along with other award recipients; AKSA Acrylic Chemical Inc., Barcelona City Council, Folkhalsan, and TNT Express Services UK and Ireland, were honored for their breakthrough business results during todays Hall of Fame award presentation ceremony at the 2010 Palladium EMEA Summit in Madrid, Spain.

The Hall of Fame award honors organizations that have achieved execution excellence through the use of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), the worlds preeminent strategy and performance management system. The BSC is based on the simple premise that "what gets measured is what gets done." Commenting on the achievement, H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince's Court, said the UAE, under the wise leadership of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, attaches great importance to strategic planning in order to improve government performance and to establish a solid base for development process.

Sheikh Hamed added that the great attention and support given by General H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces and Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council, led the Government of Abu Dhabi to get that prestigious award.

"His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan was instrumental in putting in place a mechanism for implementing public policy, Abu Dhabi Strategic Plan and ensured that the Government of Abu Dhabi adheres to the international standards in realizing objectives of that policy through an integrated system for monitoring and evaluating performance, according to international best practices."Sheikh Hamed also thanked the emirate's departments and authorities for their contribution in enabling Abu Dhabi win the award.

The award was received by Abdullah Muslih Al Hababi, Assistant Secretary General of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council and Hamed Ali Al Hashemi, Director of Performance Management at the Council's General Secretariat.

Abu Dhabis Vision 2030 is to create a confidant, secure society; build a sustainable, open, and globally competitive economy; and to become one of the five top governments in the world.

A unified strategy execution framework for the whole of government was chosen to translate the vision into action and outcomes. Investments are rationalised and prioritised on the basis of their ability to deliver results in social and environmental sustainability, a knowledge-based economy, human capital, infrastructure, and government excellence. Agency performance contracts help ensure a focus on strategic objectives.

Mohammed Ahmad Al Bowardi, Secretary-General of the Executive Council said the award came as result of efforts made by different government authorities to realise the vision of President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and to build on the extensive efforts led by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan that later culminated in the Abu Dhabi Policy Agenda, as well as a host of initiatives.

"The structured framework of the Kaplan-Norton approach has established the basis for cross-government alignment, transparency, and accountability. For Abu Dhabi, the road ahead is paved with success." Founded in 2000, the Palladium BSC Hall of Fame program today has a roster of 133 honorees including Hilton Hotels, Infosys Technologies, Metro de Madrid, Motorola, Ricoh Corporation, and Volkswagen do Brasil that span the private and public sectors in more than 20 countries. Winners are selected based on the quality of their BSC implementation and the results they demonstrate over a period of at least two years.

Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2010.