Three out of four senior executives cite strategic planning as the most powerful tool for improving long-term performance. However, there are countless organizations in the global business community that have developed bold strategic plans with missions, goals, objectives, and strategies only to fall into the abyss that separates plan development from plan execution. What are the reasons for such a strategic gap between the formulation of a strategy and its execution? Why are so many strategic systems unable to cope with it? And, most importantly, what do the most successful companies do to bridge this gap, and in some cases, use it to their advantage? The Strategic Gap describes a multi-step process for effectively executing strategy by integrating best business performance management (BPM) practices with the latest information technology. The authors are senior employees of Geac (Comshare, Inc.), one of the leading developers of software for creating and implementing effective business strategies.