Kent Smack

Kent Smack (born March 1, 1975 in Flemington, New Jersey) is a former two-time member of the U.S. National Rowing Team, ultimately earning his spot to compete for Team U.S.A. at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Kent now serves as Managing Director and President of ESM Software Group, where he is a certified expert in business improvement consulting, strategic planning, and developing Balanced Scorecards to manage and execute strategy.

Kent began his rowing career at Hobart and William Smith Colleges as a novice, joining the team only after learning he would sit on the bench for Hobart's lacrosse team. Kent went on to serve as the crew captain, leading the Hobart Statesmen to the 1996 New York State Championship. Hobart was early to recognize Kent's potential as a rower. Following Kent's graduation, Hobart Rowing began the Kent D. Smack award, recognizing the oarsman who demonstrates the most improvement over his career.

After finishing up his college career, Kent continued his education to earn his master's degree in communications and information systems at Rutgers University in 1999. However, Kent never stopped rowing. In 1999, Kent decidedly won the US men's club singles event, beating his future Olympic teammate, Brett Wilkinson (rower). Kent then moved onto earned his place on Team U.S.A's rowing team in 2001. He competed in the 2001 World Rowing Championships in Lucerne, finishing 13th overall in the world. He later competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens in the men'squadruple sculls, earning a second-place finish in the Olympic Qualification Regatta, and 11th at the Olympic Games.

During his time training as an oarsman, Kent ventured out to develop his professional career as well. Working with Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, co-founders of ESM Software Group, Kent trained and consulted on the Balanced Scorecard methodology for over a decade, publishing multiple articles through the Harvard Business Review. Specializing in SaaS product development and earning an expert certification in business improvement consulting, Kent now supports development of software for Balanced Scorecard reporting in conjunction with strategic management. He is cited as is an innovator of strategy management software that maximizes the value of cloud computing applications to end users. Kent serves as Managing Director and President of ESM Software Group.

• Kaplan, Robert S., et al. Balanced Scorecard Report Volume 5, Number 4. Harvard Business Review, July 2003.
• Kaplan, Robert S., et al. Balanced Scorecard Report Volume 4, Number 6. Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2002.
• Palazzolo, Christopher and Kent D. Smack. "Four Steps to BSC Software Selection." Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2002.
• Smack, Kent D. "How-to's of BSC Reporting Part 1." Harvard Business Review, July. 2003.
• Smack, Kent D. "How-to's of BSC Reporting Part II - The Reporting Meeting." Harvard Business Review, Nov. 2003."