Balanced
Scorecard
Balanced
Scorecard is a management system, not just a measurement system that
enables organizations to clarify their vision and strategy and
translate them into action. Balanced Scorecard provides feedback
around both the internal business processes and external outcomes in
order to continuously improve strategic performance and results.
When fully deployed, the Balanced Scorecard transforms strategic
planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an
enterprise.
Balanced
Scorecard has emerged as a proven tool in meeting the many
challenges faced by the modern organization. One should understand
the importance of Balanced Scorecard as a very mighty tool. The
Balanced Scorecard framework is a good place to start — allowing you
to align and support key processes — and to translate strategy into
operational objectives, measures, targets and initiatives.
There are three
keys to making an implementation of Balanced Scorecard successful:
·
Get Buy-In at All Levels: They know you've
got those at the top signed on. Here's an easy way to get everyone
else on board: Tie Balanced Scorecard objectives to individual
compensation. Works like a charm – and gets employees to think
strategically about their jobs.
·
Follow Through: Don't let the Scorecard
metrics languish. Update them as major company goals shift with the
times.
·
Use the Right Tools: You can buy or build an
application that will help you track metrics. The Balanced Scorecard
Collaborative certifies vendor offerings, which you can check out on
their website.
Balanced
Scorecard is a new management concept which helps managers at all
levels monitor results in their key areas. An article by Robert
Kaplan and David Norton entitled "The Balanced Scorecard - Measures
that Drive Performance" in the Harvard Business Review in 1992
sparked interest in the method, and led to their business
bestseller, "The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into
Action", published in 1996.
Companies that
use the Balanced Scorecard methodology get a more accurate,
comprehensive view of their business performance. Balanced Scorecard
approach relies on the monitoring of critical
business-strategy-oriented metrics, such as quality, customer
satisfaction, innovation, and market share—measurements that can
often reflect a company’s economic conditions and growth prospects
better than its reported earnings.
Balanced
Scorecard methodology is more than a set of metrics; it is a system
of linked objectives, measurements, targets, and initiatives that
collectively communicate and measure an organization’s business
strategy. When you implement it effectively, this methodology can
help your company face both internal and external challenges—such as
responding to increased competition and more demanding customers,
translating your vision into measurable objectives, prioritizing
initiatives and allocating resources, and communicating business
strategies.
There's nothing
new about using key measurements to take the pulse of an
organization. What's new is that Kaplan and Norton have recommended
broadening the scope of the measures to include four
areas:
·
Financial
Performance
·
Customer
Knowledge
·
Internal Business
Processes
·
Learning and
Growth.
Benefits of
Balanced Scorecard: Balanced Scorecard analysis for the Microsoft
business intelligence platform offers the following
benefits:
·
Make faster, more informed decisions.
Balanced Scorecard solutions that are powered by Office XP provide a
uniform interface for conducting queries and reporting, and make
these services accessible to the broadest possible user base. They
also offer document management, a collaboration environment, and
search capability that you can use to manage the knowledge easily.
·
Gain a more holistic and accurate view of
business. Balanced Scorecard solutions that are powered by Office XP
help businesses deliver the Balanced Scorecard approach throughout
the enterprise. With all employees are using the same system, it's
easier to analyze your business's progress as a whole. By employing
a flexible and open architecture, Microsoft products offer rapid
deployment and the flexibility to adapt balanced scorecard metrics
to your particular business needs.
·
Quickly identify and resolve potential
problems. You can use Balanced Scorecard solutions that are powered
by Office XP to go beyond the metrics and analyze the underlying
data, so you get both flexible and targeted analysis options. You
get a foundation for data analysis that integrates and standardizes
data from multiple sources and provides an easy way to explore the
data for insights.
