Balanced Scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard is an organizational framework for implementing and managing strategy at all levels of an enterprise by linking objectives, initiatives, and measures to an organization’s strategy. The scorecard provides an enterprise view of an organization’s overall performance. It integrates financial measures with other key performance indicators around customer perspectives, internal business processes, and organizational growth, learning, and innovation. Since the concept was introduced in 1992, Balanced Scorecards have been implemented at corporate, strategic business unit, shared service function, and individual levels at hundreds of organizations in both the private and public sectors -- worldwide.
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Why Scorecarding? Translate strategy to action, making strategy everyone’s job. Manage the intangible assets e.g. customer loyalty, innovation, employee capabilities. Leverage cross functionality without changing the structure of the business. Measure what matters the critical few vs. the important many in real-time, not just after the fact. Create a daily management system for the day-to-day navigation of the business. |
To "Scorecard" Successfully Reach cross-functional agreement on strategic direction Translate the strategy into staff’s "everyday speak" Understand the cause and effect of linkages between strategy/process capability Identify the measures of success; critical strategic initiatives; and process drivers Set up accountability contracts Cascade the Scorecard into the organization |
What You’ll Get Alignment and focus of the organization around a common purpose and strategic direction Resource prioritization and allocation An on-going feedback mechanism to make real-time, mid-course adjustments to priorities A set of balanced metrics "Now I understand how I contribute to the business strategy -- and the bottom line!" |
Balanced Scorecards are not Institutionalized within Organizations
Many organizations treat the balanced scorecard as a report that must be completed on a periodic basis. When asked to see the organization’s scorecard the scorecard manager will dust off the three-ring binder on the shelf behind their desk and pull out a series of Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint slides which are at least a month but most likely a quarter old. In some instances these reports will be posted in the organization’s common areas or e-mailed. The problem is that these reports are snapshots in-time and do not reflect the current measure status and may not even reflect the current scorecard structure. It will be impossible for the organization to become strategy focused if the scorecard is not communicated and institutionalized.
The idea of the scorecard is to provide an on-going, living, sustainable framework which is communicated to the organization on-demand or even pushed at employees. This is accomplished in two ways:
- The scorecard needs to be sustainable and easy to roll-out. Scorecards should leverage technology to provide automated links to measure, text, and initiative management data.
- The scorecard must become part of the organization’s culture and employee’s work experience. We’ve found that an easy to deploy and embrace web based system will allow for rapid institutionalization of the scorecard.
Institutionalizing the Scorecard
One of the major challenges in implementing the balanced scorecard is sustaining and institutionalizing the Scorecard’s standardized framework within your organization. Using a software product will allow for everyone in the organization to clearly understand the cause-and-effect relationships and do the strategy; align the organization to strategy; and provide measurement and a continuous feedback mechanism to make corrections and reach the desired state.
Visum’s Solutions
Visum has two distinct balanced scorecard software products which help develop, deploy, and institutionalize the balanced scorecard. They are:
QPR ScoreCard
QPR ScoreCard is a robust performance management tool. QPR ScoreCard monitors, communicates, and automates your organization’s performance management initiatives. QPR Scorecard is a thin-client web solution--its powerful and efficient N-tier open architecture allows for large-scale deployment across any geography. QPR ScoreCard uses industrial strength databases, including either Oracle, MS SQL, or DB2.
Strategy Map PRO
Strategy Map Pro is an easy-to-use, content driven, interactive graphical tool which creates and maintains Strategy Maps. Strategy Map Pro allows user to build and communicate their strategy in simple terms. Strategy Map Pro is ideal for small to mid sized organizations or organizations starting the balanced scorecard/strategy mapping process.
Download "Balanced Scorecards as Strategic Navigational Charts" White PaperDownload "Balanced Scorecard Assessments" White PaperDownload Balanced Scorecard Case StudiesDownload Free Trial SoftwareDownload QPR ScorecardDownload Strategy Map PRODownload Product BrochureTry QPR Scorecard demo online