WWhat is Balanced Scorecard? Definition
Balanced Scorecard FAQ and Terms
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Balanced Scorecard FAQ and Related Terms SiteMap
  1. What is a Balanced Scorecard definition?
  2. Reasons for Implementing Balanced Scorecard?
  3. Balanced Scorecard and Related Terms?
  4. What are Balanced Department Scorecards?
  5. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Economic Value?
  6. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Activity Based Management?
  7. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Six Sigma?

1.  Define a Balanced Scorecard?

Purpose of Business or Corporate Balanced Scorecard is:

  • at top of performance measurement system
  • designed to measure degree of success in implementing business strategy
  • designed to have broad range of performance measures that better reflect all thing an organization needs to be successful
  • generally has 3 or more categories or perspectives of performance measures
  • Norton/Kaplan use
    • financial,
    • internal,
    • customer,
    • growth and learning

Many organizations use:

  • Baldrige Aware
  • ISO 9001
  • Tableau d'Bord

Most commonly used categories are:

  • finance
  • customer
  • organizational
  • operational
  • technology
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2. Reasons for Implementing Balanced Scorecard?

  • Improve alignment so all employees marching to same strategy
  • Inform everyone how their job affects strategy
  • Balance financial and non-financial indicators
  • Balance long-term and short-term goals
  • create leading as well as lagging indicators
  • better evaluate if your strategy is working
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3. Balanced Scorecard and Related Terms

  • Balance Scorecard: approach is to focus on strategy and is balanced with financial, customer, process, and growth and learning perspectives
  • Balanced Scorecard Strategy Maps: used with Balanced Scorecard to visually show connections between goals and strategy
  • the balanced scorecard: some people like to put "the" before everything
  • Key Performance Indicators: part of balanced scorecard but can be used without balanced scorecard
  • Performance Scorecard: might not be balanced and might not focus on strategy but just performance
  • Business Dashboard or Scorecard Dashboard: might not be balanced and might not focus on strategy just performance
  • Balanced Performance Scorecard: focuses on strategy; is balanced with financial, customer, process, and growth and learning perspectives
  • Business Scorecards: might not be balanced and might not focus on strategy
  • Strategy Scorecards: might not be balanced
  • Performance Dashboards: might not be balanced nor focus on strategy but just performance
  • Management Dashboard: might not be balanced and might not focus on strategy just performance
  • Balanced Scorecards for Divisions, Locations, Departments: individual balanced scorecard for divisions, locations, departments rather than balanced scorecards for organization as a whole
  • Executive Dashboards & Executive Scorecards: might not be balanced and might not focus on strategy just performance
  • Balanced Scorecard Management: includes balanced scorecard creation, updating, reporting and management.
  • Business Metrics:  business metrics may not be focused on strategy and may not be balanced
  • Balanced Scorecard Strategy: the purpose of the balance scorecard is not to create a strategy although once the strategy is created the balanced scorecard helps to determine if the strategy is being executed and needs to be revised. Some organizations which create a strategy focused organization could say that strategy falls under a Balanced Scorecard Strategic Management system.
  • bsc: abbreviation for Balanced Scorecard
  • Balanced Scored in services, manufacturing, government, and non-profit: Balanced Scorecard is used in all types of organizations throughout the world
  • Strategy Focused Organizations: a strategy focused organization uses the balanced scorecard to align all its employees so they understand how what they are doing contributes to strategy and know the key performance indicators they must achieve in order for organization to achieve its strategic goals
  • Kaplan Norton Balanced Scorecards: Robert Kaplan and David Norton are viewed as originators of Balanced Scorecard
  • kpi scorecards: kpi is abbreviation for Key Performance Indicators which are incorporated into a Balanced Scorecard. Organizations can use a scorecard which is not balanced and which does not focus on strategy and still use kpi (key performance indicators)
  • strategic scorecards: a strategic scorecard focuses on strategy but it may not be balanced
  • metrics scorecards and metrics dashboards: all metrics scorecards and metrics dashboards have some types of performance measures, but not all metric scorecards and metrics dashboards are balanced and not all are focused on strategy
  • Balanced Scorecard Measurement: all balanced scorecards incorporate some type of measurement that is related to strategy. Finding the correct kpi (key performance indicators) is often one of the toughest parts of creating a balanced scorecard
  • Strategic Balanced Scorecards: the basic concept of a Balanced Scorecard is to focus on strategy and to balanced perspectives to include finance, customer, process, plus growth and learning.
  • the balanced scorecard translating strategy into action: the main purpose of the balanced scorecard approach is to translate a strategy (which is often not understood or known by most employees) into tangible action related to key performance indicators (kpis)
  • Balanced Scorecards & Operational Dashboards:  some would say that the Balanced Scorecard is an executive management tool and Operational Dashboard used by various departments are used to support Organizational level Balanced Scorecard
  • Organizational Alignment: one of main purposes of Balanced Scorecard method or approach is to get everyone aligned. This means making decisions that support the organization strategy to achieve its goals
  • Balanced Scorecards Performance Measurement: Using the Balanced Scorecard incorporates performance measurement in order to see if the organization is achieving its strategy and thus its goals. Not all Performance Measurement systems use a strategy focus like the Balanced Scorecard does.
  • Financial Scorecards: financial scorecard is only 1 of 4 Balanced Scorecard perspectives. Other 3 perspectives are customer, processes, plus growth and learning. All to often organizations focus on financial scorecard and ignore these other these perspectives.  
  • Balanced Scorecard System: a balanced scorecard system incorporates a variety of tools and techniques which may include:
    Office of Strategic Management
    4 perspectives: financial, customer, process, growth and learning
    leading and lagging indicators
    strategy maps
    feedback loop
    department scorecards
  • Balanced Scorecard Performance Management: performance management can be achieved using a number of different methodologies including: Balanced Scorecard, Quality, Lean Thinking, Performance Measures, Dashboards, Scorecards, Key Performance Indicators. Most other techniques are not as encompassing as the balanced scorecard is.
  • Balanced Scorecard Perspectives: refers to four viewpoints of monitoring and executing strategy and includes financial, customer, processes, plus growth and learning.
  • Balanced Scorecard Key Performance Indicators: Balanced Scorecard uses 4 perspectives (financial, customer, processes, growth and learning). For each indicator, an organization would create key performance indicators to support those 4 perspectives.
  • Balanced Scorecard Public Sector or Government: balanced scorecard for government or public sector entities like federal, state, county and local governments, balanced scorecard often starts with customer or mission perspective. It then asks what processes, what growth and learning, and finally what financial resources are needed to achieve goals and strategy.
  • Balanced Scorecard Report and Review: purpose of balanced scorecard report or review is to show how organization is performing against its key performance indicators (kpis). If organization is performing well against its key performance indicators then it should be achieving its strategy and thus its goals. If it is performing well against its kpis and it is not achieving its goals then its strategy may be faulty. Human resources and information technology balanced scorecards should support organizational balanced scorecards.
  • Balanced Scorecard nonprofit organizations: balanced scorecard for non profits like hospitals, balanced scorecard often starts with mission perspective. It then asks what processes, what growth and learning, and finally what financial resources are needed.
  • Corporate Balanced Scorecard: it most corporations it is best to start with a corporate level balanced scorecard and then create division, location, department, and cost center balanced scorecard.
  • Evaluation Scorecards:  Balanced Scorecards are used to evaluate how an organization is doing in achieving its strategy.  Although all scorecards can be used for evaluation, not all scorecards focus on strategy and are balanced.
  • Balanced Scorecard Process: implementing the Balanced Scorecard is a long term process. For large organizations it can take 3-5 years to create and modify and introduce throughout all levels of the organization plus tie compensation to key performance indicators or metrics. The first pass of a corporate balanced scorecard can take 3-4 months depending how dedicated executives are to this process.
  • Service Balanced Scorecard: service balanced scorecards for service organizations work similar to any other type of balanced scorecards. Balanced Scorecards for service functions like customer service, accounting, technology, hr, IT, call center, marketing, sales, and supply chain start with organization balanced scorecard. They create a functional or service balanced scorecard that supports the organizational scorecard.
  • Personal Balanced Scorecard: a Personal Balanced Scorecard or an employee balanced scorecard is one of final steps in creating a balanced scorecard. The organization starts with an executive balanced scorecard for entire organizations. It then creates division, location, functional/service/department balanced scorecards that support the organizational scorecard. Project Balanced Scorecards are created where appropriate. Finally individuals creates a personal balanced scorecard that relates to their functional balanced scorecard as well as organizational balanced scorecard.
  • Customer Satisfaction Balanced Scorecard: customer satisfaction balanced scorecard is especially useful for your major customers.  For customer balanced scorecard focus on goals to be achieve for particular customer or industry. It should relate to corporate balanced scorecard.
  •  Six Sigma Balanced Scorecard Six Sigma can be used with a Balanced Scorecard. Some organizations like Malcolm Baldrige winners might use Six Sigma as their overriding Performance Management system. For most organizations Balanced Scorecard is overriding Performance Management system which uses Six Sigma (quality) to create Key Performance Indicators (kpis) which support strategy.
  • Benefits of Balanced Scorecard: major benefits of balanced scorecard concept include aligning everyone, kpis related to strategy, strategy related to goals, 4 perspectives, leading and lagging indicators, etc.
  • Balanced Scorecard Tools: Balanced Scorecard toolkit include leading and lagging indicators, 4 perspectives, strategy maps, etc.
  • Cascading Balanced Scorecards: cascading balanced scorecards start with an organizational scorecard, then create division, location, department, and project scorecards that support the organizational scorecard.
  • Balanced Scorecard Customer Perspective: Customer Perspective is one of 4 Balanced Scorecard perspectives. Customer perspective asks the question: What do I need to accomplish to satisfy my customers in order to reach my financial goals. In nonprofit and government organizations, this is often the starting perspective rather than financial perspective. This perspective in nonprofit balanced scorecards and publish sector balanced scorecards often starts with mission of nonprofit or public sector entity.
  • Balanced Scorecard Learning and Growth Perspective: 4th Balanced Scorecard Perspective is Learning and Growth. Learning and Growth asks: " What do employees need to learn in order to perform their processes to satisfy their customers and reach our financial goals?" Learning and Growth also asks: "What systems, technology, computer software do we need to better perform our processes and satisfy our customers and reach our financial goals?"
  • Balanced Scorecard Problems: Balanced Scorecard has problems just like any other technique. These problems are not all directed related to Balanced Scorecard itself. Some organizations don't have a strategy, they only have goals. Some organizations don't want to be held accountable. Using correct KPIs is important. Relating Balanced Scorecard to budgets and compensation are important. Balanced Scorecard is not a magic bullet. Balanced Scorecard takes hard work.
  • Balanced Scorecard Theory: Balanced Scorecard Theory starts with organizational goals and creates a strategy to achieve those goals. Then it uses strategy maps and 4 perspectives for financial, customer, process, growth and learning to create key performance indicators to align employees to achieve strategy. It also uses leading and lagging indicators to forecast problems rather than just after the fact indicators.
  • Internal Audit Balanced Scorecard: Some organizations use Internal Audit less for financial auditing and more for process improvement. Utilizing Internal Audit to help ensure correct KPIs and strategy maps are being used is a great way to improve results.
  • Balanced Scorecard Initiatives: Organizations need to prioritize, fund, and coordinate their initiatives within framework of Balanced Scorecard.  Otherwise good intentioned employees will on innovations and improvements that may not totally support balanced scorecard objectives. 
  • Balanced Scorecard Pros and Cons: Balanced Scorecard approach pros include it is excellent way to achieve alignment. It can start with organization goals, strategy and develop strategy maps and kpis to support strategy. Balanced Scorecard method should be related to operational and capital budgets and compensation. Balanced Scorecard Cons is that it is not a silver bullet. Balanced Scorecard works only is senior executives support and put time into creating, updating, and managing by Balanced Scorecard.
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 4. What are Balanced Department Scorecards?

Department Balanced Scorecard has same performance measurement categories as BSC. They contain commonly shared performance measures from BSC, and any additional performance measures needed to measure success of department.

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5. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Economic Value?

Economic Value is financial goal.  However, organizations need to understand how customer, process, and growth/learning affect that financial goal.  Balance Scorecard integrates this one financial performance measure with non-financial indicators that indicate where an organization is achieving its strategy and long-term financial goals.

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6. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Activity Based Management?

Balanced Scorecard determines proper measures to achieve your strategy and long-term financial goals.  Activity Based Management helps you:

  • determine proper department and process goals
  • identify root causes of problems
  • create action plans to improve your activities and processes so you can achieve your Balanced Scorecard targets. 
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7. Integration of Balanced Scorecard with Six Sigma?

Balanced Scorecard determines proper measures to achieve your strategy and long-term financial goals.  Six Sigma helps you:

  • identify root causes of problems
  • create action plans to improve your activities and processes so you can achieve your Balanced Scorecard targets. 
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Call John Antos or Steve Peacock at 972.980.7407 to find out how we can help you reach your goals and give your peace of mind

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