How do I know if we’re ready for a Balanced Scorecard? Are there specific conditions that must be met before the Balanced Scorecard can be successful?

asked Mar 24 '10 at 21:15

Dylan's gravatar image

Dylan ♦♦
528212144


There are several basic scenarios that point to a need for increased organizational focus and management discipline that the Balanced Scorecard may be able to provide:

  • Recently developed strategy (corporate, SBU, IT, etc.), needs to be implemented throughout the organization
  • New acquisition/merger
  • Change of leadership
  • Performance measurement system not delivering results
  • Performance measurement is heavily weighted toward financial measurement or “outcome” measures rather than “predictive/lead” measures
  • Initiative proliferation (too many, costing too much)
  • Restructuring/transformation effort planned/underway
  • Failing alliance partnership (refocus)
  • New alliances (focus)
  • Retooling of compensation alignment/HR strategy

    In general, situations where there is a lack of focus or direction, a new strategy, or a need to achieve organizational alignment to a common vision are conducive to a Balanced Scorecard approach.

  • answered Mar 24 '10 at 21:16

    Dylan's gravatar image

    Dylan ♦♦
    528212144

    I would take a different approach to answering this question. We know that Balanced Scorecard programs have not been and will not be successful without leadership involvement and commitment.

    So you then need to ask the question, "Is my leadership committed to a structured approach to managing and executing strategy?"

    I look at Dylan's list above and see many reasons that might drive you to being more committed to managing better, but first and foremost, you must have a leadership team that is looking to solve this challenge. I think there are also many other symptoms of a problem around alignment and execution of strategy.

    • Are your business units competing with each other?
    • Does your leadership team work in silos rather than across departments?
    • Is your competition our performing you consistently?
    • Are your internal targets consistent? Are you able to hit these targets regularly?

    There are a lot of opportunities that come with introducing a structured approach to strategy management as well. If you are looking to take advantage of these opportunities as a leadership team, it might also be a good time to introduce the scorecard. Clearly some of the opportunities are the inverse of the problems listed, but you might also be rolling out new targets or new strategies that you need the business to align around.

    answered Apr 22 '10 at 14:59

    Ted%20Jackson's gravatar image

    Ted Jackson
    1339915

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