Performance Drivers: A Practical Guide to Using the Balanced Scorecard

Citation

(2000), "Performance Drivers: A Practical Guide to Using the Balanced Scorecard", Work Study, Vol. 49 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ws.2000.07949aae.004

Performance Drivers: A Practical Guide to Using the Balanced Scorecard

Nils Goran Olve, Jan Roy and Magnus WetterJohn Wiley and SonsISBN 0471986232£19.99

Keywords Performance, Management theory, Strategy

The concept of the balanced scorecard was first introduced by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in a Harvard Business Review article in 1992. The complexity of organizations requires managers to view several areas of performance simultaneously - the balanced scorecard enables them to do just that. It gives managers a fast but comprehensive view of the business and allows them to focus on the critical areas, driving the organisation’s strategy forward. Previously, many organizations had built their business objectives around financial targets and goals that bore little relation to a long-term strategic vision. Typically, this leaves a gap between the development of a company's strategy and its implementation. The business scorecard, however, provides a more "balanced view" by looking at not just financial concerns, but also customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. A number of large consultancies advocate the use of the balanced scorecard as a method of performance measurement - and a performance driver. It is not just a system of performance measurement – by focusing on future potential success it can be used as a dynamic management system that reinforces, implements and drives corporate strategy forward. The key in implementing any effective performance measurement system within an organisation is to identify specific areas of measurement and put these into a coherent framework which is linked to overall strategic objectives. This book helps managers do just that by taking an extremely practical approach, building on the work of Kaplan and Norton. Included are international cases of major corporations, such as ABB, Coca Cola, Electrolux, Rank Xerox, Skandia and Volvo. The authors are active as consultants as well as university researchers, so the book is able to unite practical, hands-on experience and reflections on the relations between the balanced scorecard and other areas/methodologies such as TQM, information systems and intellectual capital.