UltraElement12722
In your discussion responses to your classmates, evaluate their…
In your discussion responses to your classmates, evaluate their recommendations. For example:
How well have they assessed the use of the Balanced Scorecard?
Would the supervisor be swayed by their argument?
Can you help make their argument stronger?
What conclusions can you draw about the Balanced Scorecard in practice from the examples shared by your classmates?
How can I respond to the below posts following the above?
Post No. 1 – Hi Class,
I have chosen Scenario A: Your [hypothetical] supervisor has never heard of the Balanced Scorecard. Convince them it is a tool they should be using. You can use an example from your own organization, or one you know of.
Introducing the Balanced Scorecard: A Strategic Tool for Holistic Performance Management
The Balanced Scorecard is a comprehensive framework that enables organizations to translate their strategic objectives into a set of balanced key performance indicators (KPIs) across four crucial perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning & Growth. This approach helps us avoid a narrow focus on financial metrics alone and provides a more holistic view of our organization’s performance (Kaplan & Norton, 1992).
Imagine for a moment that our company wants to improve employee development, internal operations, and client satisfaction. In the past, we might just pay attention to financial metrics like revenue and profit margins. However, this restricted approach could leave out important information about what drives our financial performance.
Looking at the Balanced Scorecard from a financial standpoint, we would track conventional metrics like sales and profitability. When considering the viewpoint of the consumer, we would learn whether our attempts to improve the customer experience are successful. There is also the internal process perspective, where we might track metrics for resource usage, mistake rates, and cycle times. For instance, we may increase customer happiness and cut operating expenses at the same time by locating and fixing bottlenecks in our order fulfillment process. Lastly, there is the learning and growth perspective which emphasizes how important staff development is to innovation and adaptation. Metrics like employee training hours, skill advancement, and job happiness might all be tracked.
By implementing the Balanced Scorecard, we would foster a culture of alignment, accountability, and continuous improvement across our organization. The framework encourages collaboration among different departments and provides a clear line of sight between individual actions and the achievement of our strategic goals. I believe that adopting the Balanced Scorecard could help us make informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, and ultimately achieve our long-term vision.
~Suzan
References:
Kaplan, R.S. & Norton, D.P. (1992). The Balanced Scorecard-Measures that Drive Performance. Retrieved on August 13, 2023 from hbr.org. https://hbr.org/1992/01/the-balanced-scorecard-measures-that-drive-performance-2Links to an external site.
Post No. 2- In my hypothetical business, we are working in the arts and entertainment industry. In the entertainment industry, being unique may be the key to getting ahead. Although, in some cases, being similar to something popular could also get you ahead. While entertainers are likely always keeping an eye on their competitors, it is unlikely that they could balance their business according to any industry standards. Think of movies like It’s a Wonderful Life. When it debuted, it was seen as a box office flop, not even bringing in the amount that was spent on making the movie (21 movies that weren’t super successful at the box office, but are beyond beloved now, 2022). That movie came out in 1946 and, to this day, is one of the most popular and beloved Christmas movies of all time.
If my supervisor at my movie production company wanted to produce a balanced scorecard about our movie production, I would remind them that we work with a lot of intangible metrics, like creativity, innovation, ever-changing consumer tastes which can change based on the social, economic, and emotional climate of everyone globally and locally. For a small movie production company, it would be difficult to understand what our profitability should be compared to the producers of Marvel and Barbie. Even our internal processes need to be adaptable for each project we work on, so our ground rules may adjust based on if we are doing a historically accurate film vs a comedy. I would explain to my supervisor that we may lay out some basic strategies that have worked for us and competitors in the past, but there are so many unseen and unplanned items that go into making a successful film that don’t allow us to have the same roadmap for everything even for some projects that are going on at the same time.
We would also not be able to take into account any specific timelines. As mentioned before, a film could be incredibly successful at the box office, making it an instant success, or could become a cult classic, becoming successful in the long term. Throughout the process, we may not fully understand who our stakeholders are and what they are looking for. With innovation being such a personal characteristic, it is difficult to keep score of which amount or kind of innovation we would be looking to use. For instance, do we want to invest in the high tech special effects to set our movies apart or do we want to rely on unique storytelling that we haven’t seen from other studios? Maybe the answer is both or neither. Maybe our remake of the classic Weekend at Bernie’s will be all we need to become a beloved and respected movie production studio.
Yahoo! (2022, November 17). 21 movies that weren’t super successful at the box office, but are beyond beloved now. Yahoo! News. https://news.yahoo.com/21-movies-werent-super-successful-221603719.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
