Building a balanced scorecard for open source policy and strategy

Abstract

The impact of open source software development has challenged commercial companies and government bodies alike to develop new strategies for a changing information and communication technology (ICT) environment. The balanced scorecard---already a widely recognized management best-practice---is well-suited both as a framework for this imperative, and as a mechanism for knowledge-sharing between industry and public sector managers.First, a balanced scorecard initiative must embrace a multi-disciplinary, multi-stakeholder and community-oriented approach, taking into account the needs of diverse constituencies. Second, public sector e-Government leaders can benefit from the same robust perspective on learning, innovation, and customer satisfaction in addition to financial measures that the balanced scorecard has brought to private sector managers.This paper shares the experience of one commercial company (Microsoft Corporation) taking a balanced scorecard approach to open source policy and strategy development, and offers an analysis of implications and opportunities for e-Government leaders.