Strategic Management Tools and Excellence Models

Abstract

The balanced scorecard (BSC) in Fig. 4.1 is a strategic planning and performance management tool and was first introduced by the accounting academic Dr. Robert Kaplan and business executive and theorist Dr. David Norton. It was first published in 1992 in a Harvard Business Review article (Helmold, 2019). Dr. Kaplan and Dr. Norton took previous metric performance measures and adapted them to include non-financial information. The BSC is the performance metric used in strategic management to identify and improve various internal functions of a business and their resulting external outcomes. It is used to measure and provide feedback to organizations. Data collection is crucial to providing quantitative results, as the information gathered is interpreted by managers and executives, and used to make better decisions for the organization. The BSC system connects the strategic elements like mission, vision, core values, and strategic objectives with the more operational elements such as performance measures, key performance indicators, targets, and actions (projects that help you reach your targets) of the enterprise or organization (Kaplan & Norton, 1992, 1996). The BSC suggests that management views the organization from four perspectives in order to develop objectives, measures (KPIs), targets, and initiatives (actions) relative to each of these points of view: