Customer Reviews

Putting the Balanced Scorecard to Work (HBR OnPoint Enhanced Edition)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 1993 Harvard Business Review article, by Harvard Business School professor Robert Kaplan and David Norton, president of Nolan, Norton & Co., builds on their 1992 article 'The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that Drive Performance'. In that article, the authors made it possible for managers to express and measure operational performance.

Acccording to the authors, the balanced scorecard is not a template that can be applied to businesses in general or even industrywide. Therefore, the authors introduce the use of the balanced scorecard within three companies in three different industries - Rockwater (subsea engineering and contruction company), Apple Computers (computers), and Advanced Micro Devices (semiconductors). The authors provide a step-by-step guide to building a balanced scorecard and explain very shortly the link between the balanced scorecard and external reporting. The article concludes with an interview with Larry Brady, executive vice president of FMC Corporation (diversified company in the US), who explains how their organization has implemented the balanced scorecard.

I was disappointed by this article. The weakness in this article is that it is useless without reading the authors' first article on the balanced scorecard. In my opinion this article just provides the reader with examples of the introduction, implementation and use of the balanced scorecard within companies. Okay, the authors provide a useful step-by-step guide for building a balanced scorecard, but that does not make up for the lack of new information/knowledge on the subject. My advice: Get their first article 'The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that Drive Performance, and then read their 1996-article 'Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System' or their 1996-book 'The Balanced Scorecard: Turning Strategy into Action'. The article is written in simple US-English.