Executive Summary

Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter provides a description of the balanced scorecard management system, explaining how ‘Strategy Maps’ and ‘Balanced Scorecards’ work together, and what they typically look like.

The chapter explains the five principles (and sub-components) of the strategy-focused organization:
-Mobilize change through executive leadership.
-Translate strategy to operational terms.
-Align the organization to the strategy.
-Make strategy everyone’s everyday job.
-Make strategy a continual process.

At the outset, this chapter will detail the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for succeeding with the Balanced Scorecard.

Chapter 2: The Balanced Scorecard: It’s practice thus far
This chapter provides a practical explication of how organizations
have actually been implementing the Balanced Scorecard since its inception in 1992.

It explains how, and why, the scorecard evolved from a ‘narrow’ management system to a full-bodied strategy implementation system based on the five principles of the strategy-focused organization.

It also shows that although organizations will concur that they primarily use a Balanced Scorecard to implement their strategies, the supporting key motives will differ according to their own requirements. As examples, the scorecard may be used to:
-Create a culture of accountability where accountability has previously been weak
-Educate managers as to the importance of non-financial performance metrics where historically the focus has been essentially financial
-Better communicate strategy to employees and/or other stakeholders where historically communication has been poor.
Based on case examples, this chapter explains why organizations have been using the scorecard, and what they really hoped to get from the exercise.

This chapter also explains that scorecard designs differ considerably in practice: from the classic strategy map with supporting scorecard of objectives, measures, targets and initiatives to scorecards of 5/6 perspectives and no strategy map. This chapter shows different scorecard types and explains the organizational rationale for taking different approaches.
Furthermore, this chapter explains that even ‘classic’ scorecards can be different due to industry/sector diktats, for example changing the perspective ‘hierarchy’ for a public sector organization. Examples of such scorecards will be provided.

Chapter 3: Managing the Scorecard ‘Programme’
To being the process of explaining how to build a scorecard management system, we start with something that is typically missing from the scorecard literature - a template for project managing a Balanced Scorecard design and implementation process. This chapter will explain:
-How to make the ‘business’ case for scorecard design and implementation. Essentially, why do it in the first place, what is the enterprize hoping to achieve?
-How to plan a scorecard programme.
-Who to include in a scorecard implementation project.
-Skills requirements for scorecard ‘project’ members – facilitation, etc.
-When and when not to use external consultants.
-Securing senior management sponsorship and senior champion.
-'Training' people to work with the scorecard.

Chapter 4: How to Create a Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard.
Based on case study examples and thought-leader input, this chapter provides a step-by-step, practical template for building an enterprize-level Strategy Map and Balanced Scorecard. It will detail:
- The importance of ensuring the process is ‘owned’ by senior management
- Designing and running senior management workshops and face-to-face sessions
- Selecting strategic objectives, measures, targets and initiatives
- Creating senior management teamwork
- Dealing with/overcoming any senior management resistance to the scorecard concept
- Ensuring the Scorecard is actionable.
A template for ‘project managing’ this phase will be provided.

Chapter 5: Creating Aligned Balanced Scorecards
This chapter provides a practical, step-by-step template for cascading the Balanced Scorecard deep inside the organization. It explains how to use the enterprize-level scorecard as the basis for creating aligned scorecards at unit, function, team and even individual levels. It explains how to ‘make strategy everyone’s everyday job’.
The chapter outlines the importance of:
- Ensuring people at each level play a role in designing their own scorecards
- Making sure the devolved scorecards reflect the priorities of that level as well as supporting higher-level scorecards
- Strategic communications
- Aligning compensation and appraisal systems with scorecard results.
A template for ‘project managing’ this phase will be provided.

Chapter 6: Ensuring ‘Real-Time’ Strategic Management and Learning.
Based on case examples and thought-leader input, this chapter explains how the Balanced Scorecard should be used as a powerful ‘real time’ strategic management and learning system. It explains how to put in place robust strategic feedback mechanisms and the importance of making the scorecard the centre of management meetings.
It also details the importance of ensuring that data capture and performance reporting systems (probably through electronic or automated scorecard systems) makes it possible for all employees to have access to, and be able to comment on, scorecard performance.
This chapter will also explain that for a Balanced Scorecard Management System to be fully effective it is vital for the scorecard to be integrated into the planning and budgeting processes.
A template for ‘project managing’ this phase will be provided.

Chapter 7: Maintaining Momentum
Given the fact that the scorecard is now over a decade old, this chapter outlines what have been - and are - the CSFs for maintaining scorecard momentum. This chapter will consider how organizations:
-Keep the scorecard ‘alive’ following initial rollout
-Maintain the scorecard when a CEO changes or the senior sponsor leaves
-Continuously improve scorecard usage.
-What have been the CSFs for maintaining momentum?
A template for ‘project managing’ this phase will be provided.

This chapter also sums up the key learnings from the Report. It does this by posing (and providing answers, based on the Report case studies, to) 20 key questions that organizations should ask before, during and after scorecard rollout.
This part of the chapter will also prognosticate on how the scorecard may develop over the next few years.

Appendix A: Directory of Consultants and other useful sources.

Appendix B: Directory of Software Vendors.