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The Balanced Scorecard: A Tool for Enhancing Vision and Getting Results

Not long ago, those seeking to improve organizational performance promoted the mantra "If you can't measure it, it's not worth doing." But business isn't that simple. In 1999, a report from Ernst & Young noted "a growing body of evidence revealing that reliance on financial measures alone will critically undermine the strategies leading-edge companies must pursue to survive and thrive long term." Surely, those things you couldn't measure were also important – but how do you account for them and incorporate them into your strategy?

The Balanced Scorecard: In the 1990s, Dr. Robert Kaplan and David North developed a tool called the Balanced Scorecard. The tool allowed leaders to balance financial measures against other important components of organizational performance, including service to customers, internal business processes, and the development of human capacity. Over the years, the Balanced Scorecard has become a highly sophisticated tool for creating strategies and aligning business operations with those strategies. Today, it is used by more than 57% of businesses worldwide.

The Balanced Scorecard can be used to achieve a number of organizational objectives. For example, according to Bain & Company, it can be used to:

	Clarify or update a business's strategy
	Link strategic objectives to long-term targets and annual budgets
	Track the key elements of the business strategy
	Incorporate strategic objectives into resource allocation processes
	Facilitate organizational change
	Compare performance of geographically diverse business units
	Increase company-wide understanding of the corporate vision and strategy

Mapping the Scorecard: While the Balanced Scorecard allows leaders to create strategies that reflect a complete understanding of all facets of their operation, leaders still face the difficult task of aligning performance with strategies and communicating the importance of strategic objectives across the organization. At Route 2, we provide Visual Mapping solution that clearly represent strategic objectives, assign accountability to people within the organization, and provide clear pictures of the processes that must be changed to support strategy.