Strategic Planning and Balanced scorecard

A balanced scorecard (BSC) is a vital tool that assists the organization in strategic planning and management. The main advantage of a BSC is that it enables the management to view an organization holistically. Thus, eliminating or minimizing the possibility of overemphasizing on financial objectives while disregarding other vital areas of the business such as customer perspective, organizational capacity, and the internal organizational processes (Oslen 00:01- 04:38). The BSC is also advantageous because it improves the communication of the firm's strategy to the relevant stakeholders as the employees have clear objectives to meet the relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) (Quesado, Guzman, and Rodrigues, 186). Additionally, a balanced scorecard enhances the firm's performance reporting because the individuals and the management knows what is required to be reported based on the strategic plans and objectives. BSC enables organizations to measure the performance of their initiatives, thus identifying areas that need to be adjusted. The BSC is also crucial in ensuring that the organizational strategic goals are aligned with its employees, the strategic initiatives, and the organizational structure.

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Nonetheless, managers should utilize the BSC to monitor and guide their performance. The managers should set goals and objectives for each of the four categories or perspectives of the BSC. Then, they must establish measurements to monitor the progress and guide the goals of each of the four BSC categories. The managers will use the KPIs to assess the performance of the organization concerning the previously set objectives and targets. For instance, the management can embrace financial KPIs such as net profit in evaluating and adjusting the financial performance of the organization. Customer surveys may be used to assess and guide the goals of the customer perspective, such as a 20 percent increase in market share and a 5 percent rise in customer satisfaction. Also, the management may use an employee rating scale to evaluate employees' satisfaction with the organization as related in the organizational capacity perspective. The use of different metrics will ensure that managers are effectively using the BSC not only to assess the performance of each BSC category but also offer guidance and make the necessary adjustments where required. Also, the BSC can assist the management in evaluating and guiding performance through periodical reports, and monthly and quarterly meetings (da Costa Ferreira 8-9).

Works Citedda Costa Ferreira, A. M. S. "How managers use the balanced scorecard to support strategy implementation and formulation processes." Tekhne 15.1 (2017): 2-15

Olsen, Erica. "Strategic Planning with the Balanced Scorecard." YouTube, uploaded by Virtualstrategist, 16th Dec. 2009, https://youtu.be/AdXt8BfiGJgQuesado, Patricia, Guzman, Beatriz Aibar, and Rodrigues, Lucia Lima. "Advantages and contributions in the balanced scorecard implementation." Intangible capital 14.1 (2018): 186-201.