BUS499 MODULE 1-4 SLP

Module 1 – SLP

THE BALANCED SCORECARD & THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE

The purpose of the Session Long Project is to give you the opportunity to explore the applicability of the Module to your own life, work, and place in space and time, and to experiment with the Module to see how the otherwise academically rigorous presentation of a topic may, with more or less work and/or trauma, become "up close and personal". This is done in a number of different ways — sometimes cumulative papers, sometimes practical hands-on experimentation with a tool of some sort, sometimes reflections on a place of work or life. The common thread is personal application, aimed at demonstrating a cumulative knowledge and understanding of the course's material. 

For this course, the Session Long Project will take the form of putting together background from each of the four perspectives for a balanced scorecard approach to an organization or organizational unit with which you are familiar. In the final module, you will have a go at strategy mapping. You’re not building a complete balanced scorecard — that would be far beyond our current scope – but you’ll have a chance to see what goes into it and how it gets put together into a coordinated whole. As in the cases, you’ll be drawing on your previous course work to help. 

The Module 1 assignment has two parts. First, you need to identify an organization to which you have access to at least some information concerning financial data; staffing and human resource systems; marketing and customer relations; information systems; and operations. While most material on the Balanced Scorecard is written from the private, for-profit point of view, it’s perfectly possible to use this approach with public or non-profit organizations as well. 

For the second part of this assignment, consider the organization's mission and strategy from the perspective of its financial operations (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such operations are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. If you’re unclear on just what objectives and measures are, here is a presentation that describes what they are and how to write them. 

SLP Assignment Expectations

When you have thought about it and made your selection, please specify (2-3 pages):

• The name of your organization
• What this organization does – its mission, vision and overall strategy
• The access you have to information about this organization — remember, you’ll need information about its financial performance, marketing, internal operations, strategy, and management systems.

Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its finances, and then:

• Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization's financial position, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization's strategy (initiative).

Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in:

Module 1 – Background

THE BALANCED SCORECARD & THE FINANCIAL PERSPECTIVE

Required Reading

Please read the Introduction and Chapters 1-3 of: 

MacKay, A., (2004) A practitioners guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from:http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership _docs/tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced _scorecard_2005.pdf 

Please read Chapter 1 of: 

Murby, L., Gould, S., (2005). Effective Performance Management with the Balanced Scorecard: Technical Report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Retrieved from:http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/ Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_Mgt_with_Balanced_ Scd_July_2005.pdf 

Also review the following to re-familiarize yourself with the concept of mission and vision as they relate to strategy: 

Robin, D. (n.d.) Vision, Mission and Values: Management Tools for Building a Better Workplace. Daniel Robin & Associates. Retrieved from: http://www.abetterworkplace.com/developing-the-organization-and-the-people-in-it/ 

The case assignment article can be found at:

Martello, M., Watson, J., Fischer, M., (2008). Implementing a balanced scorecard in a not-for-profit organization. Journal of Business & Economics Research. 6(9), 67-80. Retrieved from:http://journals.cluteonline.com/index.php/JBER/article/ view/2471/2517 

This web article will be helpful for focusing your SLP. 

Niven, P. (N.D.) Financial perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved fromhttp://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/84-financial-perspective.html 

Optional Reading

American University of Beirut (N.D. Balanced Scorecard Initiative: Guidelines for Building a BSC. Retrieved fromhttp://www.aub.edu.lb/osm/scorecards/Documents/guidelines_for_building_a_bsc.pdf  

Averson, P. (1998). What is the Balanced Scorecard? Balanced Scorecard Institute, a Strategy Management Group company. Retrieved fromhttps://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx 

Measurements for Success. Retrieved from http://www.mystrategicplan.com/strategic-planning-topics/balanced-scorecard.shtml 

QuickMBA (N.D.) The Business Vision and Company Mission Statements. Retrieved fromhttp://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/ 

Sharma, P. (N.D.) Measuring Business strategy through balanced scorecard. Retrieved fromhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/5032771/Balanced-Scorecardfinancial-perspective

Module 2 – SLP

BSC FLEXIBILITY & THE CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

SLP Assignment Expectations

Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its customers/clients/users/service recipients/whatever-you-wish-to-call-them, and then:

• Identify at least three objectives for the organization's customer service perspective and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.
• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization's strategy (initiative).
• Comment briefly on the relationships of the customer service objectives that you've identified here to the financial objectives that you identified in the Module 1 SLP assignment. How do they help to fulfill those objectives? If they don't (and they don't have to), what makes them more important than objectives that would relate to finances?
• Finally, do you wish to make any changes to your Module 1 objective write-up in light of your Module 2 experience? 

Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in (the boxes are expandable – take all the space you need to be complete in your descriptions. No more than 2-3 pages should be necessary.) 

Module 3 – SLP

BSC IMPLEMENTATION & THE INTERNAL BUSINESS PROCESS PERSPECTIVE

For Module 3, consider the organization's mission and strategy from the perspective of its internal business processes (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such business processes are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. Refer back to this presentation on objectives if you need to.

SLP Assignment Expectations

Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its business processes, and then: 

Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization's internal business processes, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization. 

• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).
• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).
• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization's strategy (initiative).
• Comment briefly on the relationships of the process objectives that you've identified here to the finance objectives that you identified in the Module 1 SLP assignment and/or the customer service objectives that you identified in the Module 2 SLP assignment. How do they help to fulfill those objectives? If they don't (and they don't have to), what makes them more important than objectives that would relate to finance or customer service?
• Finally, do you wish to make any changes to your Module 1 or Module 2 objective write-ups in light of your Module 3 experience? 

Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in (the boxes are expandable – take all the space you need to be complete in your descriptions. No more than 2-3 pages should be necessary.)