QP REVIEWS
Balanced Scorecard Strategy for Dummies
Chuck Hannabarger, Rick Buchman and Peter Economy, Wiley Publishing, 2007, 362
pp., $21.99 (book).
“If you’re not keeping score, you’re just
practicing.” This statement carries a truth of modern business along with the essence of a performance standard.
Developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton of the Harvard Business School, the balanced
scorecard provides a method to manage and measure the performance of an enterprise.
What
was—and still is—radical about their idea is that such a system should include more than basic financial measures.
Other measures, such as those related to customers and internal processes, need to be included for management to have
an accurate view of the enterprise.
The authors offer—in basic terms and
an easily consumed format—a wealth of examples, checklists and tips for implementing a balanced scorecard approach.
The authors provide guidance to create a strategy map that links tactical goals to strategic goals via the four
legs of a balanced scorecard: financial; customer; internal process; and knowledge, education and growth.
The authors provide tools to help the reader understand the role of the four legs
and supply the tools to build that role further. It is a pretty simple formula, and it works. For example, the
sections on knowledge, education and growth outline how to perform a skills inventory, use it in a gap analysis and
translate that analysis into a set of actionable measures that tie into the overall scorecard.
Moving beyond simple measures of the bottom line is still a pretty bold idea. But after
reading Balanced Scorecard Strategy for Dummies, it’s clear that measures are for more than the finance
guys. With a little thought, scorekeeping applies to us all.
Reviewed
by Tim Knight
Evergreen Park, NY
