Week 22

What is your understanding on the Balanced Score Card approach? How useful is it for the companies?

In the world of business, balanced score card approach has gained a lot of popularity. While businesses set their objectives related on financial targets and goals of little relevance to long term goals or vision, a gap is built between strategy development and implementation. And to fill that gap, the balanced score card approach is used.

This approach is a great strategic tool that makes an organization able to clear out the strategy and vision and turn them into action. Also it concentrates on both the internal business process involved as well as external outputs in order to enhance the strategic performances, action and results continuously.

Balanced Score Card is a tool that is strategic and managerial to distinguish business activities from visions of an organization.

Balanced Score Card approach into four perspectives, namely:

• ·         Financial perspective
• ·         Customer perspective
• ·         Process
• ·         Innovation

Balanced Score Care is useful for the companies in various ways which are listed below:

• ·         Increment in some useful and creative ideas.
• ·         It helps in filling the gap built between strategy development and implementation.
• ·         It makes an organization able to clear out the strategy and vision and turn them into action.
• ·         It helps to tackle some issues related to performances measurement, rise of intangible assets and strategy implementation.
• ·         It offers all the business operations to the management.
• ·         It gives lot of advantages that includes less time, improved decision and process.
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Identify and list the 20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Card?

The 20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Card are:

1.       Client’s value
2.       Billing value
3.       Contribution to profit
4.       Contribution to revenue
5.       Cost of services delivered
6.       Average bill rate
7.       Consultancy projects managed
8.       Labor multiplier
9.       Billable hours
10.  % chargeable ratio
11.   Certification
12.   Ideas for new services
13.   % attained objective rate
14.   Clients handled
15.   Length of tenure of clients
16.   New client inquires received
17.   % client satisfaction
18.   % customer retention rate
19.   % professional development requirements met
20.   % conversion rate of potential prospects to clients

Present your thoughts and understanding on the article “The Strategic Management process”?

The article “Strategic Management Process” begins with an inspiring tale of Ford’s strategic plan “The Way Forward” by the Ford’s manager in order to match internal’s strengths and weaknesses along with the external chances as well as threats for preserving its competitive benefits. In addition to this, the article defines strategic management process and the phases that are involved in strategic movement.

From the article, I have understood a lot about strategic management that are listed below.

·     Strategic management is an inclusion of planning, evaluation and implementation strategically.

·         It is a procedure to spot as well as generate the action plan of an organization.

·         It matches the company’s ability along with environmental demands.

In simple pictorial representation strategic management process can be shown.

·         The first five strategic management processes are included in strategic planning.

·         Implementation/ execution and evaluation are the last stages.

The article highlights on the 7 step strategic management process which are listed below.

Step 1: Define the current business

This step defines the following:

• ·         What business the firm should be in?
• ·         Strengths, weaknesses and threats of the company
• ·         Business’s vision and direction

Step 2: Perform internal and external audits

This step has an involvement of

• ·         SWOT analysis conduction
• ·         SWOT determination

Step 3: Formulate new business and statements

This stage revolves around

• ·         Situation analysis
• ·         New business selling, vision and mission

Step 4: Translate the mission into strategic goals

• This step includes
• ·         Alteration of missions into strategic goals

Step 5: Formulate strategies to achieve strategic goals

• This step includes
• ·         Strategy that is short yet clear

Step 6: Implement the strategy

• This step includes
• ·         Conversion of strategies into actions
• ·         All management functions being applied

Step 7: Evaluate performance

• This step includes
• ·         Evaluation of performance
• ·         Implementation of strategic control

 References:

balanced scorecard. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2013, from www.balancedscorecard.org: https://balancedscorecard.org/Resources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspx

cambridge mba. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2013, from www.cambridgemba.files.wordpress.com: http://cambridgemba.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/balanced-scorecard-2010-1.pdf