Alignment: Using the Balanced Scorecard to Create Corporate Synergies

CHAPTER ONE

ALIGNMENT A SOURCE OF ECONOMIC VALUE

ON FALL AND SPRING WEEKENDS, we often see eight-person shells racing up the Charles River separating Boston and Cambridge. Although each shell contains strong, highly motivated athletes, the key to their success is that they row in synchronism. Imagine a shell populated by eight highly conditioned and trained rowers, but with each rower having a different idea about how to achieve success: how many strokes per minute were optimal and which course the shell should follow, given wind direction and speed, water current, and a curvy course with multiple bridge underpasses. For eight exceptional rowers to devise and attempt to implement independent tactics would be disastrous. Rowing at different speeds ...