Balanced Scorecards and Operational Dashboards with Microsoft Excel, 2nd Edition

Part III

Building Maps, Scorecards, and Dashboards

In This Part

• Chapter 12: Creating Dashboards for Decision-Making
• Chapter 13: Drawing Process and Strategy Maps
• Chapter 14: Using Microsoft Excel for Balanced Scorecards and Dashboards
• Chapter 15: Text-Based Dashboards
• Chapter 16: Custom Labels and Formatting
• Chapter 17: Working with Data That Changes Size
• Chapter 18: Retrieving Data from Lists and Tables of Data
• Chapter 19: Creating Miniature Charts and Tables
• Chapter 20: Controlling Charts with Menus, Combo Boxes, and Buttons
• Chapter 21: Working with PivotTables
• Chapter 22: Working with PowerPivots
• Chapter 23: Smoothing Data and Forecasting Trends
• Chapter 24: Identifying Targets and Displaying Alerts
• Chapter 25: Building Powerful Decision-Making Charts
• Chapter 26: Drilling to Detail
• Chapter 27: Using Excel Add-ins for Extra Capabilities
• Chapter 28: Finishing Touches
• Chapter 29: Data Integration Methods
• Chapter 30: Publishing Balanced Scorecards and Dashboards

Chapter 12

Creating Dashboards for Decision-Making

Entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem. (Entities should not be multiplied more than necessary.)

—“Occam’s Razor”

William of Ockham

1285–1349

A dashboard’s purpose is to aid decision-making. It should not be a display of data, but rather a display of information that has had a template of knowledge applied to it. If your dashboard does not accelerate and improve decision-making, you might as well be displaying streams of raw data onscreen.

You could satisfy the ...