Scorecard Best Practices

Use of External Consultants

During the implementation of a scorecard system, many organizations consider the use of outside consultants to facilitate the implementation. Consultants offer many services, including:

Strategy development

System design

Education and training

Software selection and implementation

Software development

Data integration

Supporting processes development

Ongoing support

While more than half of respondents in the SHAPs study chose not to use an external consultant, 33 percent made some use of an external consultant and 12 percent made extensive use of an external consultant.

The use of consultants varies with the size of an organization (see Exhibit 8.6 ). Midsized organizations ($500 million to $1 billion in revenues) are the most likely to hire consultants and to make extensive use of consultants.

Exhibit 8.6: Relationship between Organization Size and the Use of Consultants

This pattern of usage is very understandable. Smaller organizations tend to have a less complex and more easily implemented scorecard system, reducing the need for consultants. While larger organizations require a relatively complex system, they are more likely to have in‐house capabilities for implementing these systems. Midsized companies often have complex system requirements, but not the in‐house resources to facilitate the implementation.

The use of an outside consultant in the implementation ...