Scorecard Best Practices

Foreword

Businesses in the modern economy are in a constant balancing act. Each day, business leaders are faced with questions for which their response can have a profound impact on overall organizational success. How do we maintain cost‐effective operations, while ensuring the appropriate resources to both support customers and maintain the right level of product inventory? How do we protect market share today but also prepare for the impact of evolving tastes and demands? How do we develop or acquire the resources necessary to meet new customer and regulatory requirements?

Determining how to grapple with such questions has resulted in an increased emphasis on performance management. Enterprise Performance Management (also called Business or Corporate Performance Management) is about understanding how you have performed and driving improvement for the future. It combines technology for activities such as planning, budgeting, and what‐if analysis, as well as business intelligence data and tools, with processes that support better strategic business decision making.

During my frequent visits to customers and prospects, I see executives faced with similar performance management issues. There is a general appreciation for the traditional performance management activities—budgeting, planning, financial consolidation, and reporting—but organizations sometimes struggle with how to create and align everyone around a corporate strategy. Getting everyone on the same strategic page and moving ...