Balanced Score Card - An Evaluation

Contents

1 INTRODUCTION 2

2 AN EXPLORATION OF THE BALANCE SCORECARD 4

3 IMPLEMENTING A BALANCE SCORECARD INTO COMPUTING SERVICES 6

3.1 FIGURE 1 - COMPUTING SERVICES BALANCE SCORECARD 2006 7

4 A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BALANCE SCORECARD 11

5 CONCLUSION 13

6 RECOMMENDATIONS 14

7 REFERENCES 15

8 BIBLIOGRAPHY 15

9 APPENDIX 1 - DISCOVERY INFORMATION BALANCE SCORECARD - 2006 16

10 APPENDIX 2 - PERFORMANCE PLANNING DOCUMENT - SJB 2006 18

1 Introduction

What is a balance scorecard? Kaplan and Norton (1989) cited in Mooraj et al (1999, P.482) describe it as operational activities aligned to an organisations strategy and then translated in to meaningful objectives. This is then further translated in to effective performance measures that create a forward facing view of the strategy incorporating all areas of an organisation.

Kaplan and Norton (1992) discuss the implementation of the balance scorecard as a performance management tool and highlight several areas for consideration.

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It is not enough to set measures and hope they will be fulfilled. Senior and financial management must work together, involving all levels of an organisation to make it succeed. Unless employees can see the translation of high-level objectives into operational tasks and measures it will be difficult to gain commitment and motivation from staff. "What you measure is what you get" (Kaplan and Norton (1992) P.71). However this can only be true if employees understand what is expected of them.

AstraZeneca is a leading pharmaceutical company with around 66,000 employees worldwide. The company is dedicated to the research and development of products and healthcare for the prevention and cure of unmet medical needs.

Computing Services is a regional group of about 42 employees within the DI (Discovery Information) department. DI delivers IS/IT products and services to the internal Research scientific community (otherwise known...