The balance scorecard assignment

The balance scorecard assignment Project description Visit the web site of United Airlines, especially the area that shows the annual report and investor relations information. Explore the companys web site to learn about the companys services and operations. Write a paper, between 3 to 4 pages in length (typed, 12 point font, 1.5 line spacing; 1 inch margins) that responds to the below questions: (1)What is a Balanced Scorecard and what are its key features? (4 points) (2)How can a Balanced Scorecard be used to measure performance? (2 points) (3)Please reflect on the logical relationships between the four key areas of the Balanced Scorecard and comment on how these four areas tie together or relate to one another. (2 points) (4)What do you think are the overall, long-term goals for the company that you analyzed? (2 points) (5)Create a balanced scorecard for the company that you analyzed. Include two to five measures in each of the scorecards perspectives. (8 points) (6)How would the balanced scorecard affect the way managers develop the companys strategy? (2 points) Resources that you might also choose to use: Information in your textbook on Balanced Scorecard. Article The Balanced Scorecard Measures that Drive Performance, by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. The article is available on the course blackboard. The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton Harvard Business Review 92105 HBR JANUARY–FEBRAURY 1992 The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton What you measure is what you get. Senior execu- other. They realize that no single measure can pro- vide a clear performance target or focus attention on tives understand that their organization’s measure- ment system strongly affects the behavior of the critical areas of the business. Managers want a balanced presentation of both financial and opera- managers and employees. Executives also under- stand that traditional financial accounting measures tional measures. Duringayear-longresearchprojectwith12compa- like return-on-investment and earnings-per-share can give misleading signals for continuous improve- nies at the leading edge of performance measure- ment, we devised a ‘‘balanced scorecard’’—a set of ment and innovation—activitiestoday’s competitive environment demands. The traditional financial per- measures that gives top managers a fast but compre- hensive view of the business. The balanced scorecard formance measures worked well for the industrial era, but they are out of step with the skills and com- includes financial measures that tell the results of actions already taken. And it complements the fi- petencies companies are trying to master today. As managers and academic researchers have tried nancial measures with operational measures on customer satisfaction, internal processes, and the or- to remedy the inadequacies of current performance measurement systems, some have focused on mak- ganization’s innovation and improvement activi- ties—operational measures that are the drivers of ing financial measures more relevant. Others have said, ‘‘Forget the financial measures. Improve opera- future financial performance. Think of the balanced scorecard as the dials and tional measures like cycle time and defect rates; the financial results will follow.’’ But managers should indicators in an airplane cockpit. For the complex task of navigating and flying an airplane, pilots need nothavetochoosebetweenfinancialandoperational measures. In observing andworking with many com- detailed information about many aspects of the flight. They need information on fuel, air speed, alti- panies, we have found that senior executives do not rely on one set of measures to the exclusion of the tude, bearing, destination, and other indicators that summarize the current and predicted environment. Reliance on one instrument can be fatal. Similarly, Robert S. Kaplan is the Arthur Lowes Dickinson Professor of the complexity of managing an organization today Accounting at the Harvard Business School. David P. Norton is requires that managers be able to view performance president of Nolan, Norton & Company, Inc., a Massachusetts- based information technology consulting firm he cofounded. in several areas simultaneously. PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET AN AMAZING DISCOUNT :)