Press Release: January 25th 2016
Balanced Scorecard Survey – 2015 Report. During October and November last year we conducted our fourth Balanced Scorecard Survey. For the second time we have worked in collaboration with 2GC Active Management who has been conducting their own survey for the past ten years. We were delighted that we could get together and pool our resources to provide a better survey.
Some of the notable characteristics of this year’s survey are:
- This year the proportion of respondents from the Americas was lower, but there was an equivalently greater response from respondents in Asia and the Far East;
- The most common usage for Balanced Scorecard is at the Executive level, and the most common role for Balanced Scorecard is to inform on strategy implementation activities, this result is similar to the results found in previous surveys;
- Most of the respondents reported that their Balanced Scorecards have measures and targets however, in some cases not all the metrics are fully defined and not all the targets have been set. Tis indicates that the design of the scorecard is incomplete or that a strategic methodology has not been followed;
- The reported Balanced Scorecards appeared to work by influencing the actions and behaviours of managers within the organisation. However around 50% of respondents say that there are no consequences for missing targets, an indication that managers are not being held accountable for the results.
- A majority of respondents’ reported links between their Balanced Scorecards and Planning and Budgeting processes, and around half with Quality and Risk management – this is very encouraging as it shows how well integrated the tool is with general management practices.
- A surprising number of organisations do not use any software tools to manage their scorecards and just over a third use spreadsheets. However, dedicated software such as QuickScore is increasingly being used.
Overall, the survey shows that Balanced Scorecard remains an important and effective management tool, one whose value relies on sponsorship by senior managers, full implementation and regular review of results to achieve the expected benefits.
For more information about the Balanced Scorecard take a look at our short ‘explainer‘ video or better still attend one of our Balanced Scorecard Professional (BPS) classes.
