Leveraging Technology to Improve Balanced Scorecard Success

Bill Barberg
Insightformation, Inc.

Junie Villongco
First Vice President and leader of Financial
Freedom's Office of Strategy Management

The mention of scorecard software causes many veteran consultants and practitioners of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology to groan, sign in despair, or even get a bit hot under the collar. For those truly seeking to apply the principles for creating a Strategy-Focused Organization, the role of software has often been viewed as a necessary evil and something to be avoided for as long as possible. One veteran BSC practitioner, who has lead an organization into the Balanced Scorecard Collaborative's Hall of Fame, explained that after two sincere attempts to select a software vendor, his company was still relying on a manual, Excel-based system. It wasn't a lack of desire for a better technology, but the unwillingness to "sacrifice the integrity of the Balanced Scorecard process." Many others have watched, almost helplessly, as a project that started off focusing on strategy execution transformed into a major IT project and headache.

On the other had, attempting to manage a complex, information-intensive process such as developing and cascading strategy maps and balanced scorecards without the help of technology is a difficult undertaking as well. This presentation delves into the root issues of this conflict and showcases a success story where the introduction of software had a strong positive impact-reinforcing the principles of the BSC methodology, enhancing usability, and energizing executive support.

In this presentation you'll learn:

• The difference between analytical reporting and strategic scorecards (and how they should be addressed as separate, but integrated capabilities)
• Common myths and classic mistakes about measures and alignment
• Why leading measures rarely aggregate up
• Ways to create an organization that understands and prioritizes the execution of strategy

The leader of Financial Freedom's Office of Strategy Management will share the choices that they made to successfully develop and deploy a Balanced Scorecard. In particular, she will share the value they received from hiring one of the world's most respected Balanced Scorecard experts (and some of the advice that helped them the most). She'll explain the valuable role that technology played in building support for their BSC efforts and how the software is streamlining the cascading, maintenance and deployment efforts. Specific benefits that will be highlighted include:

• Rapid software deployment generated organizational energy and executive support for the Balanced Scorecard
• The tight alignment between the software and the BSC theory made the methodology more tangible to employees
• How an Objective-centered (not data-centered) approach allowed them to gain value before they had a data warehouse

Shortly after deploying the software, Financial Freedom's Office of Strategy Management was promoted up two levels in the organization so that it now reports directly to the CEO (and it was authorized for additional headcount).

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