Literature review
The current stage of the evolution of the business environment resulted in the significant reconsideration of the approach towards the management and the main tools used to align the functioning of a company or organization. The growth of the level of rivalry has given rise to a great number of concerns discussed by the researchers. However, the most significant issue is connected with the level of the performance of a company and its profitability.
These two aspects determine the success of any project and create the basis for its further evolution. In this regard, the concepts of the new tools aimed at the improvement of the performance of the company become an integral part of the modern business environment. The ardent debates around the perspectives of various tools and the principles which should be used as the basis resulted in the recognition of the importance of the precise and detailed analysis of the functioning of a company to determine its strength and weakness. The results could help to achieve the improvement of the performance and showings of the company. These ideas provided the basis for the evolution of the Total Quality Measurement (TQM) and its main tools.
TQM is related to the performance of a company and the functioning of its departments. Being the important remedy needed for the development of any organization, TQM has also given rise to some other concepts. For example, the balanced scorecard is a strategic planning system which should be considered in terms of the TQM. The appearance of the given system is taken as the logic evolution of the complex of analysis tools which evaluated the essential aspects of the functioning of the company and provided the structured information needed for the further development.
Balanced Scorecard has been introduced recently; however, the companies recognize its great use and implement its main concepts into their functioning (Mackay 9). Such a great rise evidences the high efficiency of the given tool and introduces the perspectives for its further growth in terms of the existing business environment. The prevalence of TQM and Balanced Scorecard also initiated the ardent discussion in the academic circles focused on the determination of the main principles of the given practice and its possible implementation areas. The review of the literature related to the tool will help to determine its key aspects and understand the nature of debates.
Kaplan states that Balanced Scorecard is the system which is based on the concept of the fundamentality of measurement for the functioning of any organization (4). The given nature of the concept has a great impact on the way it functions and principles which serve as the basis for the system. The principle of measurability is considered to be the fundamental one for the BSC by scientists (Kaplan 10).
Analyzing the most important showings connected with the functioning of a company, BSC creates certain indicators which might help to determine the problematic aspects and initiate the process of change. In other words, BSC tends to present the information in the compressed and structured form, creating the unique scorecard to inform managers. The created scorecard is the essential part of the given tool and the issue of TQM as it poses concepts related to the performance of a company and its profitability.
Hence, Gumbus also admits the fact that BSC expands financial measures into several dimensions to create the balanced approach to evaluate the performance of a company (617). These dimensions are Customer Focus, Learning and Growth, Internal Business processes and Finances (Kaplan 12). The aspects are taken as the most important ones for the functioning of any company and the data describing their functioning could help managers to create the most efficient strategic plan.
The reason for the great popularity and spread of BSC is the outstanding perspectives for the implementation. A number of scientists underline the universal character of the given tool and seek to determine the possible spheres of its application. However, Kaplan stresses the fact that there is hardly a limit for BSC (15). The flexibility of the given tool comes from the principle of measurability which is basic for it.
The functioning of any modern company or organization implies the usage of a great number of statistical data which could be analyzed with the help of BSC. The created scorecards will trigger the process of the reconsideration of the approaches used in a company and creation of new efficient strategies. The range of use of BSC involves all spheres of human activity starting with the humanitarian sphere and ending with the military one. Besides, Radnor and Lovell underlines the facts of the usage of BSC in the healthcare sector and predict its further development in terms of the modern medicine (176).
The tools obvious advantages are another reason which promotes the evolution of BSC and companies adherence to its concepts. The most important one is underlined by the majority of researchers and provided as the evidence of the profitability of BSC. It is the detailed and comprehensive analysis of four above-mentioned dimensions which have a great impact on the performance of an organization (Mackay 15). The obtained scorecards provide the most important information in the structured form. It promotes the better understanding of the main concerns and implementation of new practices (Mackay 15).
The relative simplicity of the BSC is taken as its next undeniable advantage. The usage of the given tool does not imply complex equipment and extraordinary investments (Kaplan 7). Any company could afford the BSC and analyze the factors which influence the performance. Finally, BSC could introduce the ardent discussion about the practices used by a company and result in the reconsideration of the approaches used by the management.
Yet, there are still some disputable questions introduced by BSC. Some researchers tend to consider the adherence to the principle of measurability to be the weakness of the given tool (Upadhyay, Upahhyay, and Palo 449). The given claim rests on the idea that the functioning of any company is comprised of many tiniest details which could not be measured. For this very reason, the information obtained due to the scorecards is not complete as a number of facts are ignored.
This perspective gives rise to numerous discussions connected with TQM and the sphere of HR management. Criticizing the fundamental principle of BSC, it also doubts some other approaches which are based on the same principle. At the current stage of the development of BSC, these claims are very topical and reasoned. However, the opponents of the given point of view provide an objection stating that this drawback could be correct by the further development of BSC.
Although, the scale of the spread of BSC is significant nowadays. The given analysis tool is implemented in various fields. Radnor and Lovell discuss the usage of BSC in the public sector National Health Service, underlining the positive impact it has on the performance of the establishments employing this measurement tool (175). The given research presents the BSM from the perspective of the healthcare sector and emphasizes its great role in it.
Furthermore, there is the evidence of the usage of BSC in libraries. Mano and Creaser review the literature related to the functioning of the given measurement tool in terms of library environment and compare the outcomes (para. 9). The conclusions show that it helps to align the efficient functioning of a library and establish the clear model of the library management. The possible sphere of application of BSC also implies its usage in the sphere of leadership. The research provides the analysis of the evolution of personal values of the employees under the influence of BSC (Upadhyay, Upahhyay, and Palo 447).
It evidences that the scorecards have the positive influence on the cultivation of skills and values. Finally, the BSC is also used in the sphere of small and large business to guarantee the constant monitoring of the most important aspects of the work of a company and control its performance. For these reasons, the investigation proves that BSC has outstanding perspectives for its implementation. This fact guarantees the growth of the interest towards this measurement tool and its gradual extension.
The above-mentioned information related to BSC initiates an ardent discussion. Its major concern is whether this measurement tool could be taken as the universal one or not. The main claims are related to measurability and the showings analyzed by BSC. There is still no consensus on the perspectives and potential of the tool and its efficiency. However, the analysis of the literature connected with its main aspects and possible spheres of application proves the idea that the improvement of BSC should be continued.
It helps to obtain the clear and structured data necessary for the reconsideration of the inefficient approaches or monitoring of the state of an organization. Nowadays, BSC is widely used in various spheres of human activity, guaranteeing the detailed investigation with the help of scorecards. The researchers underline the great perspectives of the measurement tool and insist on the continuation of the investigation of this field. BSC is one of the modern practices which becomes an integral part of our world.
Reflection
- Heading a company or organization, it is vital to keep in mind the fact that the level of the performance is the most important showing. This idea proves the necessity of the usage of BSC to introduce constant monitoring of the situation and the possibility for the timely process of change in case of emergency. BSC provides the analysis of the most important dimensions which are Customer Focus, Learning and Growth, Internal Business processes and Finances. As the top executive of a company, I will insist on the usage of this measurement tool to monitor the above-mentioned aspects. There should also be four main focus areas related to the implementation of BSC. These areas are connected with the dimensions and guarantee the close interaction between all elements of BSC and the company. Additionally, the implementation of any measurement tool demands the credible data connected with the functioning of a company. For this reason, the data capture should become another focus area needed for the implementation of BSC. The scorecards will be efficient only if the credible information is analyzed. In this regard, the quality of data should be checked and only the most important and up-to-date information should be provided. Creation of these focus areas might help to make the process of the implementation of BSC less complicated and contribute to the better final results.
- IT technologies are an integral part of the modern world. They provide many opportunities for the improvement of various spheres of activity and reconsideration of some approaches. Information technologies also contribute to the development of various evaluation or measurement tools introducing new practices and suggesting new equipment. The BSC could obviously benefit from the usage of IT technologies in the process of its implementation and maintenance. First of all, the initiation of the usage of this tool should be preceded by the creation of the needed software which will provide the control over the process and calculate the possible complications. However, the major concern of IT technologies in terms of the functioning of BBC is the data processing and its origination for the analysis. This fact provides the basis for the creation of a special IT department focused on the promotion of the implementation of BSC into the functioning of a company. It follows from these facts that the cooperation between this department and the given measurement tool will result in the creation of the efficient tandem that will contribute to the development of the company. This brings us to the conclusion that IT technologies should obviously be used while implementing BSC.
Works Cited
Gumbus, Andra. “Introducing the Balanced Scorecard: Creating Metrics to Measure Performance.” Journal of Management Education. 29. 4 (2005): 617-630. Web.
Kaplan, Robert. Conceptual Foundations of the Balanced Scorecard. 2010. Web.
Mackay, Allan. A Practitioner’s Guide to the Balanced Scorecard. n.d. Web.
Mano, Marta and Claire Creaser. “The impact of the Balanced Scorecard in libraries: From performance measurement to strategic management.” Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. (2014): n. pag. Web.
Radnor, Zoe and Bill Lovell. “Defining, Justifying and Implementing the Balanced Scorecard in the National Health Service.” Journal of Medical Marketing: Device, Diagnostic and Pharmaceutical Marketing. 3.3 (2003): 174-188. Web.
Upadhyay, Archana, Ashok Upadhyay and Sasmita Palo. “Strategy Implementation Using Balanced Scorecard. Achieving Success through Personal Values of Leaders and Employees.” Management and Labour Studies. 38.4 (2013): 447-469. Web.