E$1\mathrm{.}3($LO $1),$ AP The management team at Clarence$$s$,$ a fast$-$er food option specializing in take$-$out lunches, spent some time thinking through the company$$s mission, strategy, and objectives for the upcoming year. The following balanced scorecard reflects the culmination of the team$$s work.

Objectives

Initiatives

Measures

Targets

Actual

Financial

Increase revenues

Total revenues

$$5,000,000$

Increase margins

Gross margin $\%$

$45\%$

Customer

Increase customer satisfaction

Average customer satisfaction rating

$4\mathrm{.}5$ out of $5$

Increase new customers

$\%$ of new customers

$25\%$ or more of sales volume

Internal Business Process

Decrease time from order placed to meal served

Time from order placed to meal served

$18$ minutes or less

Reduce rework

$\%$ of meals sent back per week

$2\%$ or less of total meals served

Learning and Growth

Increase employee training

$\%$ of employees completed training

$100\%$ of employees

Increase employee satisfaction

Average employee satisfaction rating

$4\mathrm{.}5$ out of $5$

Required

Does this balanced scorecard reveal Clarence$$s approach for generating higher returns for its owners? Explain.

The management team has not yet identified specific initiatives that might increase the likelihood of achieving its objectives. In the scorecard above, eight objectives are presented, each with a missing initiative. Identify an appropriate initiative for three of the eight objectives in the scorecard, clearly labeling the objective that your initiative is related to$.$

A balanced scorecard is intended to show connections from the objectives in a lower perspective to the objectives in the next higher perspective, and so on$.$ Do you believe such causal links exist here? Explain