You have been hired by Taylor Consulting, LLC as a Business Analyst because of your experience using

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Question:

You have been hired by Taylor Consulting, LLC as a Business Analyst because of your experience using Balanced Scorecard. You have been asked to attend brainstorming sessions for several clients. You have created a list of items for each company. Your next task is to determine the element type for each item. Use the selection list in the Element column to indicate strategic objective (SO), strategic initiative (SI) or performance metric (PM) for each performance perspective (Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, or Learning and Growth). For Performance Measures (PM) and Strategic Initiatives (SI), the Strategic Objective column will be used to indicate which Strategic Objective the Performance Measure or Strategic Initiative is related to. You are also required to analyze the mid-year results for Buckeye Electric.

For example, the following table was created from the data for Cordier Toys as displayed in Exhibit 4 of your text. "2. Tie pay to training hurdles" would be related to the Strategic Objective "1. Train employees."

		Financial		Customer		Internal Processes		Learning & Growth
Balanced Scorecard		Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective
1.	Train employees							SO
2.	Tie pay to training hurdles							SI	1
3.	Median training hours per employee							PM	1
4.	Reduce employee turnover							SO
5.	Average employee tenure							PM	4
6.	Improve delivery times					SO
7.	Automate warehouse					SI	6
8.	Hours from ordered to delivered					PM	6
9.	Reduce shipping errors					SO
10.	Number of erroneous shipments					PM	9

The performance metrics are shown for the strategic objectives for each of the four performance perspectives of the balanced scorecard for Cordier Toys, Inc. The performance perspectives are shown in boxes from left to right, the strategic objectives are shown in bubbles, and the performance metrics are shown in boxes at the bottom. First is a box labeled Learning and Growth with two strategic objectives: Train employees and Reduce employee turnover. A vertical line connects the Train employees objective to the performance metric Median training hours per employee. A vertical line connects the Reduce employee turnover objective to the performance metric Average employee tenure. Next is a box labeled Internal Processes with two strategic objectives: Improve delivery times and Reduce shipping errors. A vertical line connects the Improve delivery times objective to the performance metric Hours from ordered to delivered. A vertical line connects the Reduce shipping errors objective to the performance metric Number of erroneous shipments. Next is a box labeled Customer with one strategic objective: Delight the customer. Two vertical lines connect the Delight the customer objective to the performance metrics Percentage of customers who shop again and Online customer satisfaction rating. The last box is labeled Financial with one strategic objective: Increase profits. Two vertical lines connect the Increase profits objective to the performance metrics Market share and Operating profit. To the right are three boxes with arrows. The top box has the label Performance Perspectives; it has an arrow that points to the labels in the four boxes. The middle box has the label Strategic Objectives; it has an arrow that points to the strategic objectives listed in each box. The bottom box has the label Performance Metrics; it has an arrow that points to the performance metrics at the bottom of each box.

The strategic initiatives for Cordier Toys have been added to the illustration. These initiatives are shown in bubbles below the bubbles for the strategic objectives. In the Learning and Growth box, under the Train employees objective is the strategic initiative Tie pay to training hurdles. In the Internal Processes box, under the Improve delivery times objective, is the strategic initiative Automate warehouse. A box labeled Strategic Initiatives has been added to the right of the illustration below the box for Strategic Objectives. It has an arrow that points to the strategic initiatives that have been added to the illustration.

University Publishing

Your first brainstorming session was with University Publishing Company. Your session resulted in the following items. Your task is to link the balanced scorecard elements to form a cohesive strategy for the company. Review each balanced scorecard element. After determining the performance perspective (Financial, Customer, Internal Processes, or Learning and Growth), your first step should be to identify the Strategic Objectives. Use the selection list in the Element column to indicate strategic objective (SO) of the appropriate performance perspective. Your next steps are to identify the actions that will be taken to achieve these goals (Strategic Initiatives) and to define how progress will be measured (Performance Metrics). Use the selection list in the Element column to indicate strategic initiative (SI) or performance metric (PM). Determine the Strategic Objective to which the item is related by entering the balanced scorecard item number. Remember, each Strategic Objective will have at least one Performance Metric. Also, a balanced scorecard item can focus on only one performance perspective. For the perspectives not effected, select "n" in the remaining Element columns.

		Financial		Customer		Internal Processes		Learning & Growth
Balanced Scorecard		Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective	Element	Strategic Objective
1.	Retain large volume customers	n		SO		n		n
2.	Increase digital sales	SO		n		n		n
3.	Go digital campaign	SI		n		n		n
4.	Digital sales % of total revenue	PM		n		n		n
5.	Renewal rates of large volume customers	n		PM		n		n
6.	Partner with customers	n		SO		n		n
7.	Build packages which bundle products to provide total solution for user needs	n		SI		n		n
8.	Customer satisfaction surveys	n		PM		n		n
9.	Track total solution packages sold	n		PM		n		n
10.	Perfect quality	n		n		SO		n
11.	Improve product availability	n		n		SO		n
12.	Maximize use of existing, proven content	n		n		SI		n
13.	% Products achieving development deadlines	n		n		PM		n
14.	Number of customer support tickets (for errors) per product	n		n		PM		n
15.	Retain employees	n		n		n		SO
16.	Be experts in product development	n		n		n		SO
17.	Train employees in the latest software development methodology.	n		n		n		SI
18.	Provide bonuses for successful Agile training completion	n		n		n		SI
19.	Improve company benefit offering	n		n		n		SI
20.	Average length of employment for employees	n		n		n		PM
21.	Training bonuses paid	n		n		n		PM

Feedback

Review the definitions for Performance Perspectives, Strategic Objectives, Performance Metrics, and Strategic Initiatives in your text. Simply put, a Strategic Objective is a goal or desired outcome. It defines what you are trying to achieve. A Strategic Objective is not an action plan or something that you will do to achieve a goal. It does not provide a means to measure your progress toward the goal. Each of the four Performance Perspectives will have one or more Strategic Objectives.

Your first step should be to identify The Strategic Objectives for each of the Performance Perspectives. Your next steps are to identify the actions that will be taken to achieve these goals (Strategic Initiatives) and to define how progress will be measured (Performance Metrics). Remember, each Strategic Objective will have at least one Performance Metric.