A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
ClearPoint: Balanced Scorecard Software For Teams That Get Things Done
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in June 2015. Due to popular demand, the article has
been updated to include six sample Balanced Scorecard strategy maps.
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC), in my humble opinion, is one of the best management reporting frameworks
available. I’ve worked with countless clients to integrate the BSC, and know it like the back of my hand.
But if you’ve landed on this page, I’m guessing you aren’t looking for a simple, detail-less, contrite description
of what a scorecard is and how to use it. You can find those all over the internet. You are probably wanting less
of a simple definition, and more of an easy-to-digest, full and comprehensive example.
So I’ve created one.
I’m going to break down what a Balanced Scorecard is—from strategy mapping, to initiatives—and describe its
intricacies in detail.
I’ve done my best to leave the “shop talk” at the curb, and explain this strategic methodology in plain English.
By the end, I’m sure you’ll have a better idea as to what the Balanced Scorecard is and whether or not it can
help your organization.
What Is A Balanced Scorecard (BSC)?
A Balanced Scorecard—often abbreviated as “BSC”— is a strategy management framework. To
learn more about what the Balanced Scorecard is and how it can aid your organization, take a look at this
thorough definition.
Definition Cheat Sheet
If you’re just starting to learn about the Balanced Scorecard, you’re going to see the words “objective,”
“measure,” and “initiative” used regularly. You’ve probably heard them used before, but here’s a quick
refresher course on what they mean.
Objectives are high-level organizational goals. When you create an objective, you should focus on what
your organization is trying to accomplish strategically. A very general example would be: “Become an
internationally-recognized brand.” The typical BSC has 10-15 strategic objectives.
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Measures help you understand if you’re accomplishing your objectives strategically. They force
you to question things like, “How do I know that I’m becoming an internationally-recognized brand?” (Hint:
Your measures might change, but your objectives will remain the same.) You might have 1-2 measures per
objective, so you are aiming to come up with 15-25 measures at the enterprise level of your strategy.
Initiatives are key action programs developed to achieve your objectives. You’ll see initiatives
referred to as “projects,” “actions,” or “activities outside of the Balanced Scorecard.” Most organizations will
have 0-2 initiatives underway for every objective (with a total of 5-15 strategic initiatives).
Action items typically arise from review meetings, and are tasks typically delegated to one
person or a small team. They are technically not part of the BSC framework, but they are part of the
management process as a whole; they help to achieve key initiatives in a timely and organized fashion.
In Summary
You have a high-level goal in mind, which is your objective. The measures say, “How will I know that I’m
achieving the objective?” (In other words, they allow you to see if you’re meeting your goals.) Then, the
initiatives are put in place to answer the question, “What actions am I taking to accomplish the objective?” And
finally, action items help delegate out small jobs that will allow you to complete your initiatives. Keep in mind,
you may have multiple initiatives focused on improving your measures and achieving your objective. And, if
your projects are not helping you improve in these areas, you may need to rethink your overall strategy.
Why Build A Balanced Scorecard?
There are many reasons why you should implement the Balanced Scorecard, but here is one way to look at it.
Your leadership team is responsible to some group of people: either stakeholders, shareholders, a board of
directors, a council, citizens, etc. This depends entirely on the type of organization. In order to answer to this
group, your team needs to ask two important backward- and forward-looking questions:
1. How did we perform this past month, quarter, and year?
2. How are we going to do next month, quarter, and year?
In order to answer these two broad questions, you need a management system that is able to to look backward
and forward (with leading and lagging indicators). You not only need to know today’s performance and predict
tomorrow’s performance, but you need to be able to demonstrate how your spending on strategic projects
today will help you improve your impact in the future. The Balanced Scorecard is the closest management tool
to a crystal ball as you will find.
With that in mind, let’s dive right in to an example of what a Balanced Scorecard looks like in practice.
A Full & Exhaustive Balanced Scorecard: Upward Airlines
Reading A Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map
A Balanced Scorecard is more than just a strategy map, but the strategy map is an important element.
Essentially, mapping allows you to put your strategy on one page, in a “language” that everyone can
understand.
For this example, we’re going to look at Upward Airlines, a hypothetical airline loosely based on Southwest
Airlines’ strategy in the early 2000s. I like to use Upward Airlines as a teaching example, because most people
have flown on an airplane (and thus understand the objectives listed in the map).
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Want to see some sample Balanced Scorecard strategy maps? Download this free
ebook with five examples.
Reading a strategy map isn’t at all complicated, but if you haven’t done it before, it’s good to know where to
start and what you’re looking at!
First, notice the vertical text on the left side of the strategy map. These are the four perspectives of the
Balanced Scorecard: Financial, Customer, Internal, and L&G (Learning & Growth). These perspectives
make the BSC unique, because traditional reporting frameworks typically only look at the financial
perspective.
The 15 bubbles you’re looking at are Upward Airlines’ objectives—they are all filed under one of the four
aforementioned perspectives.
Strategy maps are read from top to bottom. The objectives are listed in order of importance. So, you’ll notice
that the top goal of Upward is their financial goal, which is Increase Shareholder Value.
Beneath the financial perspective is the customer perspective. This is because Upward believes that the way
they’re going to meet their number one goal of increasing shareholder value is by making their customers
happy. So what makes the customers happy? Well, Very Low Ticket Prices and Frequent Reliable Departures
certainly do. And, the cost and experience need to be Comparable To Other Travel, like cars, trains, or buses.
Upward knows that to meet financial goals and make customers happy, they need to focus on Innovation by
offering Fast Ground Turnaround, Good Locations that better serve their customers, and Direct Routes to big
cities. They’ll foster good relationships by creating Fun Experiences where everyone is treated well, and
emphasize No Elites, because they believe all of their passengers are equals. Finally, they’ll focus on Cost
Effectiveness, by focusing on No Frills, Standard Fleet, and High Utilization. By not offering fancy upgrades,
keeping the planes simple, and filling the flights completely, they’re able to offer affordable flights.
In order to execute all of this, Upward looks at their final perspective, which is Learning and Growth. They
believe in offering High Compensation, Flexible Union Contracts, and want to achieve High Employee
Ownership of the company.
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
So as you can see, each of these perspectives directly relates to the next, offering a ground-up approach to
strategy management. For Upward Airlines, this strategy is very effective, and helps them ensure that they
continue to add value to their firm.
6 Balanced Scorecard Strategy Map Templates
Now that you know how to interpret a strategy map, let’s take a look at a few examples. Reviewing strategy
maps from both inside and outside your sector is critical, as it will give you a good idea of what other
organizations are doing to ensure their success. The six strategy maps below are hypothetical and for
educational purposes only—but in studying them and reading more about what makes each unique, you’ll have
a better idea of how to make your strategy map the cornerstone of your strategic execution.
For-Profit Balanced Scorecard Examples
Naturally, any for-profit financial institution scorecard will list financial objective statements at the top of its
strategy map. As you can tell from this map, this bank wants to be certain it can both support its clients and
grow the business simultaneously. It’s worth noting that even though the departments, divisions, and
territories of financial institutions may have different strategies, they should all tie to one common
organizational strategy. Some organizations have one map for all departments and divisions and others have a
separate map for each.
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Manufacturing companies are primarily concerned with operational efficiency—both increasing their output
and decreasing production costs. Some of the ways they can achieve these goals are by creating correctly-
priced goods, ensuring their products can be easily obtained by customers, and manufacturing the right
assortment of goods, among other things. Manufacturers also typically place a large emphasis on safety, and so
implement many related goals and metrics. Innovation is fairly common in manufacturing strategy maps
today, but it is not included in the example above.
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
In the software example above, the customer and internal perspectives are combined. This highlights what the
customer is looking for and how the company is responding. There are three areas focused around the
customer relationship, market leadership and operational excellence. The company also split their “Learning
and Growth” perspective into two sections: Industry Expertise and Talent. This is a nice example strategy map
because it shows that you don’t have to have a perfect Norton Kaplan scorecard; you can be flexible with a map
as long as it lays out your organization’s strategy in a clear way.
A Local Government Balanced Scorecard Example
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
You’ll notice how this municipal strategy map has five internal process categories. Some city officials refer to
these as “key areas of focus” or “pillars of excellence.” Whatever you call them, these groupings of objectives
are based on the areas deemed critical for the city, and should tie back into how your city officials relate to
your citizens. For example, this strategy emphasizes safety, a strong economy, and a creative culture, among
other things.
If you’re in municipal government, figure out which areas of focus are critical to your city through citizen and
leadership input, and then group your objectives beneath those categories.
A Healthcare Balanced Scorecard Example
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Unlike the other examples above, this strategy map begins with a purpose statement. Not all organizations do
this, but this may be helpful for healthcare organizations who need to place additional emphasis on what is
most critical to them and what they’re trying to achieve. Additionally, note that this scorecard positions
customer (i.e. patient) and financial goals together at the top of the strategy map. This is because hospitals
(and nonprofits) need steady financing to operate. Remember, this is another good example of how you can
structure a strategy map to tell your story. The map is a flexible framework and can be built to meet your
needs.
A Nonprofit Balanced Scorecard Example
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Mission-driven organizations often restate their mission above their strategy map to stay focused on their goal.
Many nonprofits have trouble connecting their daily activities with their mission, so putting their objectives on
the same map as their mission statement is a great way to make that connection. With all nonprofits
understand there are situations they have direct control over and situations they have very little control over.
(For example, providing job placement services is challenging during an economic meltdown.) Therefore,
those in this industry have to their best to determine realistic measures, initiatives, and goals that will help you
make an impact where you can.
Understanding Your Scorecard
At this point, it’s important to note that there are several ways you can put together a BSC; you can use a
program like Excel, Google Sheets, or PowerPoint, or you can use reporting software. For the sake of example,
we’re going to show you a BSC in ClearPoint’s Balanced Scorecard (BSC) software format.
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
What you’re seeing in the image above is what you’d call a “scorecard view.” It is less visual than the strategy
map, but provides more detail into the measures and initiatives that are tied to each objective. Notice that in
the scorecard view and in the strategy map, there’s either a red, yellow, and green indicator next to the
objective, measure, or initiative. Green typically indicates that everything is going as planned, while yellow and
red indicate that there are various degrees of trouble with whatever is being looked at.
Now that you know how to decode a strategy map, this scorecard view requires little explanation. Now, we’re
going to break down the details of an objective, measure, and initiative.
Objectives
As previously mentioned, objectives are high-level organizational goals. That is why they are listed on the
scorecard. They are typically the 10-15 strategic goals that your company would like to see achieved.
When you click on an objective in Balanced Scorecard software—say you’re looking at High Compensations in
the L&G section—this is what you’ll find:
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Here are a few of the elements you’re looking at:
Owner: Owner: You’ll notice that Lawrence Zito is the “owner” of this objective, and is thus responsible
for it.
Description: This is the company-specific description of how Upward Airlines plans to achieve the
objective.
Average Wage: This is a way to measure progress of how Upward Air is doing. This chart helps you
understand what the company is trying to achieve, and what they’re actually achieving. (If you click on
the chart, you’re able to drill down into the details of the measure.)
Divisions: Here we can see how the divisions (or child scorecards) align to this objective. This is a
common approach for bigger organizations that have scorecards in their divisions and departments.
Measures
Measures help you understand if you’re accomplishing your objectives strategically. The measure tied to High
Compensation is Average Wage. Here’s a look at the measure-view in BSC software:
The Measure & Goal Evaluation Toolkit (Free Download)
Here’s a look at the measure-view in BSC software:
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
You’ll notice some similar fields and some that are different. Once again, you have an “owner” and a chart
analyzing the target and actual numbers for average wage to better understand whether goals are being met.
Here, you’ll also see a section for “Measure Data.” This is important because without data, an organization’s
measures can’t be, well, measured. (Note: If you’re creating a BSC using a reporting software, it will likely
harvest data both automatically and manually, saving you time and effort in the the long run.)
Initiatives
Initiatives, as I mentioned earlier, are key action programs developed to achieve your objectives. They are
often referred to as projects outside of BSC circles. One of the initiatives tied to the Average Wage measure
and High Compensation objective is “Redesign Employee Satisfaction Survey”:
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A Full Balanced Scorecard Example (Including 6 Templates) [Link]
Aside from some of the fields you’ve already been familiarized with, there are several additions here:
Description, Analysis, & Recommendation: This offers more insight into why the initiative is
important, what it’s examining, and how it’s should be accomplished.
Start & End Date: These are specific to an initiative, and must be noted.
Milestones: This helps measure the progress toward achieving this initiative.
Milestone Gantt Chart: This is a visual way to understand Upward Air’s progress in achieving its
milestones.
In Conclusion
This process has now come full circle. You can see how every objective listed on the strategy map above is only
going to be met when measures, initiatives, and action items are delivered correctly and accurately.
So, if you walk away from this article only learning one thing, let it be this:
The Balanced Scorecard is only useful if you report on it.
What I mean is, simply having a scorecard doesn’t help you execute your strategy—you have to actually put it
to work. When you integrate the scorecard throughout your entire organization, hold every report owner
accountable for being timely and accurate, report regularly, and make adjustments as needed, you’ll see great
things happen.
Where Should I Go From Here?
There are three options at this point:
1. If you don’t have a clearly defined organizational strategy, define one. Click the link below and give
our Strategy Execution Toolkit a try. You’ll have your Balanced Scorecard ready and implemented in no
time!
2. If you already have a strategy and you’re looking for reporting software options, read 8 Things To
Demand From Your Reporting Software Vendor to help focus your research process.
3. If you’ve already defined your strategy and are ready to try some proven Balanced Scorecard software
risk-free, fill out this form to start a 15-day free trial of ClearPoint. This trial includes access to our
“Upward Air” demo account (the same company as the example scorecard we walked you through
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