Organisational Behaviour
Applying the Balanced Scorecard to Education
DEMETRIUS KARATHANOS PATRICIA KARATHANOS Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, Missouri
T
he concept of the balanced scorecard (BSC) was first introduced by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (1992) in their now widely cited Harvard Business Review article, “The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance.” The widespread adoption and use of the BSC is well documented. For example, Kaplan and Norton (2001) reported that by 2001 about 50% of the Fortune 1000 companies in North America and 40% to 45% of companies in Europe were using the BSC. The basic premise of the BSC is that financial results alone cannot capture value-creating activities (Kaplan & Norton, 2001). In other words, financial measures are lagging indicators and, as such, are not effective in identifying the drivers or activities that affect financial results. Kaplan and Norton (1992) suggested that organizations, while using financial measures, should develop a comprehensive set of additional measures to use as leading indicators, or predictors, of financial performance. They suggested that measures should be developed that address four perspectives: 1. The financial perspective. Measures in this perspective should answer the question, “How should we appear to our shareholders?” 2. The customer perspective. These measures should answer the question,
ABSTRACT. Although the application of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in the business sector is well documented, very little research has been reported regarding the adaptation or application of the BSC in the education sector. In this article, the authors (a) describe how the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence has adapted the concept of the BSC to education and (b) discuss significant differences as well as similarities between the BSC for business and the BSC for education. The authors also present examples of the BSCs of three Baldrige Education Award
DEMETRIUS KARATHANOS PATRICIA KARATHANOS Southeast Missouri State University Cape Girardeau, Missouri
T
he concept of the balanced scorecard (BSC) was first introduced by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton (1992) in their now widely cited Harvard Business Review article, “The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance.” The widespread adoption and use of the BSC is well documented. For example, Kaplan and Norton (2001) reported that by 2001 about 50% of the Fortune 1000 companies in North America and 40% to 45% of companies in Europe were using the BSC. The basic premise of the BSC is that financial results alone cannot capture value-creating activities (Kaplan & Norton, 2001). In other words, financial measures are lagging indicators and, as such, are not effective in identifying the drivers or activities that affect financial results. Kaplan and Norton (1992) suggested that organizations, while using financial measures, should develop a comprehensive set of additional measures to use as leading indicators, or predictors, of financial performance. They suggested that measures should be developed that address four perspectives: 1. The financial perspective. Measures in this perspective should answer the question, “How should we appear to our shareholders?” 2. The customer perspective. These measures should answer the question,
ABSTRACT. Although the application of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in the business sector is well documented, very little research has been reported regarding the adaptation or application of the BSC in the education sector. In this article, the authors (a) describe how the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence has adapted the concept of the BSC to education and (b) discuss significant differences as well as similarities between the BSC for business and the BSC for education. The authors also present examples of the BSCs of three Baldrige Education Award
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