How Soon Can You Make Us a Balanced Scorecard?

You are currently the controller for a large manufacturing company. The president of the company calls you to his office and states the following: “I just went to a round-table discussion with presidents of other companies, and they told me that the most important development they had made in their companies was to implement balanced scorecards. I want you to drop whatever you are doing this week and develop a balanced scorecard for our company.”

You are vaguely aware of the Balanced Scorecard concept from your reading, but you aren’t too sure what they are all about. As you begin to think about your upcoming task, you discover that your company does not have a strategic plan or mission statement. Is it realistic that the task given you by the president one that can be accomplished in a week

(or even accomplished at all)? What is the effect of not having a strategic plan or mission statement to guide the development of a balanced scorecard for the company?