1. Looking at the internal key answer of €˜fast turnaround time€™, can Southwest always control this?
2. Do you think performance measures like those in the Southwest scorecard are more useful to non-accountants and managers?

Southwest Airlines set €˜operating efficiency€™ as its strategic theme. The four perspectives embodied in the balanced scorecard were linked together by a series of relatively simple questions and answers:
Financial:What will drive operating efficiency?
Answer: More customers on fewer planes.
Customer:How will we get more customers on fewer planes?
Answer: Attract targeted segments of customers who value price and on-time arrivals. 

Internal:What must our internal focus be?
Answer: Fast aircraft turnaround time.
Learning:How will our people accomplish fast turnaround?
Answer: Educate and compensate the ground crew regarding how they contribute to the firm€™s success. Also, use the employee stock-holder programme.
The chart below shows how Southwest used this framework to lay out its balanced scorecard model.
The first column of the chart contains the €˜strategy map€™, that illustrates the cause-and-effect relation-ships between strategic objectives. The Objectives column shows what each strategy must achieve and what is critical to its success. The Measure-ment column shows how success in achieving each strategy will be measured and tracked. The Target column spells out the level of performance or rate of improvement that is needed. The Initiative column contains key action programmes required to achieve objectives.That all of the measures, targets and initiatives are all aligned to one an objective.
The company extended the effort to the depart-ment level and the degree of development varied between departments. The goal was to identify key performance measures in each segment for the operating personnel. Some of the non-financial metrics that have emerged on a departmental level include: load factor (percentage of seats occu-pied); utilization factors on aircraft and personnel; on-time performance; available seat miles; denied-boarding rate; lost bag reports per 10 000 passen-gers; flight cancellation rate; employee head count; and customer complaints per 10 000 passengers filed with the Department of Transportation.

Southwest Airlines€™ balanced scorecard framework

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Strategic theme: operating efficiency Objectives Measurement Target Initiative Financial Profitability Market value 30% CAGR Profitability Seat revenue 20% CAGR More customers Fewer More customers planes Fewer planes Plane lease cost 5% CAGR Customer Quality Flight is on time FAA on-time #1 Flight is on time arrival rating management Lowest prices Customer ranking Customer loyalty Lowest prices #1 (market survey) programme Internal Cycle time optimization Fast ground turnaround On ground time 30 minutes Fast ground turnaround On-time departure 90% Learning Ground crew alignment % ground crew trained Yr. 1 70% ESOP Ground Ground crew Yr. 3 90% crew alignment training % ground crew stockholders Yr. 5 100%