We acquire information in a variety of ways. Sometimes this takes the form of a formal educational program. Other times it might be in the form of a casual conversation or a professional conference. In this module, we will focus on the value of publications. The topic of interest is balanced scorecards and the publication is the Harvard Business Review.

A persistent problem with metrics is the tendency to reduce complex assessments to simple metrics. For example, your community hospital may post a digital sign by the roadside indicating the number of minutes new arrivals in the emergency department currently must wait to be seen; and perhaps this metric will suffice to assure you that this is a first-rate hospital. In financial reporting, something similar occurs when metrics related to net income and earnings per share are used to assess the overall performance of an entity. Many decry the dangers to society from an unbalanced overemphasis on the reported income in the short term. However, efforts to discourage the practice of managing to achieve short-term profit performance appear to have done little to actually dampen this phenomenon. Recognizing the inevitability of "managing to the metrics," some have proposed a different approach to the problem of an overemphasis on managing to achieve short-term profit performance. They have advocated creating several key metrics that are devised to assess different dimensions of performance where tension is present. In naming one such system the “balanced scorecard,” we detect from the name that scorekeeping and metrics play a central role in a system that seeks “balance.” This balance involves the tension between competing goals. While we all can create our own scorecards in whatever manner we like, the so-called balanced scorecard is a particular approach with its own vocabulary and literature.

To prepare for this discussion, make sure you have read the Harvard Business Review article assigned on the readings page. You may also want to read additional HBR articles on this topic. Many articles can be found and accessed through the McLeod Business Library.

For this forum, you should post a short write-up (350-550 words). You will not see the contributions of the other students in your group until you have posted. For this forum, you are also required to comment on a group member's post. Your comment should be at least 200 words.