Balanced Scorecard Analysis
– APPLE INC
This milestone activity corresponds to CLO12 and is
featured in the Final Assessment Project. Practice using a balanced scorecard
approach to analyzing strategic performance.
What do I want you to
do?
Take a balanced scorecard approach to evaluating strategic performance by
assessing these dimensions of your selected company:
Safety – Has your
company recently been noted for loss of life related to its business? That
could include employee deaths, customer deaths, injuries, endangering
others, toxins, hazards, environmental destruction, or other
safety-related issues.
Quality – What is the
area in greatest need of improvement for your company in terms of
delivering value to the customer? In what ways might they be weak at
meeting customer needs, defective (other than ways already noted in the
safety section), or involved in scandal that harms its reputation?
Productivity – In what ways
might your company be more productive? Consider how it might use energy,
water, or materials more efficiently or how it might minimize waste and
implement a circular economy. Look for best practices in the industry to
surpass.
Cost – How might the
product or service be made more affordable? Lowering price can only work
if costs are lowered, but how might your company do that specifically? Do
you see any ways to simplify or make their product easier to purchase
without damaging quality (a higher-level priority)?
Human
Development – What is a way to improve the company’s employees’ professional or
personal lives that could make a meaningful difference beyond simply
giving them higher wages? (Remember, cost is a higher-level priority in
this design. That is not to say that you can never pay your employees more
or give them something that would cost the company, only that the value
provided to them should “balance” with other gains from it, such
as more productive workers since they are happy.)
For each of these dimensions, include at least one professional source or
unbiased news source related to the case.
Why do I want you to do
it?
It is good to evaluate a company from a multidimensional approach and in
ways that other stakeholders can appreciate. That is a quality-based form of
strategic management. Often, this more operationally focused approach to
management can be a springboard to greater customer focus and a more favorable
orientation toward sustainability.
How do I want you to do
it?
What format(s)
should the assessment be in? A short essay including the five sections
requested and list of citations in APA 7 format.
What tools or
resources might be needed/useful? See the examples provided in the module
and benchmark competitors to imitate best practices.
What to include in your
submission
Your assignment submission should include:
Balanced
Scorecard Analysis
Examples of Balanced Scorecards
Review these webpages for descriptions, pictures, and videos:
Creative Safety
Supply. (2018, March 22). What is QCDSM? https://www.creativesafetysupply.com/articles/what-is-qcdsm/
BPI. (n.d.).
SQDC. https://www.leansixsigmadefinition.com/glossary/sqdc-2/
Thelen, M.
(2020, March 16). Using SQDCM boards the right way for effective Gemba
walks. Isixsigma. https://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/kaizen/using-sqdcm-boards-the-right-way-for-effective-gemba-walks/
Alfra
Consulting. (2022). What is kaizen? https://www.alfraconsulting.eu/what-is-kaizen/
More theory about the concept:
Kaplan, R. S.,
& Norton, D. P. (1992, January-February). The balanced scorecard –
Measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/1992/01/the-balanced-scorecard-measures-that-drive-performance-2
Balanced
Scorecard Institute. (2023). Balanced scorecard basics. https://balancedscorecard.org/bsc-basics-overview/
Tarver, E.
(2023, March 10). What is a balanced scorecard, how is it used in
business? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/balancedscorecard.asp
American
Society for Quality. (2023). What is a balanced scorecard? https://asq.org/quality-resources/balanced-scorecard
