Kaplan and Norton’s approach is equally applicable for all types of organizations including Government organizations.

"The balanced scorecard retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation."

Some points to remember for Government organizations:

Clarifying strategies. Translate the objectives of the organization into quantifiable measures. It is necessary to convert any of the vague objectives into quantifiable measures that everyone can understand and will work to achieve.

Communicating strategic objectives. Leadership will have to ensure that the strategic objectives as identified above be communicated throughout the organization. If possible specifying the way these can be accomplished would greatly benefit the employees to provide a proper direction.

Planning strategies. Having got the objectives in place identify the tasks and set the goals for each of the task within the organization. This provides a measurable tasks and accomplishing them will show the success of the organization.

Feedback strategies. Establish a clear process of continued feedback. This will help to advertise the success achieved to permeate and encourage through the organization.

Here you can download Kaplan’s publication.

http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/10-074.pdf

http://www.iluv2teach.com/mgt424/BS2.pdf

Here is an advice for government performance from world bank.

http://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/pe/balanced.pdf

Thank you Nageswara for this valuable explanation. In general, I believe service govermental institutions would give the least weight to financial perspective. Other three perspective which include internal business process, customer, and growth and learning, management can choose the weight that is suitable.

Dear Mahfuz

Balanced Score Card is a tool to manage and measure strategy implementation and align the interventions to the vision and goals of the organization. In this process it identifies the critical success factors, measures, targets and plans of action so that the accountability of people in delivering the performance can be located.

Technically, there is no special adoption of BSC in government. The concept is wide enough to be adopted in any organization: manufacturing, service, non-profit, small, medium and large organizations. Interestingly, some NGOs and non-profit organizations adopt a fifth dimension of BSC, which is environment. And they also connect their working to issues of CSR and environment..

I am attaching a study that shows that even in the advanced world, BSC has not been largely adopted in the government sector. There is a general inertia among government bureaucracy to expose its working to be measured by tools such as BSC. And, a number of organization specific factors and relatively low positive perceptions about the BSC have contributed to its limited adoption in government organizations.

http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=8&sid=f3f2fd6d-ae09-4be8-87f1-c8c2a30ef6ae%40sessionmgr112&hid=128&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=36837037

I am with the notion of above answers

Dear Mahfouz and you all,

I did not know this type of strategy. I just read the recommanded references. This seems to me very interesting.

.

Could you confirm that this method is applicable to the management teams responsable for driving health program and to evaluate the conduct of a project and it's results ?

Thank you very much to enlighten me. Jean

The Balanced Scorecard is a strategic management process used to measure and provide feedback to organizations in order to assist in implementing strategies. Approximately 40 percent of Fortune 1000 companies in Europe use a version of the BSC (Kaplan and Norton 2001).

http://hbr.org/web/slideshows/the-50-most-influential-management-gurus/14-kaplan-norton There is about "How to solve the cost crisis Health Care"

They say, that BSC (Kaplan and Norton) was recommended by one of the influential businessmen M.Prokhorov. In 2003 more than 80 companies were interested in adoption of this innovation. Since 2013 there has been Kaplan-Norton Balanced Score Card Certification Boot Camp in Moscow. BSC is the art of bringing the gap between the theory and practice.

Dear Jean

Yes, very much. BSC can be applicable to all types of organizations. As you will see in the attachment, it is considered as one of the finest tools for measuring the financial, strategic and operational effectiveness in an organization.

It has been extensively used by the health sector organizations. It is also considered as the most important management invention of the last 75 years.

Dear Friends,

Thank you very much for your help. I really lagged,

I'll try to do my best to up fo up for it. Jean.

Dear Kamal,

I have conducted many training programs to governmental and private instiutions in Balace Scorecard four years ago.. I will send you tomorrow the powerpoint slides of that training program.

Dear Mahfuz

I too would be interested in your PPTs on BSC. I shall be grateful if you send me the same: [email protected] [email protected]

Dear Debi. I will do it with my pleasure. Thank you.

There are no studies I know criticizing BSC concepts.

But there sure are a lot of problems in quite normal companies and government organizations that implemented BSC approaches. The same is true for all "management by numbers" concepts.

It boils down to: Maximizing certain numbers often leads to neglecting all other numbers. And there certainly is a load of examples for stupid endeavors, like maximizing a certain (measured) numbers, even though the results (not measured) is better than in other departments.

Dear Andreas

In today's world it is rightly said that "if you can not measure, you can not manage." HR managers have since long been trying to evade accountability on the plea that their work can not be measured in terms of numbers. But such arguments are no more acceptable. Every one is subject to accountability for results; and so should it be. There are n-number of research studies that have testified the utility of balanced score card.

But I agree with you to the extent that in our euphoria with numbers, we should not forget the qualitative data and the quality of relationships, care, empathy, trust, involvement, engagement, inspiration and related things. These are all inputs which need to be nurtured; but the aim of all this is the hope for results. BSC helps us to use the most appropriate interventions for getting the desired results.

Dear Debi,

we will always disagree on that point. I don't see the studies that testify the results of BSC initiatives. But if you want to point out some specific studies, please do so. I could be willing to change my mind.

What I see from my surroundings is a large number of occasions where BSC approaches failed miserably, but it may be that differences in results come from differences in starting conditions.

Especially in government agancies, I see lot of approaches like this fail, because BSC relies on two thoughts:

1) You cant manage what you cant measure: I doubt that one, as you know.

2) Top management life gets more simple if you reduce the complexities of all the possible measure and boild it down to a core set of measures, and if you do that on every step of the corporate ladder, it gets even more effective: I doubt that one too.

I thought about it, but I cant name examples. I'm sorry. But you will find both of the common problems within BSC organizations:

1) Massive thought is put into optimizing one measure, while other things you could measure, go downwards. Some of these optimizations get near to fraud.

2) You reduce the complexity on every step of the corporate system, actually making any person LESS responsible, because he is no longer responsible for doing what is the best for the company, but what is best for their few numbers - and this, much too often, is not the same.

I do agree to you on one point: There should be accountability. Certainly. But I do think that looking at a few numbers means more accountability if you have none at the start. But if you really have empowered and thinking employees, looking at a few numbers is a step in the wrong direction. So, it depends on where you start.

Dear Andreas

I am attaching a case on score cards. I am sure this will interest you.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=16&sid=e1c8202b-03f8-4ca2-a0e7-b2bf34a96ac4%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4212

Dear Andreas

Attaching two more articles reflecting benefits of BSC.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=17&sid=e1c8202b-03f8-4ca2-a0e7-b2bf34a96ac4%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4212&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=18733218

http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=17&sid=e1c8202b-03f8-4ca2-a0e7-b2bf34a96ac4%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4212&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=bth&AN=22603652

Dear Debi,

maybe I'm getting it wrong, but when I follow your links, I get an article "How Groups Produce Higher-Quality Balanced Scorecards Than Individuals"

Maybe a good read, I'll read it at home, but probably not what you wanted to show. :)

I think it is the mathemathicien H Poincaré who told " to know, it is to be able to measure " but I don't remember who said " to truly understand one must be able to clearly explain "

... it is certain that I am not the latter but do you remember is name ? Jean.

If you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it. This is the start of continious improvement.

Concerning the original question ("Which is the most critical perspective of a Balanced Scorecard in service governmental institutions?"), the answer for me is very clear: the customers perspective. since they are the reason why such institutions exist.

In my humble opinion, we should go back to the organization vision and mission. From that point, we break down to 4 perspectives. BSC is a strategic tools, so we must align the organization goal with the performance measurement. Most government institutions are service, and service oriented to citizen. In that case it major focus is to deliver service to customer, and in order to deliver that quality of service intended the organization need strong internal business process, which can be achieved when the organization has certain degree of learning organization (learning & growth).

From the financial perspective, some institution need to sustain its profit or financial cash flow - if it is profit center, or need to achieve high revenue (tax authority), or provide service in efficient, effective way (cost center).

So I think all perspectives are important, as long focus on customer.

Yes dear Sani, 

All four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard are important, but the relative importance of each of them is different among organizations.

Perhaps the mosr critical perspective is the One apointed by Paul Niven: wich is the alignement to the mission Of the public administration organization. Beetween user's perspective and finantial perspective. Public service is Of central relevance in this cases, so, mission is essential.

Yes, dear Helena, the alignement to the mission Of the public administration organization.

"Updated and enhanced with the latest Balanced Scorecard topics, this influential book empowers your organization to turn strategy into performance at every organizational level and translate your intangible resources, such as innovation, customer relationships, and intellectual capital, into real value."

For more information please look at the following link.

http://www.paulniven.com/Step-by-Step-maximizing-performance-and-maintaining-results.html

And, of course, if the BSC is aplied in Public Administration to ensure/obtain modernization and quality management, the people are the most important perspective - learning and growth....

Yes, Helena. I think the customers, and the quality of products produced or services rendered would be very important.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308427094_An_Empirical_Study_of_the_Balanced_Scorecard_Model_Evidence_from_Bangladesh

Article An Empirical Study of the Balanced Scorecard Model: Evidence...

Dear  Mahfuz,

In Germany, government undertakes strong efforts to employ service staff with a migration background. The achievement of such employment targets can be measured with a BSC.

For a general overview about the application of the Balanced Scorecard please feel free to refer to my research paper: "The Balanced Scorecard and Beyond – Applying Theories of Performance Measurement, Employment and Rewards in Management Accounting Education". It was published in the International Research Journal of Management Sciences 4 (7), pp. 483-491 and thus can be used for referencing.

Paul

Article The Balanced Scorecard and Beyond – Applying Theories of Per...

Here I share a projected solution for the control of public water services and sewage drains.