The Balanced Scorecard is one of the most popular1 frameworks for strategy execution. In this article, you will find:
- A brief explanation of what the Balanced Scorecard is,
- Examples of real Balanced Scorecards for different business domains, and
- Downloadable PowerPoint templates.
August 2024 Update: An example of a third-party vendor risk management scorecard has been added.
What is the K&N Balanced Scorecard?
Here is an executive summary of the Balanced Scorecard framework:
- Balanced Scorecard is a strategy execution framework developed by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton2.
- It suggests projecting business strategy on four perspectives – the “drivers” (Learning and Internal perspectives) and the “outcomes” (the Customer and Stakeholder perspectives)3.
- Rather than merely grouping objectives and metrics into the four perspectives, the framework emphasizes showcasing the cause-and-effect relationships between the goals.
- The goals are further detailed into leading and lagging4 performance metrics (KPIs) and initiatives (action plans).
- Following the rationale of involving employees in strategy execution, it suggests “cascading” or “alignment” of strategy5.
- The Balanced Scorecard is designed to cover the strategy of the entire organization. In practice, this is achieved6 by cascading the overall strategy into aligned strategic and functional scorecards that form a comprehensive strategy.
- The framework combines various approaches to strategy decomposition and is positioned in the ecosystem7 of strategic planning frameworks in the strategy execution sector.
Example of Balanced Scorecard Implementation
An imaginary company, XYZ Eco Group, used the Balanced Scorecard framework to implement their strategy. Here is what they did:
- Conducted a stakeholder analysis
- Created strategy scorecards (master strategy and two sub-strategies)
- Cascaded the strategy scorecards
- Implemented various supporting scorecards (risk register, performance evaluation, strategic sales)
You can log in to their account as a view-only user to see how it looks:
38 Balanced Scorecard Examples
Below are examples of Balanced Scorecards for various domains. Each example includes an article with details and a link to the live Balanced Scorecard.
Scorecards for Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)
General Business Balanced Scorecards
Functional Scorecards for Supply Chain
Scorecards for Sales and Marketing
Scorecards for Talent Management
Strategy Scorecards for Business Growth
Balanced Scorecards for Different Business Verticals
Getting Started Tutorials
Get your scorecard started by learning the best practice experience.
Balanced Scorecard Step by Step
Learn how to create your own maps or check out live examples of the Balanced Scorecard below.
Practical Example of Creating a Balanced Scorecard
The examples of the Balanced Scorecard discussed above were created using the specialized software BSC Designer. You can sign up for a free plan on the platform to start creating your own Balanced Scorecard.
- To get started, you can use one of the templates we discussed or start from scratch.
In this section of the product tutorial, we explain how to create a simple scorecard:
Four Perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard Framework
The perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard help to establish a cause-and-effect logic for the strategy map. Learn how to properly map business goals into the Finance, Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning and Growth perspectives.
Why these four perspectives? What do we map inside? How to come up with the relevant goals? Part 1 >
The difference between perspectives. Examples of the goals and indicators for each perspective. Part 2 >
Advantages and Disadvantages of the Balanced Scorecard Framework
Any business framework has its area of recommended application, its advantages and drawbacks. Check out the details of the analysis.
Balanced Scorecard Audit Checklist – 12 Control Points
Even the best business systems need to be revised and updated regularly.
Use the checklist below to audit your Balanced Scorecard, find possible problems, and fix them during the early stages before they result in bigger issues.
We divided possible situations into the green, yellow, and red zones so that you can quickly learn if your Balanced Scorecard is at risk and how to fix it. Continue to the Balanced Scorecard checklist.
Balanced Scorecard in Practice
As a part of free strategic planning course we discussed how to describe a strategy using Balanced Scorecard framework and its key components – strategy map, business goals, KPIs, and initiatives. Find below a complete video of the Lesson 6:
Training session: 'Introduction to Balanced Scorecard by BSC Designer' is offered as part of our ongoing learning program and included with a BSC Designer subscription.
Training sessions are delivered weekly via Zoom, providing practical insights and personalized guidance. Upon completion, participants receive an attendance certification. Explore all available training sessions here.
Templates for Balanced Scorecard
PowerPoint and PDF Templates for Balanced Scorecard
We have designed some templates for Balanced Scorecard. These templates make it easy to represent KPIs and BSC perspectives visually.
Updated: 15 templates in PDF and PNG added!
Ready-to-use templates for Balanced Scorecard save you time; you don’t need to hire a professional designer – you already have what you need for a quick start.
PDF Template for Strategy Map
Do you plan to brainstorm your strategy? We recommend you have a look at this print-friendly template for a strategy map.
That’s the template that we use on live events to start the discussion around strategy. The template is available in several languages and has proven to be effective for strategy discussion.
Automate Your Scorecards
Your time is too valuable to spend it on routine design tasks. Even with the best templates, the Balanced Scorecard task will consume a lot of your energy. Join business professionals who use BSC Designer for their strategy scorecards:
- Free plan for small projects
- Beautiful strategy maps
- Full Toolkit for the KPIs
- Free product video tutorials
- “Balanced Scorecard Fact Sheet and Statistics,” BSC Designer, visited July 27, 2024 ↩
- The Balanced Scorecard—Measures that Drive Performance, by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, 1992, HBR ↩
- “What Is a K&N Balanced Scorecard and the Role of Its Perspectives,” Alexis Savkín, BSC Designer, February 22, 2019, https://bscdesigner.com/four-perspectives.htm ↩
- “Success Factors and Leading Metrics vs. Lagging Indicators,” Alexis Savkín, BSC Designer, May 11, 2018, https://bscdesigner.com/leading-vs-lagging.htm. ↩
- Strategy Cascading: 4 Methods to Link Corporate and Functional Strategies, Alexis Savkín, BSC Designer, https://bscdesigner.com/cascading.htm, visited July 20, 2024 ↩
- “5-Step Strategy Implementation System,” Alexis Savkín, BSC Designer, May 20, 2024 ↩
- “Comparison of Strategic Planning Frameworks,” Alexis Savkín, BSC Designer, January 26, 2020, https://bscdesigner.com/strategic-frameworks-comparison.htm. ↩
Alexis is a Senior Strategy Consultant and CEO at BSC Designer, with over 20 years of experience in strategic planning. Alexis developed the “5 Step Strategy Implementation System” that helps companies with the practical implementation of their strategies. He is a regular speaker at industry conferences and has published over 100 articles on strategy and performance management, including the book “10 Step KPI System”. His work is frequently cited in academic research.
Subscribe to Alexis’s Unedited on Substack.
Hello,
Thanks for this great article, but i can’t find the file with templates in order to download it.
Can you help me please?
Have a good day
Hi Maïté,
It depends on what template you are looking for, here are the options:
1. A template in BSC Designer software (recommended if you plan to automate your scorecard with a software) – to get it look at the links below examples – normally one link goes to the online template and another to the article.
2. Graphical templates (in PowerPoint and PDF formats) – see the download link on this page
3. Strategy map template search for “Strategy Map” guide article on our website
I need help building a scorecard for a returns and credit group and also my order management team. Can someone help me with this
Hello Carlos,
It’s hard to give any recommendation without knowing the details. You can give it a try to Strategy wizard – https://www.webbsc.com/s/strategy-scorecard-wizard?sw=1 – that will guide you thought out the process by asking some questions.
Hii! I need help with Strategy Scorecard for Social Media with KPIs . Can I get the tepmplate so I can perform adjustments.
Sure! You can sign-up with an account at webbsc.com and get access to all the templates.