Balanced Scorecard origins and evolution

Written by Adelina Chelniciuc on June 10, 2011. Posted in Articles, Balanced Scorecard

The history of the Balanced Scorecard in its popular form draws back at the beginning of 1992 when it was for the first time unveiled to the larger public by its authors Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton in an article published in the Harvard Business Review journal.

However, few are those who know which are the details of the Balanced Scorecard development and its origins. The Balanced Scorecard took shape as a result of a project involving 12 U.S. top companies. The project was run by Nolan Norton Institute in cooperation with Dr. Robert Kaplan during 1990-1991 and  had as the main purpose to research and test best practice performance measurement solutions used at that point in practice in United States.

Among the performance measurement solutions that were presented and described at the beginning of the project was the Corporate Scorecard of Analog Devices, a leader of the semiconductor industry. The scorecard cough the interest of the participants to the project who decided to trial it.

The results and conclusions of the project were presented by its coordinators, Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton, in the article “The Balanced Scorecard – Measures that drive performance” published at the beginning of 1992 in the Harvard Business Review journal.

Turning back to the Analog Devices Corporate Scorecard who served as model and inspiration for the Balanced Scorecard, below you can review five examples of its evolution under the supervision of its creator and owner at  Analog Devices,  Arthur Schneiderman, at that point Quality Manager at the company.

Analog Devices corporate scorecard 1986-1987

Source: www.schneiderman.com

Analog Devices corporate scorecard 1987-1988

Source: www.schneiderman.com

Analog Devices corporate scorecard 1988-1989

Source: www.schneiderman.com

Analog Devices corporate scorecard 1989-1990

Source: www.schneiderman.com

Analog Devices corporate scorecard 1990-1991

Source: www.schneiderman.com

References

• Arthur Schneiderman website (2000), Evolution of the First Balanced Scorecard 1987-1992

• Kaplan, R.S., Norton D.P. (1992) The balanced scorecard – measures that drive performance, Harvard Business Review, Jan-Feb;70(1):71-9

Tags: Balanced Scorecard, David Norton, Robert Kaplan, Scorecard