Since R. Kaplan and D. Norton’s article “The Balanced Scorecard – Measures that drive performance’”, published in 1992 in the Harvard Business Review, the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology has become one of the most popular performance management frameworks, used nowadays in both public and private organizations.
Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton’s 1996 book ‘’The Balanced Scorecard: Translating strategy into action” is considered to be a major contribution to the development of performance management, as their work has changed the way performance is measured. In the almost 20 years that have passed since its publishing, the Balanced Scorecard System has been implemented by thousands of companies and organizations worldwide, proving its value in time.
It is often believed that a Balanced Scorecard approach is only viable for big corporations that have been in business for years; hence, not many start-up companies are willing to use this tool.
People do not generally believe in something until that something starts changing the world. The road to stardom followed by the Performance Scorecard may have passed unnoticed to many, but we cannot overlook the instances in which the entire world reaps the benefits of its use.
The customer perspective within the Balanced Scorecard – BSC for short, enables organizations to target the market segments in which they have chosen to succeed. Correctly pinpointing the right market segment an organization wants to address helps the same organization develop strategies that maximize outcomes, and, ultimately, financial rewards.
In the past, the customer perspective was not a focal point of the Balanced Scorecard, as companies believed product performance and technology innovation to be the backbones of business success. Nevertheless, customer behavioral trends have gradually emphasized the necessity for understanding what customers need.