The BSC (Balanced Scorecard) Method was created in the 90s, during the Industrial Revolution period, by professors Robert Kaplan and David Norton. It arose from the need to show another perspective on business success, not just focusing on financial and accounting indicators.
The 360º view of the business is one of the principles that differentiates the BSC from other management methodologies. Besides the financial perspective, it also includes strategic objectives for customers, internal processes, and learning and growth.
To better understand the approach to perspectives, you can read our article “BSC and the Interact Suite SA.”
Applying the BSC in Practice
The first stage of implementation is the creation of the Strategic Planning or Strategic Map, contemplating the four aspects mentioned above, the definition of actions and their relations with the objectives, among other information.
It’s a visual representation of the strategic objectives aimed at in each perspective, providing better visibility for the strategy and facilitating monitoring.
This planning needs to list 3 to 4 strategic themes within the BSC perspectives to work on over the established period, as it will not be possible to address all the necessary points in a single period. To make it easier, we have separated some examples of themes: company internationalization, factory expansion, operational excellence, etc.
The definition of these themes is essential to establish priorities and also to create strategic objectives, helping us specify what we want in terms of internationalization, for example.
In the stage of creating strategic objectives, it is important that all areas participating in the activities are involved, ensuring that expectations are aligned.
After creating the objectives, it is necessary to assign goals and indicators to them so that we can monitor the performance of the actions taken. We need to understand if we are getting closer to our goals; otherwise, it is possible to reevaluate the actions.
With objectives and indicators established, it is time to propose actions that will be taken to achieve the planning objectives. These actions can be isolated or organized in project format to facilitate the identification of those responsible and their execution.
Once this is done, your BSC is ready!
And Now?
In theory, it seems pretty simple, just follow the steps described and the BSC will be ready. However, when it comes to putting it into practice, the lingering question is: where do we organize all this information?
There are several ways to organize and track a company’s BSC; it can be done through spreadsheets, documents, and if you prefer, even on paper. But we can imagine how complicated it would be to manage all this in a traditional way.
The BSC is meant to bring positive results, so it needs periodic monitoring, both of its actions and its objectives and indicators. And the founders of Interact thought the same way, which is why they created the Interact Suite SA and the SA Governance Manager.
With it, you just need to input the information, make the necessary configurations, and everything you need will be just a click away. Much easier than a spreadsheet, right?
Advantages of Using BSC Software
BSC software aims to translate the company’s strategy into a monitoring system for its execution through efficient communication, allowing it to be improved with safety and ease.
Since strategic planning involves all areas of an organization, using software to centralize information facilitates employees’ access to their objectives and the progress of the strategy as a whole. This online view allows for monitoring the performance of the areas, enabling comparison between the aligned objectives.
Additionally, it improves communication among employees, stimulates commitment, and reduces the volume of information for analysis, as the preconfigured indicators already gather all the necessary data for evaluation.
The software also contributes to improving the company’s performance, increasing alignment in operations, and facilitating access to information.
Its impacts go beyond management efficiency, ensuring that internal and external standards are met, such as GDPR, Compliance, and even ESG.
Aspects to Consider When Choosing Software
Management software needs to have some basic functionalities to be truly efficient, including agile and practical information retrieval, despite the large amount of data.
The creation of meeting minutes and document repositories is also a relevant functionality, centralizing everything in one tool.
Integration with action and project management tools allows for real-time monitoring of indicators and action plans.
There are other aspects to consider; however, the decisive factor in choosing the software is the security of the information stored there. Consider what security measures the tool has in place.
SA Governance Manager
This module of the Interact Suite SA is considered the key module for corporate governance, as it integrates with other modules to execute excellent management with great competence.
It enables the complete structuring of strategic and operational planning, aligns with the management methodology of Management by Guidelines, ensures the management and control of key performance indicators, and integrates with major ERP, CRM, and BI systems.
The tool features an automatic messaging communication system and a personal agenda, fully complies with the BSC methodology, and allows for integrated management of critical analysis events.
It also includes complementary tools to facilitate your company’s management, such as SA BAM Analysis, SA Why Analysis, SA SWOT Analysis, SA Digital Signature, SA Bow Tie, SA Ishikawa, among others.
Visit our website to learn more about the SA Governance Manager and its features.
Author:
Bianca Wermann
Journalist, Communication and Marketing Analyst at Interact Solutions.
