03 | The Balanced Scorecard

A New Way To Measure, Communicate, Motivate and Reward Within The Dealership Enviroment!

The Balanced Scorecard is a proven approach to strategic management that imbeds long-term strategies into the management system through measurement and reporting. A Scorecard properly deployed translates a dealerships vision and strategy into a platform that effectively communicates intent, tracks performance against established objectives, motivates, and rewards staff in a new and innovative manner.

The Balanced Scorecard, devised by Harvard Business School Professor Robert Kaplan and Renaissance Solutions President David Norton, was conceived with Information Age business dynamics in mind. It uses a broad range of "leading and lagging" indicators; customer perspective, internal business processes, learning, and growth, along with financial data to evaluate whether a business is moving toward its strategic goals.

Equally as important, The Balanced Scorecard is a communication system that bridges the gap between goals set by ownership, and the front-line workers whose performance is ultimately responsible for reaching them. The Balanced Scorecard lets leaders express to managers and employees how their individual efforts contribute to the business success, and it lets employees communicate to executives what day-to-day realities affect their progress.

Measurement is a critical component of any dealership management system or process. Managers will quickly recognize the Scorecards role in measuring and communicating the achievement of the dealerships strategy and vision, thus rewarding the staff based upon the results. The traditional system that looks back instead of forward, and disproportionately stresses monthly financial statements at the expense of important indicators like training and CSI does not fully utilize the dealerships most valuable asset, its people.

In essence, a dealerships Balanced Scorecard is a sophisticated business model that helps managers and employees better understand whats really driving success on an individual and company level or more importantly what is needed to achieve success.

Even more important in an era of rapidly shifting markets and erratic factories, The Balanced Scorecard helps anticipate circumstances so managers can plan rather than react. Dealers of the 60s and 70s had weeks and months to make decisions with a management system developed during that period and still in use today. The Balanced Scorecard is a management system developed during that period and still in use today. The Balanced Scorecard is a management system that works for businesses now and into the new millennium, where decisions are and will continue to be required in seconds and minutes.

Progressive Dynamics has harnessed this powerful tool for your Dealership through the use of a simple to use Balanced Scorecard that is coupled with action plans used to advise your staff on how improve their progress as measured against the goals YOU set into play. Plus, an ongoing training and support program supports everything.