Kanji's business scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard was first devised by Kaplan and Norton (1992, Harvar d Business Review, January-February, pp. 71-79) as a measurement framework that was expected to overcome some of the deficiencies of traditional perfo rmance systems. It gives a holistic view of the organization by simultaneou sly looking at four important perspectives (financial, customer, internal p rocesses, innovation and learning). Apart from being a measurement framewor k, the Balanced Scorecard achieved recognition as a strategic management sy stem. The new approach to performance measurement suggested in the Balanced Scorecard is consistent with the initiatives under way in many companies: cross-functional integration, continuous improvement, customer-supplier par tnerships and team rather than individual accountability. In this sense, it fits well into the quality management philosophy, embracing some of the bu siness excellence principles of Kanji's Business Excellence Model. Neverthe less, the Balanced Scorecard, as presented by Kaplan and Norton, is not wit hout limitations. The causality links suggested among the four perspectives are particularly problematic and ambiguous. Additionally, it fails to reco gnize explicitly the contributions of important stakeholders, such as emplo yees and suppliers. Taking into account the potentialities and limitations of the traditional Balanced Scorecard, we propose the development of a new framework integrating the elements of Kanji's Business Excellence Model and taking advantage of the strengths of its sound methodological support. The Business Scorecard may be improved by integrating the total quality manage ment principles and critical success factors that constitute Kanji's Busine ss Excellence Model. The Kanji's Business Scorecard we present in this pape r is not only a conceptual model, but also a measurement model. Furthermore , Kanji's approach has the potential to give a deeper understanding of how achievements in the different areas feed each other to form a cycle of cont inuous improvement. Finally, the implementation of Kanji's Business Scoreca rd can help organizations to develop, cascade and implement a strategy for business excellence.