The Balanced Scorecard: A
Framework for Accountability
Presenters:
Maureen Pettitt, Skagit Valley College, WA
Doug Whittaker, Washington State Board for
Community and Technical Colleges

“Colleges and universities are moving
into a period when they will be expected
to provide not only data on the
attainment of defined outcomes…but
also evidence that results have been
attained at a reasonable cost. [They]
will have to specify their aims, stand
ready to justify activities, demonstrate
their contribution to objectives, and
defend the cost of the enterprise.”
Berdahl & O’Connell (1999). American Higher
Education in the Twenty-First Century.
External Accountability
Accountability performance indicators
are developed for external audiences
with limited areas of interest, resulting in
measures that are “incomplete and onedimensional views of performance.”
 Desired improvements are unlikely to
occur “until performance measures are
linked to the drivers of institutional
effectiveness in a meaningful way.”

State Performance Measures
Performance Measures
Graduation rates
Transfer rates
Faculty workload/productivity
Follow-up satisfaction studies
External/sponsored research funds
Remediation activities/effectiveness
Pass rates
Degrees awarded
Placement data on graduates
Admission stds & measures
Total student credit hours
Number & % of accredited programs
Number of States
32
25
24
23
23
21
21
20
19
18
18
13
http://www.acct.org/policy/Accountability_Report.htm
Internal Assessment
To be useful internally, performance
indicators must be tied to institutional
values, goals, and objectives…
 …and the objectives must be translated
into specific research problems that can
be studied...and around which
strategies for improvement can be
developed.

Balanced Scorecard

After publishing
several wellreceived articles
in HBR, Harvard
professors Robert
Kaplan and David
Norton released
their book in 1996
Definition
 The
Balanced Scorecard is a
multidimensional framework that
provides an ‘enterprise’ view of the
organization’s overall performance
by integrating financial measures
with other key performance
indicators.
“Think of the balanced
scorecard as the
dials and indicators in
an airplane cockpit.
For the complex task
of navigating and
flying an airplane,
pilots need detailed
information about
many aspects of the
flight...
They need information about fuel,
airspeed, altitude, bearing, destination
and other indicators that summarize the
current and predicated environment.
Reliance on one instrument can be
fatal.
Similarly, the complexity of managing an
organization today requires that
managers be able to view performance
in several areas simultaneously.”
Kaplan and Norton, 1992
Balancing Perspectives

Too often bad strategic decisions are
made in an effort to increase the
“bottom line” at the expense of other
institutional goals. The BSC suggests
that financial performance should not be
viewed as the focus, but as the natural
outcome of balancing other important
goals.
Four Strategic Issues
Customer
 Internal business
process
 Financial
 Innovation and
learning

Customer Perspective
“How do
customers
see us?”
– responsiveness,
timeliness
– product/service
quality and cost
– meet client needs
Internal Business Process
Perspective
“At what must
we excel?”
– accurate and
timely delivery of
services
– effective systems
and processes
– environmental
sustainability
Financial Perspective
“How do we look
to our key
stakeholders?”
– budgets
– revenue
– capital
expenditures
– debt to asset
ratio
Innovation and Learning
Perspective
“Can we
continue to
improve and
create value?”
– employee skills and
training
– use of technology
– encouragement of
innovation
– continuous
improvement
Ultimate Balancing Act
The ultimate balancing
act in any organization is
the one whereby the
needs and requirements
of multiple stakeholders
are reconciled and
integrated.
Financial Perspective
Goals
Measures
Customer Perspective
Goals
Measures
Vision
Internal Business
Perspective
Goals
Measures
Innovation and
Learning Perspective
Goals
Measures
Examples
Ohio State University
 USC Rossier School of Education

Exercises
Southwest University
 Pacific Northwest College

Strategic Planning

An effective scorecard will identify a set
of strategic questions, objectives, and
measures that address the issue of
adding value--and doing so at a rate
that is better than the competition. This
is the essence of strategy.
Strategic Planning (con’t)
A balanced set of
indicators can
systematically
stimulate better
understandings and
deeper insights that
can form the basis
for strategy.
Four Key Processes
Feedback
and
learning
Business
planning
Translating
the vision
Communicating
and linking
Four Key Processes
 Translating
the vision helps managers
build a consensus around the
institution’s strategy and express it in
terms that guide action
 Communicating and linking lets
managers communicate their strategy
institution-wide, and link it to unit and
individual goals
Four Key Processes (con’t)
 Business
planning enables the
institution to integrate its business and
financial plans
 Feedback and learning give institutions
the capacity for strategic learning, which
consists of gathering feedback, testing
the hypotheses on which strategy was
based, and making adjustments