BUSINESS FINANCE – OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

1. Balanced scorecards are used to communicate goals, organize daily work with a strategy, prioritize projects, products and services, and gauge progress (Strategy Management Group, 2016). This system utilizes mission and vision statements, values, and goals and objectives to create the system. Scorecards are used by businesses, industries, and nonprofits. The BSC requires an organization to have four different perspectives: financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth. Strategic objectives are improvement activities that are used to apply strategy (Strategy Management Group, 2016). The mission and vision statement can be used as guides to what the organization can do to achieve strategic objectives. In regards to control, the BSC can be used to help managers take action to ensure that employees are on track to achieving organizational goals (Reference for Business, n.d.). It can be used to make sure employees understand the organization’s goals and to measure employee performance.

Financial

Increase pay and compensation

Create goals to be achieved and have a reward for completion

Reduction in turnover rate regarding pay related issues

Customer

Try to reduce the amount of difficult customers

Create ICE cards (Interactive Customer Evaluation)

Discover why customers are being difficult and find a solution

Internal

Improve scheduling

Plan schedule 2 months out

Increase employee satisfaction // Better scheduling work schedule regarding amount of employees at work

Learning and Growth

Increase quality customer service

Train employees on customer service – “Give ‘em the Pickle” training video

Enhance employees with “people” skills // Better prepare them in life as well
Reference for Business. (n.d.). MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS. Retrieved December 07, 2017, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Log-Mar/Management-Functions.html#ixzz412Ls4N5R
Strategy Managment Group. (2016). What is the Balanced Scorecard? Retrieved December 07, 2017, from http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSC-Basics/About-the-Balanced-Scorecard

CLASSMATE #2
Controlling as a management function. Controlling is supervising and double-checking to ensure that policies and procedures are being followed (MSG, 2017). The control function is important because it is not enough to simple have plans in place within an organization but it is important that plans are implemented and executed efficiently. It is checking actual performance against the standards that are set (MSG, 2017).
The balance scorecard approach fits into the control function of management because this approach is used to align the organization’s performance of its vision and objectives (The balance scorecard). It helps to manage employees work quality and the quality that is set by the organization. Controlling and the balance scorecard fits because they both are ensuring that the organization is on the right track.
Laurel City Bowling Alley Balanced Scorecard
Goal – Improve Employee Turnover

Strategy Perspective

Objectives

Measures

Targets

Learning and Growth

Improve customer relation skills.

Provide customer relation training.

Complete training within a month of employment.

Employee Satisfaction

Provide a flexible schedule and Increase Pay.

Make the schedule a month in advance.
Increase pay after 6 months.

Make next months’ work schedule now and monthly thereafter.
Increase pay now for employees that has been there for over 6 months.

Financial

Cut back on training cost.
Better customer service equaling more customers and profits

Calculate on how much is saved from fewer employee turnover.
Calculate sales growth as a result of better customer service.