<p>This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how existing theories of strategy and strategic changes may be applied in a real-world Balanced Scorecard (BSC) context. In other words, how a strategy is connected to an existing BSC in a real-world setting. What makes this study interesting and relevant is the current turbulent state of the worldwide economy that is likely to lead to strategic adjustments and changes to a larger extent, which should be reflected in a strategic tool such as the BSC.</p><p> </p><p>In order for a change to be implemented it must be known and understood by those who are expected to perform the change. The ones expected to implement a change should know about it to actually be able act out on a possible connection between the strategy and the BSC. To deeply understand how strategy and strategic changes are reflected in the BSC should thereby entail how strategic changes are uttered in the BSC as well as how well they are communicated to all relevant levels of the company. That implies finding whether the BSC is actually used, in a real-world setting, as the strategic communication tool that it has been occasionally named and how that would occur.</p><p> </p><p>The study departures from existing strategy- and BSC theory to then contribute with a real life application of them. The method used to fulfill this purpose is by deeply interviewing relevant respondents at Nordea familiar and active within the subjects of strategy and the BSC. The study will reveal a result that is analytically, but not statistically generalisable to other similar contexts, all in accordance to the qualitative research strategy that this study holds. Multiple cases, in form of different units or divisions all in different hierarchical levels of Nordea, have been studied in isolation and comparison. One true reality has not been sought for, but rather the contribution of each case to the real-life context.</p><p> </p><p>It was found that a strategic change should, to a great extent, be implemented through addressing behaviors. Using Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the BSC could demonstrate both how certain activities should be prioritized and what level of performance should be expected. Further, KPI’s can easily be adjusted to the specific role of an employee and even be broken down to an individual level, which make every change relevant and thereby more likely to be fulfilled. Further, they can be adjusted and implemented at any hierarchical level. Consequently, by using KPI’s to address a coveted behaviour and to consistently monitoring and reviewing the process, strategy and strategic changes can be implemented in a flexible, relevant and active manner to ascertain that the best conditions are provided for both seeing and implementing strategic changes through the BSC.</p>

Background: After immense criticism, the Swedish government requested an investigation concerning the construction industry. The report concludes that the inactive competition within the construction industry entail that the industry continuously delivers the same products, in the same way. Gabrielsson &amp; Lutz (2002), states that the market condition and the long history of static competition within the construction industry has led to low productivity, high consumption of resources, large influences on the environment, higher costs and a lack of qualified labour. The construction industry is now dealing with an increasing competition and evidently decreasing subsidies from the government, that will continue to influence the construction industry, and the companies, which therefore must work hard to sustain and increase their competitive advantages. Purpose: Describe how a construction firm could integrate the strategy with the operative work on the project level in order to sustain and develop their competitive advantages in a growing competitive environment, by implementing a balanced scorecard (BSC). Method: Since the problem and the subject are complex and vast, the authors started the research by study a wide range of literature, articles and journals. Three interviews were made with a project leader working at the site, operative level, and two managers working on the strategic level, in the line organization above the project leader. With this selection the authors aimed to see whether the three experienced the organization and strategies the same way. Conclusions: The authors have concluded that NCC needs to go from being a very decentralized organization to be more of a centralized one. The centralization concerns purchase, coordination, industrialization, and project selection. The strategy has to involve all of these factors. NCC needs to coordinate the retention of knowledge and newly found solutions. They also need to have continuing processes of development and improvement concerning this retention, which in favourability should be located on a national level. This could raise NCC’s chances to achieve increased efficiency, decreased costs, better quality and environment. The authors further believe that NCC needs to strengthen their focus on industrialization on a national level, while letting the project organizations act as its own company. Every project is unique and therefore NCC needs to learn from all projects in ability to see the possibilities and enlighten the problems in all types of projects. If not, the large-scale production benefits could be missed out.

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This study aims to contribute to the understanding of how existing theories of strategy and strategic changes may be applied in a real-world Balanced Scorecard (BSC) context. In other words, how a strategy is connected to an existing BSC in a real-world setting. What makes this study interesting and relevant is the current turbulent state of the worldwide economy that is likely to lead to strategic adjustments and changes to a larger extent, which should be reflected in a strategic tool such as the BSC.   In order for a change to be implemented it must be known and understood by those who are expected to perform the change. The ones expected to implement a change should know about it to actually be able act out on a possible connection between the strategy and the BSC. To deeply understand how strategy and strategic changes are reflected in the BSC should thereby entail how strategic changes are uttered in the BSC as well as how well they are communicated to all relevant levels of the company. That implies finding whether the BSC is actually used, in a real-world setting, as the strategic communication tool that it has been occasionally named and how that would occur.   The study departures from existing strategy- and BSC theory to then contribute with a real life application of them. The method used to fulfill this purpose is by deeply interviewing relevant respondents at Nordea familiar and active within the subjects of strategy and the BSC. The study will reveal a result that is analytically, but not statistically generalisable to other similar contexts, all in accordance to the qualitative research strategy that this study holds. Multiple cases, in form of different units or divisions all in different hierarchical levels of Nordea, have been studied in isolation and comparison. One true reality has not been sought for, but rather the contribution of each case to the real-life context.   It was found that a strategic change should, to a great extent, be implemented through addressing behaviors. Using Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in the BSC could demonstrate both how certain activities should be prioritized and what level of performance should be expected. Further, KPI’s can easily be adjusted to the specific role of an employee and even be broken down to an individual level, which make every change relevant and thereby more likely to be fulfilled. Further, they can be adjusted and implemented at any hierarchical level. Consequently, by using KPI’s to address a coveted behaviour and to consistently monitoring and reviewing the process, strategy and strategic changes can be implemented in a flexible, relevant and active manner to ascertain that the best conditions are provided for both seeing and implementing strategic changes through the BSC.

Due to the fast change of globalization marketing, the shortened product life-cycle, and the uncertainty of marketing demand, enterprises have to become more agile, flexible in order to adapt to the fast change of the marketing. The SCM (Supply Chain Management) is the method to integrate the enterprise partnership of networks efficiently, the products will be produced and delivered with the right quantity to the right place at the right timing, it will help to reduce the cost of total supply chain and fulfill customer requirement with satisfaction. In past decades, the enterprises have introduced the balanced scorecard as the foundation of management system, and the method for alignment to business strategies. In this paper, through the combination of SCM practice and balanced scorecard by the Modified Delphi Method to develop the practical and effective performance indicators. The case study of this paper would take the performance indicators as the review on IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturers) company, in order to verify whether the SCM performance measurement of the company was balanced from each perspectives of the SCM balanced scorecard.

Taiwan's location in the typhoon-beset western Pacific and on the Pacific-rim fault belt makes it the target of frequent natural disasters such as typhoons, floods, and earthquakes. Ever-increasing population densities due to social evolutions and technology advances, along with the diffusion of international terrorist attacks, further threaten to maximize the potential damages that all forms of disasters might inflict. According to the domestic laws, the responsibilities of the fire departments in Taiwan have evolved from traditional fire control and the supply of ambulance service to including emergency rescues for typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and accidental or criminal explosions. With the current limited resources and expanding responsibilities, to improve the management capabilities and efficiencies poses a major challenge to the fire department. This study chooses the fire department of Kao-Hsiung County as the research case in an attempt using the Balanced Scorecard to develop an performance management system that puts the strategies into action and to establish an objective and feasible performance standard. This system is aimed to give a timely evaluation of the performance in the execution of the fire department's work, which, along with the endeavor of the fire department, will be made available to the general public as well as to the fire department itself. Through interviews at the management level and bibliography reviews, we obtain 25 strategy objectives and 39 evaluation indices, which are reduced to 20 strategy objectives and 28 evaluation indices by questionnaire investigation. The results indicate that the indices of public services, internal management, employee training, and financial resources show a stronger consensus than the that of community safety, suggesting that the fire department has a strong agreement of task on increasing the financial resources, streamlining the internal workflow, and improving the job-related training to strengthen its capabilities. On the other hand, we find a lesser agreement on the adoption of positive actions of fire safety inspections to solidify the community safety. ANOVA and Independent t test show significant differences of index choices among different age groups. Notable differences due to the discrepancies in ages and work areas are also observed on recognition of the feasibility of the performance evaluation system. It is found that the elements of current performance evaluation system of the institution in this case study are scattered in various laws and regulations and are designed to merely meet the minimum requirements as specified by the laws. By the design of balanced scorecard and the statistical analysis, we reach the following conclusions and related recommendations: 1. To simplify the service procedure, based on the customer-oriented concept, more authorization should be granted. 2. A crucial factor in the success of fire control and ambulance supply is the reaction time, which should be minimized by the development of a standard operation procedure (SOP). 3. To eliminate the most common complaint about the lack of timeliness regarding the fire department's service, it is suggested that a computerized information management system be developed to facilitate the supervisor's work of control and evaluation. 4. As an incentive, a performance-feedback mechanism should be established as the criteria for the distribution of resources, which include, among others, the award, the staff size, and the budget. 5. To gain the satisfaction, recognition, and support of the public to elevate the fire department's social status and morale, innovation should always be stressed and encouraged. 6. As an impetus for the high-level management to push the performance-based management, publicity through internet or traditional media is an effective tool.

When an enterprise has developed to a certain scale and anticipated an impressive expansion, business transformation and diversification are unavoidable decisions. How to measure targets or strategies of business transformation and diversification by quantifiable performance measurements or non-quantifiable performance evaluation systems and make adequate modifications would be crucial issues. This study applied Balanced Scorecard ¡qKaplan and Norton, 1996¡r to the Taiwan Sugar Corporation ¡qTSC¡r as a case study. Balanced Scorecard is a tool provides a strategy framework for implementation and control, and transforms company¡¦s visions and strategies into measurable indexes with four dimensions. In order to synchronize the Balanced Scorecard sheet and strategy map of TSC, the study used statistics method to analyze questionnaires and technique of in-depth interviews. Started with analyzing the results of TSC diversification, the study expanded cause-effect relationships of eight major strategic themes, and combined 13 strategic objectives and 45 strategic key performance indicators. The study has two major findings: 1.The current management system and performance measurement of state-owned business are influenced significantly by the government agency. Furthermore, the state-owned business also emphasis too much on financial and internal business process performance indicators, thus customer needs and needs for learning are sacrificed. As the result, the transform mission and strategic target, which focus on value of customers, can¡¦t be connected. 2.Through planning and designing Balanced Scorecard for TSC and transforming organizational strategic objectives into actionable objectives and key performance indicator, we found that Balanced Scorecard is an integrated strategic management tool. Using this tool, the state-owned business can effectively move from ¡§budget performance measurement system¡¨ to ¡§performance management strategy system¡¨. The establishment of Balanced Scorecard has brought TSC the following substantial benefits: 1.Improving the unclear decision making mechanism 2.Establishing strategy focus organization 3.Reducing the gap of current achievement evaluation systems 4.Transforming to customer-focused management mechanism Key words: Business transformation, Diversification, Balanced Scorecard, TSC

In recent years, the healthcare policies and medical environment in Taiwan are changing, many hospitals face the pressure of their operating, and the surviving problems encounter many hospitals, especially for community hospitals. Because the development of hospitals in Taiwan is polarized, the number of community hospitals decreases abruptly in recent years. Foreseeably, community hospitals will face more difficult challenges and surviving problems. Therefore, the case study hospital wants to build a strategic performance system by using balanced scorecard (BSC) and chooses the hemodialysis center as the first unit to implement BSC. To introduce BSC into the hospital, we expect that BSC can transform organization¡¦s objectives into real actions, increase the competitive ability, and establish the foundation of the hospital¡¦s everlasting operation. In the initial stage of the research, we developed a BSC team through SWOT analysis and group thinking to make the mission, core value, and vision of the community hospital and hemodialysis center, developed the strategies of the hemodialysis center, and completed the components of BSC. Afterwards, according to the four perspectives of BSC: customer, finance, internal processes, and learning and growth, we made some measurable indicators of performance to evaluate the performance of the hemodialysis center through the paper review and team discussion. Moreover, the strategy goals are achieved, and the strategies are successfully implemented to help the hemodialysis center fulfill the mission, vision, and core value on the basis of the balance status of the performance measurement inside and outside. The research used some measurable indicators to measure the performance of the hemodialysis center, and compared the information that is before and after BSC has been implemented. In addition to showing the implemented results, we also correct and update the BSC of the homedialysis center through the learning and feedback processes and make a more efficient BSC to build a better strategic performance management system. We also take care about the issue of resource invested and cost, and make some brief discussions. The most important thing is, during the research time, that we recorded some problems and obstacles when implementing BSC, and the information can provide some following researches as reference resources. Through the experience sharing, we hope that other community hospitals wanting to use BSC to build a strategic performance management system can reduce some obstacles and implement BSC more efficiently.

With its successful deployment by the legendary CEO Jack Welch of General Electrics, the Six Sigma methodology of management has achieved wide recognition and popularity among corporations around the globe. This Six Sigma concept for quality management has been sprouting in Taiwan and waiting to be blossomed. The purpose of this case study is to redefine the Six Sigma concept based on the framework of DMAIC (Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control); to implement and pinpoint a strategy for corporations adopting the Six Sigma while deploying VOC (voice of customer) to transform operations into the CTQ (Critical to Quality) stage. The concept of performance management is the nexus where balanced scorecard and Six Sigma can join to produce a formidable weapon that aligns strategic intent with tactical execution. Balanced scorecard is a comprehensive collection of financial and non-financial data and information supplied to the managers of an entity in order to help them achieve the entity¡¦s objectives. This case study uses surveys on the targeted company for further research on how to drive a powerful management tool through the unification of these two proven strategies. An approach that combines the targeted performance indicators of a Balanced Scorecard with the statistical rigor of Six Sigma to be used to effectively focus an organization on the achievement of long-term strategic goals. Based on the statistical result from the surveys on the targeted company, it meets the strategic priorities for various business processes that create customer and shareholder satisfaction (i.e. Internal Business Process). However, it deviates from three other perspectives, financial, customer, and learning and growth. This reveals the company¡¦s needs to be improvised to drive the long-term value and competitive performance.

The Balanced Scorecard(BSC) proposed by Kaplan and Norton(1992) applies four perspectives:Innovative and Learning Perspective, Internal Business Perspective, Customer Perspective, and Financial Perspective.With the scorecard, business units can set of linked financial and nonfinancial measures.Taiwan Power Company(TPC) have implemented the Responsibility Accounting System(RAS)since1993.It is necessary to reconsidering the appropriateness of performance measures for the future comprtition of TPC.The purpose of this study are to examine the fitness of the performance measurements of RAS and to find the suitness of the Balanced Scorecard.This study chooses one of the TPC operation brench as the research case in an attempt using the case studying to check if the strategic business unit(SBU) is suitable of the Balanced Scorecard. Through interviews at the management level and bibliography reviews, we explore the relevant issues of RAS to realize the effects of RAS in the case.And we obtain 20 evalution indices by questionnaire investigation.After the detailed study, we reach the following conclusions and related recommendation: 1.The performance measurement of RAS has rooms for improving. 2.The more it can match of expectation and satisfaction about the measurement factors, the more it can evaluate the real performance. 3.The Balanced Scorecard is to evaluate the future performance by linking financial and nonfinancial measures. 4.The Balanced Scorecard can combine with the Responsibility Accounting System. 5.Strategic business unit(SBU) is suitable for introducing the measurement system of Balanced Scorecard. The suggestions to the individual company are to establish balanced scorecard implementing team, strength the strategic and position, develop a computerized information management system , establish a standard operation procedure, and link the financial and nonfinancial measurement factors.