Commitment of the senior management team (SMT) is critical to successful implementation of a Balanced Scorecard. Even organisations that do not ultimately implement a BSC can benefit from going through the process.
Kaplan and Norton, in their groundbreaking work The Balanced Scorecard, indicate that 16 weeks is an adequate timeframe to set up a Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Why, then, does 16 weeks so often become 16 months? And, if BSC processes have revolutionised organisations, why aren't all organisations, with more than say 20 staff, using them?
I suspect the problem lies at the top where the senior management team lacks understanding of, and commitment to, the BSC and does not prioritise it. Many organisations have made half-hearted attempts at implementing a BSC by fitting the project around other often less important fire-fighting activities.
