CASE STUDIES & ARTICLES

Case Study: SouthLight
Using the Balanced Scorecard approach to further sharpen its service delivery model and improve financial performance.

Case Study: Step-UP Ministry
The search for a measurement tools leads to a surprising outcome.

Nonprofits and For-Profits – Different Yet the Same
I suspect that many of us consider nonprofits and for-profits to be so fundamentally different that they require entirely different management approaches. It makes sense. A for-profit's purpose is to build shareholder value. Since a business is ultimately worth what it will earn, there's a logical emphasis in business on growing profits by increasing revenues and controlling costs. A nonprofit's purpose on the other hand is to promote a cause or help the needy - those who otherwise would not be served because there's not enough money in the activity to attract private investment. more...

Who, Why & Where - Building a Strong Foundation
It's ironic that Mission, Values and Vision are underutilized given that they are so critical to the success of an organization. And yet I understand why they usually get a bum rap, why peoples' eyes glaze over when you mention the words, why our snickering cynical side comes out when we are asked about our organization's Mission, Values and Vision. more...

Southwest Airlines - How and When, Not If
This is the second article in a 2 part series. Last time we looked at how Southwest Airlines and other successful companies carefully target a well defined market in order to eventually dominate it. By focusing on a winnable market they are able to concentrate all of their limited resources thereby increasing their chances of success. This time we look in some detail at how Southwest Airlines uses the Balanced Scorecard to execute strategy. Note how simple their Balanced Scorecard is. That's one of the many reasons it is so widely used by large and small companies. Indeed, simple can be powerful. more....

Speaking of Southwest Airlines, Religent and elephants
I think we all agree that Southwest Airlines has done a spectacular job. It's undoubtedly the best performing airline in the industry, which may not seem like much until you consider that Southwest has made a profit in a very tough industry every year since 1973, two years after it was launched. Southwest is successful because it 1) knows its customer, and 2) it consistently executes its strategy more...

All hands on deck! (A good strategy can make for smooth sailing)
It's not enough for your company to have a worthy goal and a brilliant strategy. To be successful, you must keep everyone at the company focused on the goal and taking daily action that is fully aligned with the strategy. more...

Time Mastery
Question: "How do you eat an elephant?" Answer: "One bite at a time." It's helpful to remember this popular saying when contemplating a giant project. Looked at as a combination of small manageable "bites" or steps even the most ambitious undertaking seems doable. more....

Bandwidth.com - Farther, faster with the balanced scorecard
Many companies that have never heard of the Balanced Scorecard may be surprised to learn that they have been applying some of the underlying concepts for years. For these companies, a formal Balanced Scorecard implementation is an exciting opportunity to reap greater benefits from a process that is already familiar. more...

A purse from a sow's ear? Lessons from Mobil Oil
If you asked me how to make a purse from a sow's ear, my answer would be "I have no earthly idea." But if you asked: "How do people make an industry leader out of an industry laggard?" I'd point to a company that has already done it so that you could copy what worked and adapt the process to your own business. more...

Be true to your mission - Isoph stays the course
Three years ago, if you had asked the founders of Isoph, a Carrboro-based developer of e-learning and collaboration applications, where their company was headed, they would have given a solid answer based on a clear mission and a carefully crafted supporting strategy. Three years later, the company is still propelled by the same mission and by substantially the same strategy in serving blue chip nonprofits like the National Wildlife Federation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well as smaller nonprofits and for profits. In the intervening time however, they had a lot to learn about meeting the expressed needs of the market while staying true to their mission. more...

Local VC Fund Serves Two Masters - Does Well By Doing Good
Can a venture fund have as its Mission to create jobs, protect the environment and generate respectable returns for its investors? Well, it's clearly not easy and there are plenty of investment funds that have tried and failed. But one, based right here in Durham NC (and Philadelphia PA), is being true to its Values and its Mission and has carefully balanced the execution of its strategy to serve what some might consider two incompatible masters. more...

"Instant" Balanced Scorecard
Wouldn't it be nice if you could whip up a Balanced Scorecard like a bowl of instant oatmeal? That way you could settle down to a delicious strategy implementation only moments after pouring in the ingredients. Well the word "instant" may be too strong, but for companies with an existing strategy and a good management team there is a speedy way to develop an initial Balanced Scorecard that creates real results. more...

Stockton Graham & Co. Balanced Scorecard - Looking Back A Year Later
It's been about a year since Stockton Graham & Co. created its first Balanced Scorecard. At the time, the 10 year old wholesale specialty beverage company in Raleigh NC was a profitable multimillion dollar business. But Jeff Vojta, the company's founder and CEO, was dissatisfied with the company's rate of growth and was looking for a better way to create and communicate a strategy that would focus the entire organization on its most important activities and outcomes. more...