The Balanced Scorecard (Book Summary) (10-minute read)

"The Balanced Scorecard" is a management classic, first published in 1996, which builds a bridge between traditional, short-term oriented management systems and a more balanced, long-term approach integrating new types of measurements into a comprehensive strategy. It looks to senior managers and asks, "Are you ready for the future?" Some executives respond to the challenge of change by tinkering, adding a few nonfinancial metrics to the "instrumentation cockpit" that tells them how their corporate ship is running. Others have spurned the Balanced Scorecard because it requires CEOs to accept feedback from all levels of their organizations forcing them to know if their assumptions remain relevant amidst rapid change. To date, however, more than 300 major organizations have used this system to enhance their performance and future prospects. Abraham Lincoln once said the best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time. This book acknowledges that the future will be here sooner than you think, and it urges companies to select the financial measurements that best match their business and industry. This book summary was produced by Harvard Business Press in partnership with getAbstract.