"Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step:
Maximizing Performance and Maintaining Results"
Author: Paul R. Niven
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002
Book Review by: Angela Sinickas, ABC
Paul Niven's book would be invaluable for communicators
whose companies are implementing a Balanced Scorecard,
and it can also provide a great deal of useful information
on setting measurable goals for a staff function like
communication to ensure it aligns with a company's strategy.
Robert Kaplan and David Norton launched the concept
of using a Balanced Scorecard to measure multiple aspects
of organizational performance -- not solely financial
results -- in a book they published in 1996. Paul Niven
helped implement this approach so successfully at his
former employer, Nova Scotia Power, that he became a
management consultant to help other organizations do
the same. Now he has written this book to help even
more companies develop their own scorecards and integrate
them into the way their organizations are managed. Niven
generously includes dozens of highly practical worksheets,
lists, agendas, sample plans and suggested research
questions throughout the book.
This book would be most valuable for communicators
whose companies are in the early stages of implementing
a Balanced Scorecard, though it offers many practical
suggestions for improving the way existing Scorecards
could be used. The one weakness from a communicator's
perspective, however, is Niven's rather narrow definition
of internal communication in the four pages (of 334)
he devotes to it. He seems to see it primarily as tactical
top-down mass messaging through creatively selected
delivery channels and "drawing on the resources
of that most reliable of information sources -- the
company grapevine." Niven also discusses mass audience
segmentation rather than more specific identification
of unique stakeholder groups for different elements
of Balanced Scorecard metrics.
On the other hand, Niven provides useful ideas about
processes, such as obtaining buy-in, conducting interviews
and focus groups, employee education and two-way cascading
of information. Niven is an advocate for measuring the
effectiveness of communication, from the dissemination
and education to the outcomes of awareness, enthusiasm,
engagement and participation. However, he doesn't show
how to quantify the impact the communication activities
have on the outcomes; he simply assumes there would
be a connection.
Niven also provides useful information on how to set
meaningful goals and objectives that are aligned with
corporate strategy that communicators should be able
to adapt to their own function. One of my favorite concepts
in the book is the distinction between "leading"
and "lagging" metrics. He says that most of
the traditional financial measures are "lagging"
in that they tell you where you've been, and often too
late to be able to change results.
Niven reinforces the importance of identifying the
right "leading" measures that have a cause-and-effect
relationship, using the lagging measures as predictors
of the financial measures. This will attribute value
to measurement in order to illustrate sales that a company
might see later.
The book is filled with ideas communicators at all
organizations can adapt to help make business strategy
more relevant to employees' jobs. There is a chapter
on developing and communicating mission, vision and
values that includes a list of specific questions to
ask employees in focus groups or interviews as part
of the development process.
The book also provides easy-to-understand summaries
of how various business processes work, such as supply
chain management, for communicators who want to better
understand their businesses. Niven's book is easy to
read from beginning to end with a very practical perspective
that is refreshing for a business book. It truly is
a "how to" guide.
At Amazon.com:
"Balanced
Scorecard Step-by-Step: Maximizing Performance
and Maintaining Results"
Reviewer:
Angela Sinickas is President of Sinickas
Communications, Inc., an international communication
consultancy helping corporations achieve business results
through targeted diagnostics and practical solutions.
Angela's work has been cited in Harvard Business
Review, Investors Business Daily, HR Magazine, Executive
Solutions, PR News, Journal of Communication Management,
Ragan Report and Communication World, among
many other publications.
Discuss this topic with other IABC members at: www.iabc.com/memberspeak.
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