- Evaluate the application of the Balanced Scorecard as an integrative approach to organizational improvement in terms of vision; strategy; stakeholders (such as customers); business processes; management; finance; organizational learning; and capacity for growth.

- Write objectives, identify measures, and propose initiatives to improve performance from customer, financial, internal business process, growth, and organizational learning perspectives.

- Explain and apply the financial perspective of the balanced scorecard.

In this module's case assignment you will be introduced to the balanced scorecard concept and will begin to consider how organizations link strategy with the balanced scorecard approach. We will look at the interrelationship of strategy and the balanced scorecard approach in more depth later on in this course. For now, however, it is good to understand the fundamentals of the BSC and to consider examples of how organizations have integrated the BSC approach into their daily operations in a fashion that reflects the strategy of the respective organizations.

To prepare for this case assignment you are to start by reading the required readings identified on the background page.

Your analysis should be structured in terms of the following four perspectives (you will be using essentially this same comparative evaluation framework for the first four modules of this course):

Introduction: In this part of your essay you will need to set up your argument by introducing your topic and presenting your position or thesis statement somewhere in this introductory paragraph.

Analysis: In this section you will present several arguments arguing in favor of your thesis statement. Make sure you discuss how the Center used the score card quadrants to align with organizational strategy (or how it failed to do so).

Conclusion: Wrap up your argument with a clear and cogent synopsis of your findings. Do your best to convince your reader (aka, your professor) as to your position.

Additional Instructions: Your argumentative essay should be 3 to 4 pages in length (not counting your title page or references). You must include a list of references. APA formatting is preferred. Do not paste in sections of text into your essay. All of your work must be written in your own words. It's OK to use a short quote now and again, but quotations must be in quotation marks and properly cited. In-text citations should be used anytime you are borrowing somebody else's ideas, or information. That is to say, if you are borrowing a thought from a publication from G. Jetson's article written in 2010, that section of text must be followed with (Jetson, 2010). Quotations, data, and general ideas (put into your own words) should all be cited.