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Hoque (2014) explains the various uses of the balanced scorecard in the operation of businesses. The key functions include communicating what the organization is planning to accomplish, aligning the individual work with the strategies in the organization, and prioritizing projects, products, and services. The article also provides various trends that have been observed in a balanced scorecard. Accomplishments, opportunities, gaps, and trends are well articulated in the article.

Gibbons & Kaplan (2015) has started by explaining how balanced scorecard helps in culture change in the organization. It has explained a balanced scorecard as a strategy that organization uses to realize its mission and work towards achieving its vision. The article has also explained the components of the balanced scorecard. Mission and vision statement, objectives and actions have been explained as key components of a balanced scorecard in an organization.

The article by Hansen &Schaltegger (2016) has explained how to put in place a sustainably balanced scorecard. The article describes that the scorecard helps in determining the outcome in an organization because it plays a major role in the determining the performance of the organization. It explains that a good balanced scorecard should be aimed at achieving the specific objectives of the organization. In doing so, the actions outlined should be ones that can be realized by the organization.

Coe &Letza (2014) starts by explaining the meaning of a balanced scorecard. They explain it as a tool used by the organizations to keep track of the execution of the activities by the staff within their control and monitor the outcome of their various actions. The article emphasizes that the concept of the balanced scorecard is an idea can be traced back around twenty years ago. The article also explains the key characteristics that are focused on with the use of the balanced scorecard. Focusing on strategic agenda, selection of a small number of items to monitor and having a mix of financial and non-financial have been identified as the key characteristics.

How I will use a balanced scorecard

As an IT manager, I will use a balanced scorecard to carry out various functions. I will use the scorecard in strategic planning. A balanced scorecard is an essential component of the strategic planning in an organization. I will also use it to improve strategy communication and execution. The action will help in monitoring various actions taken by workers in the organization. I will also use the scorecard in mapping the projects and initiatives. A balanced scorecard is an essential tool for bettering alignment of projects and initiatives.

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A balanced scorecard is used by an organization to communicate what the organization is trying to achieve, used to prioritize services, products, and projects, to strategize the daily activities of an organization and also monitor and measure the organizational progress in relation to the strategic targets. Therefore, the balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system (Bergeron, 2017).

The financial accounting metrics that an organization follow to monitor their strategic goals is the key premise of the balanced scorecard since the goals are insufficient to be kept on track (Kaplan, & Norton, 2006). A more comprehensive view is provided by the balanced scorecard to managers so as to gauge the performance of the organization in terms of product innovation and customer satisfaction by complementing financial measures. Balanced scorecard has four perspectives and they include (Kaplan, & Norton, 1996).;

• Internal analysis- this focuses on how organizational processes are related to strategic goals.

• Customer analysis- this focuses on the satisfaction of customer and retention

• Growth and learning analysis- the satisfaction of the employee and information system performance are assessed here.

• Financial analysis- the return on investment, sale growth, and operating income is measure here.

A balanced scorecard with the four perspectives has two advantages. First, one improvement can be considered whether it has been achieved at the expense of another by the manager since all the important operational metrics are together. Secondly, a single report can be prepared since disparate elements of competitive agenda of an organization can be brought together.

As an IT professional, I can use the balanced scorecard to as a communication and a link so as to communicate strategies to all levels of an organization and also to link those strategies with the individual goals (Niven, 2014). The balanced scorecard can also be used to translate the vision by enabling managers to make decisions concerning the strategies of an organization and express them in terms in that, at the local level a guide of an action can be established.