QI and BSC Resources

Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step for Government and Nonprofit Agencies outlines the very real benefits of the field-proven Balanced Scorecard approach, and details how it can be tailored to the unique requirements and realities of nonprofit and public-sector organizations. Let it show you how to use the Balanced Scorecard to help your organization dramatically improve operational and fiscal effectiveness–and better meet the needs of your stakeholders.

Balanced Scorecard Step-by-Step provides a practical guide for developing your organization's scorecard. Examples are provided for private and public sector organizations. Paul Niven describes that the Balanced Scorecard is more than metrics, and shows readers how to link those metrics to the organization's strategy.

Keeping Score emphasizes the need for effective measurement systems that focus on the right thing. Measures should focus on the past, present, and future, and should provide you with an overview of your organization. This should be accomplished utilizing the vital few key measures. An effective measurement system makes the strategy of the organization real to its employees, focuses on long and short-term success, and should greatly reduce the amount of management time spent reporting and reviewing performance.

This follow-up book by Mark Graham Brown provides a more in-depth view of how performance measures relate to the Balanced Scorecard. He advocates linking performance metrics to the company's mission, vision and goals. Winning Score provides examples, using case studies of companies that have implemented the Balanced Scorecard, checklists, interview questions and other helpful tools to assist with scorecard design and implementation.

The Balanced Scorecard is the initial book that launched this movement, by Kaplan and Norton. It details the development of the scorecard with its four categories: financial, customer, internal processes and learning & growth. Typically, the strategy shows that actions in the Learning and Growth area are expected to enable internal business process innovations which will in turn allow the achievement of specific customer objectives and finally to financial results. Kaplan and Norton emphasize making the strategy specific and actionable, engaging everyone in the organization for planning that specifically relates to the strategy, and providing strategic feedback and learning.

The Strategy-Focused Organization is Kaplan and Norton's follow-up book regarding the Balanced Scorecard. This book provides more practical examples than its predecessor, in an easy-to-comprehend format. They describe five key points for success in the workplace: Translate the strategy to operational terms, align the organization to the strategy, make strategy everyone's job, make strategy a continual process, and mobilize change through executive leadership.

Based on the largest study of its kind ever undertaken, more than 80,000 managers in 400 companies demonstrate insights and tips about successful managerial behavior, in First, Break All the Rules. Great managers are highlighted, showing how they are key in finding the right employees, selecting staff for talent, and helping them perform. This book also discusses a twelve-questions employee climate survey, developed by the authors at Gallup, which have a high degree of predicting organizational productivity and success.

Now, Discover Your Strengths focuses on enhancing people's strengths instead of eliminating their weaknesses. The book describes 34 personality themes, and explains how to build your organization using those as strengths. Readers are given a code to use on a web-based questionnaire to discover their own five strengths.