Week 12 Discussion Forum: Balanced Scorecard At Least 4 Aca ✓ Solved
Week 12 Discussion Forum: Balanced Scorecard. At least 4 aca
Week 12 Discussion Forum: Balanced Scorecard. At least 4 academically reviewed journal articles on Balanced Scorecard and complete the following activities: 1) Write annotated summaries of each article (note that a summary is different from a discussion). Use APA throughout.
2) As an IT professional, discuss how you will use Balanced Scorecard to manage IT resources efficiently. Read and respond to at least two classmates' posts (150 words minimum). In your responses, compare your articles to those of your classmates and include research from academic sources.
Paper For Above Instructions
Annotated Summary 1 — Herath, T., Herath, H., & Bremser, W. G. (2010). Balanced Scorecard Implementation of Security Strategies: A Framework for IT Security Performance Management. Information Systems Management.
This article articulates a framework that integrates the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) with IT security strategy to guide performance management. The authors argue that information security is not only a technical concern but a strategic imperative that benefits from a structured performance management approach. The paper presents a model that maps security objectives onto BSC perspectives—financial, customer, internal processes, and learning/growth—while incorporating security governance, risk management, and portfolio considerations. The authors discuss how security investments, metrics, and KPIs can be aligned with organizational goals, enabling senior leadership to monitor progress, justify expenditures, and adjust strategies in response to evolving threats. Methodologically, the work draws from case examples and practitioner-oriented guidance to demonstrate practical deployment, the importance of senior sponsorship, and the need for reliable data collection. The study contributes to the literature by showing how BSC can translate security initiatives into measurable outcomes, fostering accountability and strategic alignment (Herath et al., 2010). This synthesis supports IT managers seeking an integrated approach to balance risk, return, and security maturity over time (Herath, Herath, & Bremser, 2010).
Annotated Summary 2 — Madsen, D. O., & Stenheim, T. (2015). The Balanced Scorecard: A Review of Five Research Areas. Review.
This paper undertakes a comprehensive literature review of the Balanced Scorecard across five research domains: conceptual evolution, critical perspectives, adoption and diffusion, implementation and use, and performance effects. The authors catalog theoretical developments from the original Kaplan and Norton framework to subsequent adaptations and extensions, highlighting how BSC has evolved to incorporate non-financial metrics, strategic alignment, and organizational learning. The review emphasizes how adoption is mediated by organizational context, culture, and leadership, while implementation challenges include data integration, cascading objectives, and ensuring timely feedback. Performance effects are discussed with emphasis on whether BSC leads to improved decision-making, transparency, and strategic focus, noting that results can vary by industry and maturity. The article concludes with implications for researchers and practitioners, calling for longitudinal studies and more nuanced examinations of context when evaluating BSC effectiveness (Madsen & Stenheim, 2015). This synthesis provides a solid baseline for understanding BSC dynamics and informs IT leadership on how to tailor scorecards to technological settings (Madsen & Stenheim, 2015).
Annotated Summary 3 — Nazari-Shirkouhi, S., Mousakhani, S., Tavakoli, M., Dalvand, M. R., Å aparauskas, J., & Antucheviënė, J. (2020). Importance-Performance Analysis Based Balanced Scorecard for Performance Evaluation in Higher Education Institutions: An Integrated Fuzzy Approach. Journal of Business Economics and Management.
In this study, the authors integrate Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) with the Balanced Scorecard in the context of higher education institutions (HEIs), applying a fuzzy logic approach to handle ambiguity and imprecision in performance data. The aim is to improve performance evaluation by prioritizing improvement efforts and identifying critical gaps across BSC perspectives. The methodology combines IPA with a fuzzy decision framework to derive more robust prioritization of initiatives, especially where qualitative assessments and stakeholder judgments are prevalent. Findings indicate that the integrated approach enhances the ability to detect underperforming areas and align strategic objectives with resource allocation in HEIs. Although focused on education, the study provides methodological insights for IT organizations that rely on subjective data, soft metrics, or uncertain inputs. The work contributes to the BSC literature by demonstrating how fuzzy IPA can strengthen the diagnostic capability of the scorecard in knowledge-intensive environments (Nazari-Shirkouhi et al., 2020).
Annotated Summary 4 — Sandkuhl, K., & Seigerroth, U. (2018). Method engineering in information systems analysis and design: A balanced scorecard approach for method improvement. Software & Systems Modeling.
This article applies a meta-method perspective, using the Balanced Scorecard as a lens to evaluate and improve information systems (IS) analysis and design methods. The authors propose a BSC-based method for assessing and refining IS development approaches, emphasizing measurement across four dimensions: financial, customer, internal process, and learning/growth related to method quality, adoption, and impact. The approach supports method engineering by providing a structured way to monitor method performance, identify gaps, and drive iterative improvements aligned with organizational strategy. The paper discusses challenges related to data collection, alignment with agile practices, and ensuring that method improvements translate into tangible project and business benefits. The BSC perspective is presented as a versatile framework for governance and continuous improvement of IS development processes, offering practical guidance for IT organizations seeking to optimize methodological choices (Sandkuhl & Seigerroth, 2018).
IT Resource Management Using the Balanced Scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard offers a practical blueprint for aligning IT resources with strategic objectives by translating technology goals into measurable outcomes. In practice, the four BSC perspectives can be tailored to IT governance and operations: Financial (cost control, IT ROI, cost per service, and value delivered by IT investments); Customer (service quality, user satisfaction, SLA compliance, and perception of IT value); Internal Processes (incident response times, problem resolution rates, project cycle times, and process maturity); Learning and Growth (skills development, certification attainment, knowledge management, and automation adoption). An IT manager can embed specific KPIs within each perspective to monitor performance and guide decision making. Drawing on Herath et al. (2010), IT security can be anchored within the Internal Processes and Learning/Growth perspectives, using metrics such as mean time to detect/respond to incidents, security incident rates, and staff training completion. Additionally, the frameworks proposed by Sandkuhl & Seigerroth (2018) encourage method-quality metrics that help IT teams refine IS analysis and development practices, ensuring that methodological improvements translate into more reliable IT service delivery. The broader implication is that BSC fosters strategic alignment, accountability, and data-driven investment decisions in IT, moving beyond ad hoc metrics to a coherent, navigable performance system (Madsen & Stenheim, 2015; Nazari-Shirkouhi et al., 2020).
Response to Classmates (150+ words)
When engaging with classmates’ posts, I would compare the four highlighted articles to identify convergences and gaps in applying the Balanced Scorecard to IT contexts. For instance, Herath et al. (2010) emphasizes security governance and portfolio-level decision making, which complements Sandkuhl & Seigerroth (2018) by highlighting method quality as a driver of reliable IT processes. Nazari-Shirkouhi et al. (2020) contribute a fuzzy IPA approach that could be particularly useful in IT environments where data are noisy or qualitative (such as user experience or perceived security effectiveness). A classmate focusing on traditional financial or operational metrics could benefit from incorporating security- and method-focused perspectives to address IT risk and process improvement more comprehensively. In responding, I would pose questions about data governance, data quality, and the role of leadership sponsorship in sustaining BSC adoption in IT departments. I would also suggest practical steps for pilot implementations, such as selecting a critical IT service portfolio, defining KPIs aligned with business objectives, and integrating BSC dashboards with existing ITSM tools for real-time monitoring (Herath et al., 2010; Madsen & Stenheim, 2015).
Conclusion
The Balanced Scorecard remains a robust framework for translating IT strategy into measurable performance across multiple perspectives. The four reviewed studies illustrate how BSC has evolved to accommodate IT security (Herath et al., 2010), methodological improvements (Sandkuhl & Seigerroth, 2018), and advanced evaluative techniques in knowledge-intensive settings (Nazari-Shirkouhi et al., 2020). Together with a foundational understanding of BSC evolution and adoption (Madsen & Stenheim, 2015), these works inform how IT leaders can design, implement, and sustain scorecard-based performance management that aligns IT resources with organizational goals. By integrating formal KPIs, governance mechanisms, and data-driven decision processes, IT departments can improve not only operational efficiency but also strategic impact and risk management (Kaplan & Norton, 1992; 1996).
References
Benková, E., Gallo, P., Balogová, B., & Nemec, J. (2020). Factors Affecting the Use of Balanced Scorecard in Measuring Company Performance. Sustainability, 12(3), 1178.
Herath, T., Herath, H., & Bremser, W. G. (2010). Balanced Scorecard Implementation of Security Strategies: A Framework for IT Security Performance Management. Information Systems Management, 27(1), 72-81.
Kopecka, N. (2015). The Balanced Scorecard Implementation, Integrated Approach and the Quality of Its Measurement. Procedia Economics and Finance, 25(1), 59-69.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1992). The Balanced Scorecard: Measures that Drive Performance. Harvard Business Review.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1996). The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Vision into Action. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Madsen, D. O., & Stenheim, T. (2015). The Balanced Scorecard: A Review of Five Research Areas. Review, 01(01), 01-10.
Nazari-Shirkouhi, S., Mousakhani, S., Tavakoli, M., Dalvand, M. R., Å aparauskas, J., & Antucheviėnė, J. (2020). Importance-Performance Analysis Based Balanced Scorecard for Performance Evaluation in Higher Education Institutions: An Integrated Fuzzy Approach. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 21(3), 647-678.
Sandkuhl, K., & Seigerroth, U. (2018). Method engineering in information systems analysis and design: A balanced scorecard approach for method improvement. Software & Systems Modeling, 18(3), 1833-1857.