Reference no: EM1337 , Length: Word count - 2542

Build a Balanced Scorecard for the unit of an organization of your choosing (Red Lobster).The organization will be Red Lobster (the restaurant).   Unless you are in senior management, focus on the unit with which you are most familiar rather than the organization as a whole (server, hostess, hostess trainer). Identify the strategic objectives of the entire organization and the secondary objectives for the unit. Develop three specific objectives within each of the four perspectives for the unit. Each objective should have at least one quantified target metric associated with it. 

It is essential to understand what metrics are. Be sure to study the next section of this Conference entitled "More Information on metrics" The specific information needed to calculate each metric should be discussed. For each metric discuss the appropriate target value and the actions that need to be taken to achieve the target. The paper should be no more than 12 pages, including the reference list, and be formatted in accordance with the APA guidelines.

Helpful Info needed to complete assignment:

Metrics

Develop three specific objectives within each of the four perspectives for the unit. Each objective should have at least one quantified target metric associated with it. So your table should contain 4 perspectives, each with 3 specific objectives, and a target value of the metric for each objective.

If you would like to see a sample table of metrics, here is one example:

Perspective	Objective	Metric	Target Value
Financial	Revenue Growth Operating Profit Growth Short-term Solvency Long-term Solvency	Annual Rate of Growth % EBIT/Sales Current Ratio Long-term Debt/Equity	> 6% > 7% > 2.0 < 30%
Customer	Increase Number of Customers Maintaining Transaction Size Improve Customer Satisfaction	Annual rate of Customers Increase Average Transaction Size Median Score: Customer Survey	> 5% > $600 > 90%
Internal	Product Improvement Ratio of New to Old Products Maintain Market Share	% R&D Expense to Revenue Ratio of New to Old Products Market Share %	> 4% > 8% > 24%
Learning	Employee Training Employee Turnover Employee Compensation	Annual Hours of Employee Training Employee Turnover Average Compensation	> 30,000 < 3% > $38,000

The Balanced Scorecard is the most widely used system of performance management, as evidenced by the following two studies.

1) Cranfield University, a well-know and well-respected U.K. institution of higher learning found that 75% of organizations with formal performance management systems use a system based on the Balanced Scorecard. Marr, B. (2004). Business performance management: current state of the art. Cranfield School of Management and Hyperion.

2) The Balanced Scorecard has become by far the the leading system for managing company performance, outdistancing systems based on quality management (such as six sigma) and financial management (such as Economic Value Added, known as EVA) according to Lawson, R. et al (2008). Scorecard Best Practices: Design, Implementation and Evaluation. Hoboken NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 59-60.

Hello Everyone:

Numbers are the language of business. Numbers are measurements of performance for companies, for business units, and for individuals. These performance measurements determine whether companies, business units, and individuals are succeeding or failing in reaching their objectives. If the measurements are favorable, then companies are succeeding, employees are earning increased compensation and greater job security, customers are pleased, suppliers are winning more orders, the local community is benefiting, and investors are earning good returns. However, if the measurements are unfavorable, then companies are not succeeding, employees are earning constant or reduced compensation and losing job security, customers are displeased, suppliers are winning fewer orders, the local community is being harmed, and investors are earning low or even negative returns. Therefore performance measurement numbers are of crucial importance. These performance measurement numbers are known as "metrics."

It is very important to understand what a metric is. To be clear, a metric means a measurement. There are three kinds of measurements:

1. Nominal: a nominal scale assigns items to a category. For example, the category may be a simple "yes" or "no." In the case of a family, a nominal scale assigns items to categories like grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, son or daughter. In the case of an automobile, categories could be small sedan, midsize sedan, large sedan, SUV, etc.
2. Ordinal: an ordinal scale identifies items in order of magnitude. For example, a customer survey might ask for ratings of service on a scale of 1 through 5, where 5 is best. That means a score of 4 is better than a score of 2. But it does not mean that a 4 is twice as good as a 2, or that a 4 is four times as good as a 1.
3. Cardinal: a cardinal scale is also known as a ratio scale. For example, the numbers 1, 2, 3, ... represent a cardinal scale. For a ratio scale, 12 is four times 3, and two times 6.

So a metric must be either a nominal or ordinal or cardinal measurement. Anything else is not a metric.

ROE > 20% is a metric. "Increase Sales Revenue by 5%" is a metric.

"Survey Customers" is not a metric.

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For each metric each period there are:

(a) target values,

(b) actual values, and

(c) a methodology for obtaining the data and calculating the actual values.

You should include the target values and explain the methodology for obtaining the data and calculating the actual values each period. It would be helpful to provide illustrations or examples of the methodology for obtaining the data for target values and calculating the actual values each period.

Summary:

The assignment in marketing is about Red Lobster, which is one US and Canada's most loved seafood restaurant. It has hundreds of outlets in US and Canada and it now wants to expand further. The approach adopted by Red Lobster has been discussed in full-depth in the solution.