• With a Balanced Score Card, everyone in your organization can be on the same page.businesswoman image by Elena kouptsova-vasic from Fotolia.com
  
  A Balanced Score Card is a tool used by business strategists to bring the goals and vision of a company into a cohesive plan of action that can be used by the entire organization. More than a list of goals, a BSC offers clear methods for measuring goals, as well as describing specific actions that will help attain them.
  
  

Clarification of Goals

• One of the benefits of a BSC is that it can help clarify strategic goal by translating them into tangible, day-to-day activities and objectives for all members of your organization. Many strategic plans are only shared in the boardroom and are not available or accessible to other areas of the company. The BSC is designed to be used throughout a company to align the processes and procedures practiced at all levels of the organization toward the company's overall vision and strategic goals.
  
  

Tool for Evaluation

• The BSC has advantages over other strategic planning tools because it requires that companies define specific, measurable methods for evaluating goal achievement. When a goal is reached, it can be clearly recorded and observed rather than relying on subjective methods of evaluation.
  
  

Balance

• As the name implies, a BSC offers a more well-rounded view of an organization's performance. Instead of focusing solely on financial concerns, the BSC also looks at performance related to the internal processes of a company, relationship with customers and growth within the organization.