Learning Growth Perspective Balanced Scorecard Futura Industries

Learning Growth Perspective

Balanced Scorecard

Futura Industries

Balanced Scorecard

The success or failure of any business entity is greatly dependent on how well align its goals and management systems are with its strategic plans. There have been cases reported where businesses failed to make it big despite of having excellent strategic plans. This was because they failed to keep their management systems and activities in line with their strategic plans. While management in itself is a small term, it covers various dimensions of business activity that include both internal and external influences. These include management of business processes, financial management, customer satisfaction, human resource management and the internal and external communications pertaining to the business. All these management aspects must be integrated into a well balanced management system such that it keeps the overall business activity in line with the strategic plans of the business. Many businesses get on the road to decline only because they fail to keep their business activities in line with their strategic plans.

A good way to ensure the alignment of management activities with strategic plans is to use the Balanced Scorecard system. A balanced scorecard is a matrix that works on four perspectives, which are amalgamated together to form a balanced management system. These perspectives include learning and growth of employees, customer care, internal management of business processes and financial management. This scorecard was first developed by Dr. Robert Kaplan and David Norton as a tool for measuring performance. A similar Balanced Scorecard system is used by the Futura Industries, a fifty-year-old company, which is known for achieving success by basing its business on the foundations of a balanced scorecard system.

How Futura Implements Balanced Scorecard?

Futura is a fifty-year-old multinational company, which has been accredited by the International Organization for Standardization for three years. The company's president, Susan Johnson has a firm belief that the success of her organization is directly related to the dedication, devotion and efficiency of her employees. As mentioned earlier, the balanced scorecard is based on four dimensions. As the organization believes in maximum workforce satisfaction and their continuous growth, it focuses on the learning, innovation and growth dimension of the balanced scorecard.

In order to ensure that the work environment is well balanced the workforce is required to be in continuous process of learning and innovation (Niven, n.d.). In order to do so, the management of Futura Industries carries out regular surveys that measure employee satisfaction level and to what extent are the employees happy with their job. These surveys include Employee Friendly Initiatives, Birthday Review, Leadership Survey, Training Matrix and an Annual Performance and Personal Development Review (Gumbus & Johnson, 2003). Futura does not hesitate to go and ask its employees that how can Futura make their work experience a more satisfactory one. For this reason, it carries out surveys to figure out what employees are happy with it and what they resent. The Training Matrix ensures that the employee is learning and assists in his growth at Futura. Under this matrix, employees' skills are certified as he is promoted to the next designation level. In general different dimensions of employees' skill are assessed including, communication, adaptability, safety, leadership, confidence, teamwork etc. Futura believes that the level to which it can satisfy its customers is greatly dependent on the level to which Futura can satisfy its employees.

Conclusion

In my opinion Futura covers the learning, growth and innovation perspective to a great extent. It's Certification and Training Matrix ensures that Futura is particular about how their employees become more skilled as they gain seniority. Similarly, the Leadership Survey asks employees about their opinion on how can their leader encourage a better team work and promote a stronger communication.