Showing papers by "Robert S. Kaplan published in 1998"

The Balanced Scorecard

Abstract: Los autores Robert S. Kaplan y David P. Norton, proponen a los directivos empresariales de cualquier tipo de organización, la utilización de esta teoría de vanguardia, ya comprobada a nivel mundial, que denominan “The Balanced Scorecard” para lograr que la organización en cuestión pueda motivar a su personal y alcanzar los objetivos de la misión empresarial, no siendo solamente un sistema de medición que canaliza aspectos sinergéticos, habilidades gerenciales y conocimiento puntual dirigido a alcanzar las metas fijadas a largo plazo.

The Promise--and Peril--of Integrated Cost Systems

Abstract: Recent advances in managerial accounting have helped executives get the information they need to make good strategic decisions. But today's enterprise resource planning systems promise even greater benefits--the chance to integrate activity-based costing, operational-control, and financial reporting systems. But managers need to approach integration very thoughtfully, or they could end up with a system that drives decision making in the wrong direction. Operational-control and ABC systems have fundamentally different purposes. Their requirements for accuracy, timeliness, and aggregation are so different that no single, fully integrated approach can be adequate for both purposes. If an integrated system used real-time cost data instead of standard rates in its ABC subsystem, for example, the result would be dangerously distorted messages about individual product profitability--and that's precisely the problem ABC systems were originally designed to address. Proper linkage and feedback between the two systems is possible, however. Through activity-based budgeting, the ABC system is linked directly to operations control: managers can determine the supply and practical capacity of resources in forthcoming periods. Linking operational control to ABC is also possible. The activity-based portion of an operational control system collects information that, while it mustn't be fed directly into the activity-based strategic cost system, can be extremely useful once it's been properly analyzed. Finally, ABC and operational control can be linked to financial reporting to generate cost of goods sold and inventory valuations--but again, with precautions.

Harvard Business Review on measuring corporate performance

Abstract: In the knowledge economy, a company`s success rests as much on its ability to measure the performance of its intangible assets (such as customer relationships, internal business processes, and employee learning) as on its aptitude for monitoring traditional financial measures. yet the tasks of evaluating the latest performance measures and aligning your corporate strategy accordingly pose serious challenges to managers who must balance daily business demands with long-term strategic goals. The groundbreaking works collected in this volume - including three seminal articles on the balanced scorecard by Kaplan and Norton - address these challenges, offering insights from such leading thinkers as Peter Drucker, as well as a practical guidance for developing today`s relevant measures. CONTENT : * The information executives trully need by Peter F. Drucker * The performance measurement manifesto by Robert G. Eccles * Tapping the full potential of ABC by Joseph A. Ness and Thomas G. Cucuzza * How high is your return on management ? by Robert Simons and Antonio Davila * How the right measures help teams excel by Christopher Meyer * The balanced scorecard - measures that drive performance by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton * Putting the balanced scorecard to work by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton * Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton

Creating New Management Practice Through Innovation Action Research

Abstract: Much research in social science and management develops and tests theories about existing phenomena and practice. Researchers who believe that existing practices can be improved, however, can attempt to develop and implement entirely new approaches. Action research engages the researcher in an explicit program to develop new solutions that alter existing practice and then test the feasibility and properties of the innovation. In developing two new management accounting approaches activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard - my colleagues and I used a particular form of action research, referred to as innovation action research." In this mode, we initially documented a major limitation in contemporary practice, then identified a new concept to overcome this limitation, and continued to apply and improve the concept through publication, teaching, and active intervention in companies. In this innovation action research cycle, the researcher enhances the underlying theory and, in the process, also becomes a skilled implementer of the new concept.

Putting the Balanced Scorecard to Work

Abstract: In this article Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton report on the Balance Scorecard. Before the Balanced Scorecard companies have used various measurement systems that have made incremental improvements and concentrated mostly on the company's financials. The Balanced Scorecard shows you four different perspectives in which to choose measures that can redefine a company's processes measurement system so short term and long term objectives are in balance with each other. When using the Balanced Scorecard a company is no longer needs to worry about small incremental improvements, but a new processes measurement system that will allow a company to get where it wants to go.

Leistungsmessung mit der Balanced Scorecard

Abstract: Kaplan und Norton sind die Vater der Balanced Business Scorecard. Dabei handelt es sich um eine neue Methode zur Leistungsmessung, die es den Unternehmen ermoglicht, nichtfinanzielle ebenso wie finanzielle Ergebnisse zu messen. Sie berucksichtigt auch „weiche“, jedoch wichtige Faktoren wie Kundenzufriedenheit, Qualitat, Produktzykluszeiten und Effektivitat bei der Entwicklung neuer Produkte.