Salvation Army balanced scorecard.
Mission: the mission of the Salvation Army is to preach the gospel to all without discrimination and furthermore help those that are in need without prejudice or discrimination (Cohen, 2013).
Vision: the vision of the Salvation Army is to God’s mission in such a broken world (The Salvation Army yearbook, 2000).
With an organization as big as the Salvation Army, there has to be a certain way in which they organize their missions. The Salvation Army is a Christian denominational organization whose mission is to spread the gospel and offer assistance to all those that are in need. The church is a worldwide organization and the need for organization is as much a part of the organization as any other if they are to carry out their missions effectively. One way in which this could be done is by the use of a balanced scorecard. This approach is useful for the day-to-day organization of the Salvation Army’s objectives.
The balanced scorecard is an organization tool that is used in any organization that is intent on making the activities of the business align with the objectives and the vision of the business (Kaplan, 1990). With the balanced score card, the organization, in this case the Salvation Army is able to monitor the communication between the interior and the exterior of the organization for maximum performance. Another benefit that the Salvation Army can benefit from the balanced scorecard is that with it, they are better able to counter check the organization’s performance against its preset strategic goals.
However, some manageable drawbacks come with using the balanced scorecard. One of the drawbacks is that the balanced scorecard does not offer recommendations for the strategies (Mehta, 2011). The balanced scorecard only offers facts about the organization and nothing more. Even with this drawback, the balanced scorecard offers more to outweigh this drawback. As much as there are no recommendations for the strategies, this model enables the organization to see what strategies are in tandem with the mission and vision of the Salvation Army.
The balanced scorecard model is vital for the Salvation Army in that it transforms the strategic plans of the organization into action-based activities on a day-to-day basis (Kaplan, 1990). For an organization such as the Salvation Army, this is a vital piece in the attempt to fulfill its mission. The mission of the Salvation Army is to try to reach as many people who are in need of help. The balanced scorecard model offers a way in which the staff is sent into the field on a day-to-day basis (Nair, 2004). This prevents slacking-off and achieving the organization performance objectives.
As much as the balanced scorecard is used to provide day-to-day motivation to the staff, it also has one disadvantage. The balanced scorecard is used by the organization to align the strategies of the organization with the mission and the vision of the organization. The sudden use of the balanced scorecard model may garner some resistance from the staff (Mehta, 2011). The reason for this is that the staff, in this case the officers of the Salvation Army may see as if their earlier efforts were not appreciated. The resistance against the balanced scorecard model may come from any level of the organization due to the additional work entailed with the balanced scorecard. With the Salvation Army being the organization in mind, the additional work will not deter its mission. This is because the Salvation Army is a religious group that is based on religious belief. The balanced scorecard will be embraced because it only facilitates the achievement of the mission and vision.
Another fact that makes the balanced score card the perfect tool for the Salvation Army’s bid to achieve its mission and vision is the fact that it helps the management improve the strategy of the organization. The balanced scorecard looks at the internal and the external working of the organization and gives feedback on their effectiveness. This means that if the Salvation Army had employed a strategy that does not work towards the fulfillment of the mission, the balanced scorecard will pinpoint the activity with accuracy, and the activity can be improved therefore increasing the effectiveness of the organization’s missions.
In conclusion, the benefits of the balanced scorecard far outweigh the disadvantages. This is especially the case of the Salvation Army whose missions are faith based. The use of the balanced scorecard is primarily to align the strategic plans of the organization with the mission and the vision of the organization. The use of the balanced scorecard will assist the organization reach their goals faster and more efficient by pinpointing the strategic alterations that they need to make to their already existing ones.
References
Cohen, S. (2013). The Salvation Army. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd.
Kaplan, R. S. (1990). The balanced scorecard: translating strategy into action. New York: New York University Press.
Mehta, F. (2011, August 12). Understanding the Disadvantages of a Balanced Scorecard. Buzzle. Retrieved July 5, 2014, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/understanding-the-disadvantages-of-a-balanced-scorecard.html
Nair, M. (2004). Essentials of balanced scorecard. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.
The Salvation Army year book, 2001: international mission statement. (2000). London, England: International Headquarters of the Salvation Army.
