Scorecard Best Practices

Software Options

One of the most desired features of a scorecard system is flexibility of report design. This feature, in addition to ease of use and inexpensive availability, accounts for the popularity of spreadsheet packages. Many organizations implementing scorecards using spreadsheet technology find that it does present problems. Difficulty controlling the multiple sheets that proliferate and controlling the versions of information have caused headaches for many organizations. It is not uncommon for two executives to attend a meeting with different versions of the facts, depending upon to whose spreadsheet they refer. The spreadsheet environment also increases the risk of “gamesmanship” (manipulating values to improve perceived results) when cell‐locking capabilities are not properly applied to the data input sheets. The ability to customize the presentation of results at will can also make it difficult to compare scorecards across performance units and to conduct benchmark analysis.

Scorecard systems organized as a series of spreadsheets have other drawbacks, including difficulty in maintaining the system. As one survey respondent indicated, “The off‐the‐shelf packages tended to be too expensive, so we developed our internal package utilizing a data warehouse and Excel. This system is cumbersome and highly inefficient.” Another survey participant said that, “We have rolled out an electronic scorecard system somewhat successfully through use of spreadsheets. However, data ...