Scorecard Best Practices

Reporting Results

Scorecard results can be distributed by a variety of means. As shown in Exhibit 9.9 , performance results are reported about equally by means of the Web and by use of a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Less commonly used as a means of distributing results are paper documents and e‐mail. More and more software vendors that provide purpose‐built applications are moving to Web‐delivery as their reporting method of choice.

Exhibit 9.9: Reporting of Scorecard System Results

The use of Web‐based reporting was often cited by survey respondents as an important element of success. Providing “real‐time data that indicates performance” helps ensure timely, actionable reporting of information.

Recipients of scorecard information may influence how the scorecard information is reported. Scorecard systems providing reports only to top management are more likely to be paper‐based than those reporting to other levels of management. (Yes, paper documents are still being used in top management meetings!) At the time of the SHAPs study, systems used primarily by operations management are more likely to be LAN or WAN‐based (see Exhibit 9.10 ).

Exhibit 9.10: Relationship between Reporting Method and Level of Reporting

The means of reporting scorecard results may also ...