The purpose of the Session Long Project is to give you the opportunity to explore the applicability of the Module to your own life, work, and place in space and time, and to experiment with the Module to see how the otherwise academically rigorous presentation of a topic may, with more or less work and/or trauma, become “up close and personal”. This is done in a number of different ways — sometimes cumulative papers, sometimes practical hands-on experimentation with a tool of some sort, sometimes reflections on a place of work or life. The common thread is personal application, aimed at demonstrating a cumulative knowledge and understanding of the course’s material. For this course, the Session Long Project will take the form of putting together background from each of the four perspectives for a balanced scorecard approach to an organization or organizational unit with which you are familiar. In the final module, you will have a go at strategy mapping. You’re not building a complete balanced scorecard — that would be far beyond our current scope – but you’ll have a chance to see what goes into it and how it gets put together into a coordinated whole. As in the cases, you’ll be drawing on your previous course work to help. The Module 1 assignment has two parts. First, you need to identify an organization to which you have access to at least some information concerning financial data; staffing and human resource systems; marketing and customer relations; information systems; and operations. While most material on the Balanced Scorecard is written from the private, for-profit point of view, it’s perfectly possible to use this approach with public or non-profit organizations as well. For the second part of this assignment, consider the organization’s mission and strategy from the perspective of its financial operations (from your work on the case, your previous course work, and your background reading, you should be reasonably clear what such operations are). In this section of the assignment you’ll begin to identify objectives and measures relevant to that perspective. If you’re unclear on just what objectives and measures are, here is a presentation that describes what they are and how to write them. SLP Assignment ExpectationsWhen you have thought about it and made your selection, please specify (2-3 pages):• The name of your organization• What this organization does – its mission, vision and overall strategy• The access you have to information about this organization — remember, you’ll need information about its financial performance, marketing, internal operations, strategy, and management systems.Once you’re reasonably clear on what’s involved, think about your organization and its finances, and then:• Identify at least three objectives for improving the organization’s financial position, and show how they relate to the mission, vision and strategy of the organization.• For each objective, develop at least one meaningful performance measure (metric).• For each objective, identify at least one expected level of performance (target).• For each objective, identify at least one new action or program that needs to be developed to ensure successful implementation of the organization’s strategy (initiative).Here’s a table that you may wish to copy and fill in:Objective Measure Target Action  References:Averson, P. (1998). What is the balanced scorecard? Balanced Scorecard Institute, a Strategy Management Group company. Retrieved on May 15, 2018 from https://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/AbouttheBalancedScorecard/tabid/55/Default.aspxBalanced scorecard initiative: Guidelines for building a BSC (n.d.). American University of Beirut. Retrieved on May 15, 2018from http://www.aub.edu.lb/osm/scorecards/Documents/guidelines_for_building_a_bsc.pdf MacKay, A. (2004). A practitioner’s guide to the balanced scorecard: A practitioners’ report based on: ‘Shareholder and stakeholder approaches to strategic performance measurement using the balanced scorecard’. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Chapter 1. Retrieved on May 15, 2018 from http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/Thought_leadership _docs/tech_resrep_a_practitioners_guide_to_the_balanced _scorecard_2005.pdf Martello, M., Watson, J., & Fischer, M. (2016). Implementing a balanced scorecard in a not-for-profit organization. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 14(3), 61-74. Retrieved from the Trident Online Library. Retrieved on May 15, 2018Measurements for success (n.d.). Retrieved on May 15, 2018from http://www.mystrategicplan.com/strategic-planning-topics/balanced-scorecard.shtml Murby, L., & Gould, S. (2005). Effective performance management with the balanced scorecard: Technical report. Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Chapter 1. Retrieved on May 15, 2018 from http://www.cimaglobal.com/Documents/ImportedDocuments/Tech_rept_Effective_Performance_Mgt_with_Balanced_Scd_July_2005.pdf Niven, P. (n.d.). Financial perspective. EPM Review. Retrieved on May 15, 2018from http://www.epmreview.com/resources/articles/item/84-financial-perspective.html Robin, D. (n.d.). Vision, Mission and Values: Management Tools for Building a Better Workplace.Daniel Robin & Associates. Retrieved on May 15, 2018 from http://www.abetterworkplace.com/developing-the-organization-and-the-people-in-it/ Sharma, P. (n.d.). Measuring business strategy through balanced scorecard. Retrieved on May 15, 2018 from http://www.scribd.com/doc/5032771/Balanced-Scorecardfinancial-perspectiveThe business vision and company mission statements (n.d.). QuickMBA. Retrieved on May 15, 2018from http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/
