The Balanced Scorecard as a instrument to manage strategy in the Water Board

Abstract

Monitoring and evaluation of strategy is a very critical stage of the strategic management process as this ensures that a gap between intended and realised strategies is as small as possible to guarantee successful strategic performance of an organisation. A Balanced Scorecard is an important tool during the strategy evaluation stage and enables an organisation to continually improve, create value, determine how competitive advantage is sustained, how core competencies are improved upon and to satisfy the organisation’s customers. The study is conducted within the Water Boards in South Africa to determine the extent of the utilisation of strategic management instruments and if the Balanced Scorecard could be proclaimed as an instrument that is central to strategic and performance management. A review of literature on strategic management and that of a Balanced Scorecard, including the balanced performance measures was performed to understand if and how the Balanced Scorecard could be utilised as an appropriate instrument for strategic management. Data was collected using quantitative methods through a Likert scale questionnaire and the results obtained were analysed and interpreted. Reliability and validity of a measuring instrument used was determined through the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. A Pearson correlation index was utilised to measure correlation among variables. A contribution towards integration of the Balanced Scorecard and strategic management within the Water Boards was investigated with the results proclaiming the Balanced Scorecard as a strategic management instrument of choice. Recommendations were made and areas for future research were provided. The Balanced Scorecard should however not be viewed as a panacea as it cannot make a strategy not worth implementing to be implemented. The Balanced Scorecard cannot also make strategic management happen by magic, thus management effort and leadership is required to ensure strategic success through implementation of a Balanced Scorecard.