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Chapter 4 • Business Reporting, Visual Analytics, and Business Performance Management 203

the four perspectives
The balanced scorecard suggests that we view the organization from four perspectives—
customer, financial, internal business processes, learning and growth—and develop objec-
tives, measures, targets, and initiatives relative to each of these perspectives. Figure 4.11
shows these four objectives and their interrelationship with the organization’s vision and
strategy.

the CustoMeR peRspeCtiVe Recent management philosophies have shown an increas-
ing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any
business. These are leading indicators: If customers are not satisfied, they will eventually
find other suppliers that will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is
thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may
look good. In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analyzed in terms
of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which we are providing a product
or service to those customer groups.

the finAnCiAl peRspeCtiVe Kaplan and Norton do not disregard the traditional need
for financial data. Timely and accurate funding data will always be a priority, and manag-
ers will do whatever is necessary to provide it. In fact, often there is more than enough
handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate
database, it is hoped that more of the processing can be centralized and automated. But
the point is that the current emphasis on financials leads to the "unbalanced" situation
with regard to other perspectives. There is perhaps a need to include additional financial-
related data, such as risk assessment and cost–benefit data, in this category.

the leARning AnD gRoWth peRspeCtiVe This perspective aims to answer the
question, “To achieve our vision, how will we sustain our ability to change and improve?”
It includes employee training, knowledge management, and corporate cultural character-
istics related to both individual and corporate-level improvement. In the current climate
of rapid technological change, it is becoming necessary for knowledge workers to be in a
continuous learning and growing mode. Metrics can be put into place to guide managers

Financial
Perspective

Internal
Customer Vision & Business
Perspective Strategy Process
Perspective

Learning and
Growth
Perspective

figuRe 4.11 Four Perspectives in Balanced Scorecard Methodology.

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