Store24 Balanced Scorecard Harvard Business School
08-081
Testing Strategy with Multiple
Performance Measures
Evidence from a Balanced
Scorecard at Store24
Dennis Campbell
Srikant M. Datar
Susan L. Kulp
V.G. Narayanan
Copyright © 2008 by Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, Susan L. Kulp, and V.G. Narayanan
Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author.
Testing Strategy with Multiple Performance Measures
Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard at Store24*
Dennis Campbell
Srikant Datar
Harvard Business School
Susan L. Kulp
George Washington University
V.G. Narayanan
Harvard Business School
Current Draft: February 2008
ABSTRACT: We analyze balanced scorecard data from a convenience store chain, Store24, during the implementation of an innovative, but ultimately unsuccessful strategy. Quarterly strategic reviews, based in part on the firm 's balanced scorecard, led executives at Store24 to identify problems with, and eventually abandon, this strategy over a two year period. We find that formal statistical tests of the hypotheses underlying the firm 's balanced scorecard and strategy map reveal problems with the strategy on a timelier basis. We also test alternative hypotheses to those underlying the firm 's formal strategy map and scorecard that are consistent with concerns expressed by some of Store24 's top executives during the initial stages of implementing the new strategy. Our analysis demonstrates that this firm 's balanced scorecard contained useful and timely information for distinguishing between these alternatives. These results provide some of the first field-based evidence on the potential for a firm 's balanced scorecard to provide useful information for detecting problems in its strategy.
I.
Introduction
This study investigates the role of the balanced scorecard in
Testing Strategy with Multiple
Performance Measures
Evidence from a Balanced
Scorecard at Store24
Dennis Campbell
Srikant M. Datar
Susan L. Kulp
V.G. Narayanan
Copyright © 2008 by Dennis Campbell, Srikant M. Datar, Susan L. Kulp, and V.G. Narayanan
Working papers are in draft form. This working paper is distributed for purposes of comment and discussion only. It may not be reproduced without permission of the copyright holder. Copies of working papers are available from the author.
Testing Strategy with Multiple Performance Measures
Evidence from a Balanced Scorecard at Store24*
Dennis Campbell
Srikant Datar
Harvard Business School
Susan L. Kulp
George Washington University
V.G. Narayanan
Harvard Business School
Current Draft: February 2008
ABSTRACT: We analyze balanced scorecard data from a convenience store chain, Store24, during the implementation of an innovative, but ultimately unsuccessful strategy. Quarterly strategic reviews, based in part on the firm 's balanced scorecard, led executives at Store24 to identify problems with, and eventually abandon, this strategy over a two year period. We find that formal statistical tests of the hypotheses underlying the firm 's balanced scorecard and strategy map reveal problems with the strategy on a timelier basis. We also test alternative hypotheses to those underlying the firm 's formal strategy map and scorecard that are consistent with concerns expressed by some of Store24 's top executives during the initial stages of implementing the new strategy. Our analysis demonstrates that this firm 's balanced scorecard contained useful and timely information for distinguishing between these alternatives. These results provide some of the first field-based evidence on the potential for a firm 's balanced scorecard to provide useful information for detecting problems in its strategy.
I.
Introduction
This study investigates the role of the balanced scorecard in