Week 5 Final Assignment DUE DECEMBER 16, 12:00 (MST)

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Issues for Review and Discussion

9-1. Do a Google search using the terms balanced scorecard images. Review the many different formats of the balanced scorecard currently being used by organizations. Decide on three formats that you believe are particularly effective.

9-2. Do a Google search using the terms balanced scorecard adopters. Review the many different organizations currently using the balanced scorecard as part of their strategic planning. Select three different companies or organizations. Compare and contrast their use of the balanced scorecard technique.

9-3. Give several hypothetical situations whereby a company should establish contingency plans.

9-4. Explain why companies continually evaluate their strategies, rather than waiting for the end of the quarter or fiscal year to engage in the three core strategy evaluation activities discussed in this chapter.

9-5. Which of the three core strategy-evaluation activities do you think is most critical to be performed well? Why?

9-6. If a firm has two regions and two products, develop a sample framework for measuring organizational performance.

9-7. Compare strategy formulation with strategy implementation in terms of each being an art or a science.

9-8. What is Saudi Arabia doing after evaluating strategies for that country?

9-9. How does an organization know if it is pursuing “optimal” strategies?

9-10. Discuss the nature and implications of the upcoming accounting switch from GAAP to IFRS in the United States.

9-11. Ask an accounting professor at your college or university the following question and report back to the class: “To what extent would my learning the IFRS standards on my own give me competitive advantage in the job market?”

9-12. Evaluating strategies on a continuous rather than a periodic basis is desired. Discuss the pros and cons of this statement.

9-13. Why has strategy evaluation become so important in business today?

9-14. What types of quantitative and qualitative criteria should be used to evaluate a company’s strategy?

9-15. As owner of a local, independent barbecue restaurant, explain how you would evaluate the firm’s strategy.

9-16. Under what conditions are corrective actions not required in the strategy-evaluation process?

9-17. Identify types of organizations that may need to evaluate strategy more frequently than others. Justify your choices.

9-18. As executive director of the local Chamber of Commerce, in what way and how frequently would you evaluate the organization’s strategies?

9-19. Identify some key financial ratios that would be important in evaluating a bank’s strategy.

9-20. Strategy evaluation allows an organization to take a proactive stance toward shaping its own future. Discuss the meaning of this statement.

9-21. Diagram and discuss the balanced scorecard.

9-22. Develop a balanced scorecard for a local movie cinema complex.

9-23. Do you believe strategic management is more an art or a science? Explain.

9-24. Regarding the strategic-planning process, give four “should be” guidelines and four “should not be” guidelines.

9-25. Researchers say contingency planning is a five-step process. Identify and discuss the five steps.

9-26. Identify and discuss five characteristics of effective strategy evaluation.

9-27. Identify and discuss four reasons to be open (visible) in regard to the strategic-planning process and outcomes.

9-28. Identify and discuss four reasons to be closed (secret) in regard to the strategic-planning process and outcomes.

9-29. Why is the Balanced Scorecard an important topic both in devising objectives and in evaluating strategies?

9-30. Do you believe strategic management should be more visible or hidden as a process in a firm? Explain.