The BSC method focuses on the following four perspectives:
Financial
Customer
Internal business process
Learning and growth
In each perspective, an organization should define a series of objectives, measurements, targets, and initiatives that help align its activities with its vision and strategy.
Source: Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton, "Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System," Harvard Business Review (January-February 1996):76
The financial perspective is the traditional way to measure an organization, but these measurements tend to tell us more about past events rather than future ones. In other words, the financial perspective uses lagging rather than leading performance indicators. For example, in the financial perspective, sales revenue is a lagging performance indicator that measures the results of a business's past efforts to market, sell, and deliver its products and services. The BSC method helps us to drive and foresee future...