the balance scorecard: translating strategy into action: by robert s. kaplan and david p. norton....
TRANSCRIPT
Book Reviews
The Balanced Scorecard By Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton
Reviewed by Bryce Allen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Copyright in Further and Higher Education Libraries Revised by Sandy Norman
Reviewed by Heather M. Lloyd . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . 53
The Economics of Information By Bruce R. Kingma
Reviewed by Terrence A. Brooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , , . . . 54
Future Libraries, Future Catalogues By Pat Oddy
Reviewed by Martha Johansen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Human Resource Champions By Dave Ulrich
Reviewed by Jerry P Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Leader of the Future Edited by Frances Hesselbein, Marshall Goldsmith, and Richard Beckhard
Reviewed by Joanne R. Euster . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Leading Change By John P. Kotter
Reviewed by Martha L. Hale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . 56
Library Buildings, Equipment, and the ADA Edited by Susan E. Cirillo and Robert E. Danford
Reviewed by Doug Ehrmantraut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Managing Higher Education as a Business By Robert L. Lenington
Reviewed by Daniel S. Cheever; Jr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
The Market Value Process By Alan S. Cleland and Albert V. Bruno
Reviewed by Rachel Applegate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . 58
Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations By Robert D. Austin
Reviewed by Charles R. McClure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Soft Systems Analysis and the Management of Libraries,Information Services and Resource Centers By Peter G. Underwood
Reviewed by Steven Ellis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
The Subject Approach to Information By A.C. Foskett
Reviewed by Cecile M. Jagodzinski . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Team Management By Robert Bluck
Reviewed by Shelly Phipps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
User Surveys in College Libraries Complied by Mignon S. Adams and Jeffrey A. Beck
Reviewed by Marcia L. Boosinger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Q
Using the World Wide Web and Creating Home Pages By Ray E. Metz and Gail Junion-Metz
Reviewed by Elizabeth Caujield Felt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
The Balance Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action, by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1996. 322 p. $29.95. ISBN o-87584-651-3.
With a certain regularity, the management gurus produce new approaches to managing organizations, and assign catchy labels to them. Several of these new management techniques have focused on the measurement of quality or of performance as a central component: TQM comes to mind. Another empha- sis in the search for excellence in organizations is on strategic planning. Kaplan and Norton introduced the balanced score- card, in 1992, as an approach to measuring quality and perfor- mance in organizations, and this approach has been elaborated to link measurement with strategic planning. This book is a full-length treatment of the balanced scorecard, outlining how businesses can employ this technique to achieve more effective and efficient operations. The book is well-produced, with clear exposition and helpful illustrations. Its writing level is accessi- ble to undergraduates in management, and its discussions will also be of interest to members of the business community. The Harvard Business School imprint can be taken as an indicator of quality in production and content, and most academic libraries supporting business schools will want to acquire a copy of this book.
Although the book is written from the perspective of private sector businesses, and its examples are drawn exclusively from such firms, there is also content here that will interest the library manager. The valuable contribution of the balanced scorecard approach is to tie financial measures of performance and evalu- ative measures of quality to strategic planning. If adopted in academic libraries, this approach will allow librarians to mea- sure and evaluate the truly important aspects of their operations, and to ensure that their strategic planning efforts are tied to the real world as revealed in their balanced scorecard measures. In summary, this book is a solid contribution to the management
I literature, and one that may be used by managers of academic libraries as they assess the effectiveness of their operations and plan for the future of their institutions.-Bryce Allen, Associ- ate Professor, School of Library and Informational Science, University of Missouri, 105A Stewart Hall, Columbia, MO [email protected]>.
Copyright in Further and Higher Education Libraries, 3rd edition, revised and updated by Sandy Norman. London: Library Association Publishing, 1996. 36~. & 8.95. ISBN l-85604-196-4.
January 1997 53