This exercise provided me with a different perspective of planning by defining the destination and charting the routes that lead to it. Prior to this, I conceived a budget as a mere resource allocation framework to calculate future costs based on forecasted sales. Learning Lessons Linking it Together If we were to place Body Glove in a Balanced ScoreCard, the company appears to have focused mainly on the customer dimension leaving other areas unattended (Figure 1). This framework provides us with a great platform for aligning our activities with strategic goals linking all components in a cause-effect way. For instance, if Body Glove intends to increase Meistrell’s family shareholder value it could consider …show more content…
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Expenses: BGWT, BGAD, Sales Support, Art & Design, G&A, Corp O/H, Other Expenses, with the exception of BGSM which suggests a capital contribution from owners. Page 3 of 5
Subjectivity and Budgeting Quality Budgeting inherently involves a great deal of judgement from executives. It is difficult to eliminate bias in a budget since the planner must make certain assumptions about which factors to include. Data quality is directly proportional to the planner’s level of objectivity. Part 2: Applicability Linkages Last year, the company I work for invested $50,000 sponsoring The Fringe in an effort to promote itself and increase share prices. In reflecting back, the company had assumed, firstly, that potential shareholders would attend The Fringe and, secondly, that by seeing the sponsorship signs they would feel inclined to purchase shares. When we refer to the BSC approach we immediately recognise that this cause-effect activity is inadequate for the purpose, being difficult to measure and providing little confidence on its effectiveness. Importance of Having the Right Performance Indicators in Place Considering the nature of the mineral exploration business where shareholder value is increased by the perception of discovery probabilities, determining the right performance indicators for exploration managers is invariably