The results can be exploited for information about the company’s strategy. Each link in the balanced scorecard should be regarded as a hypothesis of the form “If ..., then ...”. For example, the balanced scorecard on the previous page contains the hypothesis “If customers express greater satisfaction with the accuracy of their charge account bills, then there will be improvement in the average age of accounts receivable.” If customers in fact do express greater satisfaction with the accuracy of their charge account bills, but there is not an improvement in the average age of accounts receivable, this would have to be considered evidence that is inconsistent with the hypothesis. Management should try to figure out why there has been no improvement in the average age of receivables. (See the answer below for possible explanations.) The answer may suggest a shift in strategy.
In general, the most important results are those in which there has been an improvement in something that is supposed to lead to an improvement in something else, but none has occurred. This evidence contradicts a hypothesis underlying the company’s strategy and provides invaluable feedback that can lead to modification of the strategy.