management has attached to the individual indicators in
calculating a dealership’s overall performance score, which
is shown on the bottom line of the table. The Balanced
Scorecard has both permanent and temporary indicators.
From time to time the senior management replaces some
of the indicators in order to direct the lower level managers’
attention to certain aspects of the dealership’s performance
where improvement is necessary. After the dealerships
have improved on a certain (temporary) performance indicator,
the indicator is replaced. Immediately after the
introduction, a new indicator has a weight of 0% (see Fig. 3)
to announce thenewpriorities and in the next period senior
management increases this weight so that it affects the
dealership’s overall performance score.
Fig. 3 points out that the overall scores of all the three
selected dealerships were higher than the Stam Groep’s
average. Leidsche Rijn performed very well on the financial
key indicator GMCT, whereas Soest had high scores on the
other financial performance indicators. On financial performance,
Hilversum was lagging behind. Both Soest and
Hilversum did well on customer performance. All the three
dealerships scored above the Stam Groep’s average on the
internal perspective. On the learning and growth perspective,
the scores of Soest were low and those of Hilversum
and, especially, Leidsche Rijn (very) high.
The scores on the learning and growth perspective
reflect the extent to which the dealerships implemented
the changes that the new senior management has initiated.
Soest performs well on all the perspectives, except on the
learning and growth perspective. Most of this dealership’s
managers are very experienced and have worked in this
dealership for many years. They have built up a stable network
of loyal customers, which explains their good scores
particularly on the customer and the financial perspectives.
However, as will be discussed later in this paper, they resist
some of the changes initiated by the new generation of
senior managers.
The author has had contacts with the senior management
of the Stam Groep for many years. One of the senior
managers, a former student, regularly attended university