The planning models of the last twenty years are influenced by different business systems. This situation causes a not insignificant number of objectives, indicators and strategic actions to emerge in order to achieve Comprehensive and Sustainable Business Management.
However, when carrying out the action of control and communication, if you do not have a measurement tool for business management, the best plans are inapplicable exercises.
This problem is being solved in different ways by companies. This article exposes some of the experiences in the application of the dashboards and principles of the ODUN application in Cuban companies.
Development
Dashboards are tools for measuring different variables. There are many applications and this concept is linked to the development of technologies that man has developed in the last two hundred years.
The scorecard derives from the concept called Tableau de Bord in France, which literally translated would mean something like a dashboard or instrument panel (Viñeglas, 1999). It can also be expressed in the Spanish language as a Board of Abordo or Tablero Comando. This seems to be due to the fact that its results are shown as dynamic tables where the results of objectives, indicators and strategies are reflected. It should be noted that the dashboards not only show the results of the variables, they can also access reports, databases and facilitate control and communication stages.
Some concepts from different authors make it clear that it is a scorecard.
" The scorecard is a short-term action tool for rapid implementation and closely linked to the key points of decision and responsibility of the company " (Viñeglas, 1999). In general terms, the Scorecard is a management aid tool, in itself not an objective, but an effect that must be oriented towards action (Amat, 1992).
A scorecard is the simplified representation of a set of indicators that give an idea of how an area or a process of our company is behaving. The use of traffic lights, speedometers, barometers, objective maps and even smiling faces are several of the resources that are used. With them, the trend or status of those indicators that are considered relevant for management are graphically represented. The idea is to visualize in one go how all the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of the area you want to control are, comparing them with their respective objective values (KGI - Key Goal Indicator). In this way, deviations are detected or not and the relevant decisions are made to solve the problem. Obviously,dril down traceability (from problem to cause) is essential in this type of system. It is useless to have a red light that says that sales have decreased if you cannot find the analysis and / or report that explains it. For this reason, the dashboards must be connected with analysis tools and with the existing queries / report.
The dashboard is one of the tools of the so-called "Business Intelligence". (BI). BI is a powerful popular concept that encompasses the application of a system or set of technologies to convert data into meaningful information. With BI applications, large volumes of data originating in a wide variety of formats, such as: spreadsheets, relational databases and pages in various programming modes, can be consolidated and presented to the end user quickly and concisely. By having relevant and timely information, which is easily understandable because it is delivered in business terms, it is able to influence change and develop strategies that lead to greater benefits (http: // www-03. ibm.com, 2008).
BI is an “umbrella” term used to describe a set of concepts and methodologies designed to improve decision-making in the business, through the use of fact-based systems (Caramazana, A, 2007).
From these definitions it is inferred that the scorecard is one of the BI tools and its main purpose is to offer the necessary information for decision making.
Although the dashboards have their beginnings in 1948 in North America, at first they were heritage of the great engineering wits and their structure could be linked to electronics, hydraulics, mechanics and electricity. With the development of information technology, dashboards have taken the form of software and have become affordable tools for many companies.
Dashboards can have different characteristics and classifications but their purpose is to provide the important information for decision-making in business management.
Dashboards and business models.
With the appearance of the Balanced Scorecard in 1992, the scorecards took a significant boom because this planning model was identified with strategic maps and scorecards. However, in 1996, following the publication of the book "The Balanced Scorecard" by Norton and Kaplan, the publisher Gestión 2000 made the first translation named the book "Balanced Scorecard". This fact has caused problems in Spanish speakers due to the similarity of two similar terms (Balanced Scorecard and Balanced Scorecard) that are different things. It should be clear, the concept of Balanced Scorecard is analogous to that of the Balanced Scorecard and is a planning model. Dashboard is the measurement tool of the strategy defined in the planning.The dashboard can be applied to any type of planning including the Balanced Scorecard.
Business intelligence (BI) tools.
Business intelligence is nothing more than the set of systems, strategies and tools whose functionalities are aimed at supporting decision-making in an organization for the successful development of its business.
These enhance the availability and timely and intelligent analysis of the key data for its performance. Its proper implementation and use requires an integrative and strategic vision of the operation of the entity, as well as mastery of the processes and information flows that characterize it.
The systems that can most commonly be incorporated, independently or in combination, in today's main business intelligence solutions are:
- Data warehouse systems Data Marts (customized repositories based on the analysis of data of interest for a specific group of workers or entity area) Query & Reporting Tools On Line Analytical Processing: OLAP (online analytical processing) Data Mining Executive Information Systems: EIS (executive information systems). Decision Support Systems: DSS (decision support systems).
Among the systems from which these technological solutions can be nourished, due to their role as key data sources for institutional performance are:
- Enterprise Resource Planning: ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and Customer Relationship Management: CRM (Customer Relationship Management Systems). BPM: Business Process Management. CPM: Coporate Performance Management.
It is important to say that when you want to implement a business intelligence system in an organization, any other transactional system existing in it that offers important data for your business can be very useful.
Business Performance Management (BPM).
The systems associated with the measurement of business performance (Business Performance Management / BPM) also known by the acronym CPM (Corporate Performance Management), play a recognized role in this field, and associated with ICT, provide the end user with a solution More complete and effective, they enhance greater value for the information obtained, as well as offering highly effective potential for viewing and consultation.
Depending on how a scorecard is designed, it can monitor the degree to which the key objectives and goals related to the processes are being met. Likewise, it can be dedicated to providing information on the fulfillment of the organization's strategic plan. In short, the scorecard must be designed according to the interests of the organization. The dashboards must take the necessary information from the databases held by the independent organization that has its own databases. Under these considerations, dashboards can be considered to be “the faces” of intelligence tools. of or strategic organizations.The BPM can be associated with different business management systems such as the Strategic Directions and it is common to see them linked to the Balanced Scorecard.
Business performance management (BPM) applications translate the highest strategies and goals into specific measures and initiatives for each level of the organization. These compare performance against the goals in question and provide timely information so that users can act to change the results, before it is too late.
The Control Panel in Cuba.
The information tools described above are priced at high prices, making them inaccessible to developing countries like Cuba.
At the beginning of this decade, different computer systems for business administration began to be implemented in Cuban companies. Although it is not yet a popular movement, it is known that in 2003 the Intermar Cienfuegos company had a scorecard for business management. Later other companies such as GET Varadero (2004), SEPSA Cfg (2004), CENEX (2005), Cubalse Cienfuegos (2006), DCH (2007) and others, have incorporated CM into their business system for decision-making, (Soler, 2007). It is estimated that more than fifty companies in the country are using the CM for its management, a figure that is insufficient but shows that the path towards the implementation of the scorecards has begun.
The ODUN Scorecard.
From the beginning of the investigations carried out to implement the Balanced Scorecard, a group of specialists was formed who would be in charge of designing and implementing a balanced scorecard that would serve companies adapting to the characteristics of the companies and that had affordable prices. For ten years they worked to achieve a web dashboard that was accepted by companies. The dashboard designed took the name of ODUN which in a simple and friendly way allows within the business scheme to visualize all the functional areas of work and comprehensively evaluate the organization.
ODUN is a dashboard designed to work on Microsoft Web servers with MS ACCESS database, allowing availability to all INTRANET workstations.
ODUN is made up of three fundamental sections that are the operational management areas (functional dashboards by specific areas), a section for the integral analysis and processes in the organization that can be shown from one or several perspectives, and another section dedicated to tool administration. In general ODUN is an executable and flexible program to adapt to most companies with functional and process structures. ODUN has been installed in more than twenty Cuban companies and its implementation is continually in demand. Some views of ODUN are shown below:
Figure No. 1 Main views of the ODUN dashboard.
Own source
The ODUN scorecard is solving a problem for Cuban companies and is continually improving. This solution is modeled according to the demands of the organization and can be designed to provide information on the processes, the strategic plan and the functional areas.
It has more executions and possibilities than to describe them would be very extensive.
The designers and programmers of the ODUN computing solution are in the corresponding steps to legalize this application.
BI tools help make more objective decisions, but their use requires people who are knowledgeable about business techniques and information technologies. As a final comment it can be affirmed that the use of dashboards is a challenge for any organization, especially if it does not have an advanced business culture.
Conclusions
- The new management models integrate different systems that generate a lot of information that cannot be controlled by natural means. This situation infers that the use of dashboards is practically a necessity in today's business world. The use of dashboards as measurement and control tools are cultural challenges that companies face. The use of dashboards are for companies with an advanced business culture.The ODUN dashboard is a solution that several Cuban companies have used to mitigate the high prices of foreign solutions and to better adapt their business conditions through software.
Bibliography
1. Caramazana, A. (2002). Technologies and methodologies for the construction of knowledge management systems, Consulted September 2009, 2. IBM. Eserver, (2006), business intelligence concepts
3. Larry, P. (2005), Business Intelligence
4. López Viñeglas, A. (1999). The Dashboard and Information Systems for Business Management. Possibility of Hypermedia Treatment. Madrid, Editora AECA.
5. Norton, D and Kaplan, R. (1992). The Balanced Scorecard. Measures that drive performance ”, Harvard Business Review, January-February.
6. Soler, R. (2007), BSC, Case Studies in Cienfuegos, Master's Thesis, University of Cienfuegos.
