1.

a) Identify a researchable problem of your choice which should be the basis of the
formulation a research topic and prepare a research proposal.

Title

APPLICATION OF BALANCED SCORECARD FRAMEWORK IN

MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY IN ZIMBABWE

1.0 Introduction

Over the last 20 years, performance management and measurement have been treated as the
fundamental building block that permeates contemporary businesses for key stakeholders to
assess the achievements of the manufacturing businesses (Mari & Micheli, 2014). Judging by
the number of agendas discussed at major business conferences in Zimbabwe, a number of
researches done on performance management (PM (Neely, 1999), it has become a prevalent
topic reaching the stage of being identified as a vital component in operation management
(Pilkington & Liston, 1998). Performance management is defined as a continuous process of
recognising, measuring and developing strategies that align with company’s mission and
vision (Sawant, 2016). Apparently, by identifying key measure through performance
management system, in and of itself, it helps in improving the likelihood of goals being
accomplished.
1.1. Background of the Study

Most organizations have to compete in a complex and turbulent environment in the modern
world. This has called for the balance score card (BSC) which enables the firms to navigate
the turbulence in order to remain competitive (Kaplan & Norton, 1996). The BSC measures
and manages aspects of a firm through the perspectives of financial, customers, internal
processes, and learning & growth. Recent research on the effects of performance
management and corporate performances has produced inconsistent and opposite results
(Neely, 2005), implying that the impact of performance management is still in constant flux
(Pavlov & Bourne, 2011). While Mughal et al. (2014) listed both financial and non-financial
benefits of implementing performance management in their recent research, Waal and Kourtit
(2013) discovered the disadvantages of performance management such as information
overload, bureaucratic and expensive.
1.2. Research Problem

Many organizations’ operational and management control systems are built around financial
measures and targets, which bear little relation to the company`s progress in achieving long
term strategic objectives (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Thus the emphasis of organizations on
short term objectives leaves gap between the development of a strategy and its
implementation. However, organization strategic value depends on its people, processes and
innovation ability (Kaplan and Norton, 2002). To increase the cooperation between
departments and link all areas together one can implement the BSC within the organization.
This tool was developed by Kaplan and Norton in 1992 after conducting a study that focused
on the failure of financial measures to adequately measure organizational performance. In the
realm of knowledge-based competition, the ability of organizations to develop, nurture, and
mobilize their intangible assets is critical for success (Kaplan & Norton, 2001). The BSC was
created to bridge this gap, and implement a more thorough approach to the measurement of
an organization’s goals and success. By going beyond the traditional financial measurements
of success, the BSC approach has given the management a clearer view of how their firm is
really doing.
1.3 Significance of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate the reasons the manufacturing sector in Zimbabwe
applied the Balanced Scorecard, how they use it, and to understand from their perspective
how it benefits them. In addition to this the study will present advice from employees to the
management that is considering implementing the tool.
1.4 Research questions

The study will formulate the following research questions:

1.4.1 To what extent is the use of the internal business process perspective as one of the

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector.?

1.4.2 What is the impact of financial perspective as one of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC)

in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector?

1.4.3 What role has the customers’ perspective as one of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in

the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector?

1.4.4 To what extent is the use of the learning and growth perspective as one of the Balanced

Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector?

1.5 Research objectives

This study aims to find out how to use Balanced Scorecard (BSC) perspectives in the
manufacturing industry in Zimbabwe in particular, and to achieve this goal, the study aimed
to achieve the following sub-objectives:
1.5.1 Sub objectives
[Link] To establish the extent for using the internal business process perspective as one of

the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector.

[Link] To determine the extent for the use of the financial perspective as one of the

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector.

[Link] Knowledge of the extent for the using of the customers’ perspective as one of the

Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector.

[Link] To assess the use of the learning and growth perspective as one of the Balanced

Scorecard (BSC) in the Zimbabwean manufacturing sector.

1.6 Assumptions

The following assumptions will be made about this study;

 The sample taken is going to be a true representation of the entire population under

study.

 Financial resources are going to be adequate to meet all expenses to be incurred.

 Respondents will be forth coming in provision of accurate and relevant data, giving a

true reflection of their respective organizations.

1.7 Delimitation of the study

The research will be carried out in Zimbabwe, Mutare specifically at private and state owned

manufacturing organisations. The rational for confining the research to Mutare is because of

the limited time the researcher will have since the researcher is a fulltime employee. The

study will focus on large corporations where the BSC practices exist or where the BSC do not

exists.
1.8 Limitations of the study

This research will be subjected to a number of limitations:

Confidentiality is a major priority in this study and the researcher will use a confirmation

letter from the university so as to be granted permission to access data required particularly

from the management of the firms visited

In conducting this study there will be fears that, respondents may not reveal accurate data on

suspicion that the data might not be for study purposes only. However, to overcome this, a

confirmation letter from ZOU will be used to assure respondents that the data so collected

was purely for scholarly and academic purposes only and could not be traced back.

1.9 Literature Review

The conceptual groundwork for balanced scorecard was developed in the 1980's and 1990's

by academics and practitioners in numerous fields (e.g., management accounting, financial,

and performance measurement), the term "Balanced Scorecard" was introduced by Kaplan

and Norton (1992). It should be noted that another practice, called tableau de nord,

introduced in the early 1900’s contained most of the concepts of the balanced scorecard. The

early activity in the 1920's was the work of DuPont Corporation in developing return on

investment (ROI) calculations that led to the pyramid of financial ratios.

BSC (Balanced Scorecard) defines as a theory or management approach that was first viewed

in the Harvard Business (KAPLAN, R. S. and NORTON, D. P. 1996). The new improvement

on this theory appeared in the Kaplan and Norton book. The balance scorecard defined as:

“The Balanced Scorecard translates an organization’s mission and strategy into a

comprehensive set of performance measures that provides the framework for a strategic

measurement and management system.” The balanced scorecard was introduced as a

performance measurement approach to assess the activity of both tangible and intangible

assets of an organization. Kaplan and Norton (1992) described current performance

measurements, based on internal financial data, as obsolete and unresponsive to the activity

of an organization. The genesis of balanced scorecard also includes activity based costing

(ABC) approaches introduced in the 1980's by Johnson and Kaplan (1987). The balanced

scorecard approach was introduced to move organizations away from financially biased

measurement to a more balanced approach that links four perspectives of an organization's

success: financial, customer, internal processes and learning and growth. The balanced

scorecard framework has evolved from this multi-perspective performance measurement

system to a complex strategy management and control system.

1.10 Methodology

The research will adopt a Qualitative approach which is based on interpretivism research

philosophy to which, as pointed out by (Holland, 2014:34), helps to understand the meaning

of social actions and identify regularities of meaning. The researcher will use the inductive

research approach which is more flexible and involves identifying patterns in a data set to

reach conclusions and build theories (Hair, Celsi, Money, Samouel and Page 2015:276).

1.11 Definition of key terms

1. Balanced Score Card- ‘a set of measures that gives top managers a fast but comprehensive

view of the business. The Balanced Scorecard includes financial measures that tell the results

of actions already taken (Kaplan and Norton, 1992, p. 71).

2. PM: Performance Management is an ongoing communication process of creating

relationships that is taken on by the employee and the supervisor (Bacal, 2004).
 Resource budget

ASPECTS EXPECTED COSTS

Stationery $500.00
Typing and Printing expenses $300.00
Other research costs $300.00
TOTAL $1 100.00

GANTT CHART SHOWING TIME FRAME OF THE PLANNED PROJECT

ACTIVITIE DEC JAN FEB MAR APRIL
TASK
S 2019 2020 2020 2020 2020
Topic should
1 have been
approved
Research
2
proposal
3 Chapter 1
4 Chapter 2
5 Chapter 3
6 Chapter 4
Chapter 5
7
Submission
Source: Saunders M. et al. (2012:58; Sixth Edition)

1.b) Outline the importance of a research proposal in business in business research. [15]
A research proposal is a document of usually ten to fifteen pages that informs others of a
proposed piece of research. A reason to get the proposal right is that this can save the student
time in the long run. A research proposal is intended to convince others that the student has a
worthwhile research project and that s/he has the competence and the work-plan to complete
it.

 The most important is that it helps the researcher to think out the research project
about to be undertaken and predict any difficulties that might arise.
 For those who are not quite sure what their focus will be, the research proposal can be
a space to explore options, perhaps with one proposal for each potential topic, which
can then be more easily compared and evaluated than when they are still just ideas in
the researcher’s head.
 Research proposals can be effective starting places to discuss projects with the
research supervisor or tutor.
 A research supervisor who is initially sceptical about a project may be able to imagine
it more easily after reading a well written research proposal, this does not mean he or
she will approve the topic, especially if there are significant potential difficulties that
the researcher has not considered.
 Once one has begun the research project, a research proposal can help the researcher
to remain on track, and can also remind the researcher why he/she started this project
in the first place.
 Researchers very often begin to lose heart about two thirds of the way into a project
when their research hits a snag or when they are having problems developing a thesis,
organizing the ideas, or actually starting to write.
 Rereading the initial research proposal, especially "Significance" can reenergize the
project or help the researcher to refocus in an effective manner.
 It may be useful to present the research as a series of research questions to be
examined by the thesis. An effective structure might be to use each question as a sub-
heading to a paragraph or two of elaboration and detail on the problem or issue
contained in each research question. Research questions ask what relationships exist
between the different variables in the study.
 The method section is very important because it tells how the student plans to tackle
the research problem. It will provide the student’s work plan and describe the
activities necessary for the completion of the project. The student needs to
 demonstrate his knowledge of alternative methods and make the case that his
approach is the most appropriate and the most valid way to address the research
question.
 The student needs to communicate a sense of enthusiasm and confidence without
exaggerating the merits of his proposal. That is why the student needs to mention the
limitations and weaknesses of the proposed research, which may be justified by time
as well as by the early developmental stage of his research area.
1.c) Describe the 6 main stages of a business research process. [20]

A number of definitions of research have been proposed by different scholars and

researchers, working in different fields. According to the Oxford Advanced Learners’
Dictionary of Current English (1986:720), research is defined as “systematic investigation
undertaken in order to discover new facts, get additional information”. Saunders, Lewis and
Thornhill (2003) define research as “…something that people undertake in order to find out
new things in a systematic way, thereby increasing their knowledge…” From the definitions
of research provided above, it follows that research is a planned activity, aimed at
establishing new facts and information about a particular phenomenon. The research process
involves the identification of a particular problem or area of interest, translating that problem
into a research problem, collecting data, analysing the data and reporting the findings of the
research (Leedy, 1997:195)

Step 1. Define the Objective and Problem

Perhaps the most important step in the business research process is defining the goals of the
project. At the core of this is understanding the root question that needs to be informed by
business research as put by Rudestam & Newton (2001). There is typically a key business
problem (or opportunity) that needs to be acted upon, but there is a lack of information to
make that decision comfortably; the job of a business researcher is to inform that decision
with solid data (Yin, 1994). By understanding the business problem clearly, one will be able
to keep one’s research focused and effective. One might even go as far as to mock up a fake
report, with hypothetical data, and ask some audience.

Step 2. Review the Literature

Now that the problem has been identified, the researcher must learn more about the topic
under investigation. To do this, the researcher must review the literature related to the
research problem. Make the argument for the dissertation using the “studies in the existing
literature that incorporate all the major variables or constructs that are present in the proposed
study” (Rudestam & Newton, 2001:63). This step provides foundational knowledge about the
problem area. The review of literature also educates the researcher about what studies have
been conducted in the past, how these studies were conducted, and the conclusions in the
problem area. In the obesity study for instance, the review of literature enables the
programmer to discover horrifying statistics related to the long-term effects of childhood
obesity in terms of health issues, death rates, and projected medical costs. In addition, the
programmer finds several articles and information from the researched journals and books
that describe the literature on obesity. The information discovered during this step helps the
programmer fully understand the magnitude of the problem, recognize the future
consequences of obesity, and identify a strategy to combat obesity.

Step 3. Research Methodology

Now that one knows the research objects, it is time to plan out the type of research that will
best obtain the necessary data. Think of the research design as the detailed plan of attack.
Scientific research methods are used to expand knowledge in a particular field of study
(Kruger & Welman, 1999:1). Scientists should follow a well-defined research design that
includes various steps to reach a conclusion regarding a specific subject(s) that is being
researched. Mouton (2001:55) describes a research design as a plan or blue-print of how the
researcher intends to conduct the research. In this step one will first determine the business
research method (will it be a survey, focus group). One will also think through specifics
about how one will identify and choose the sample. This is also the time to plan where one
will conduct the research (telephone, in-person, mail, and internet). Once again, remember to
keep the end goal in mind what will the final report look like. In this step of the business
research process, it’s time to design the research tool. If a survey is the most appropriate tool
one will begin by writing the questions and designing the questionnaire. If a focus group is
the instrument of choice, the researcher will start preparing questions and materials for the
moderator. This is the part of the process where one starts executing the plan. Take the
sample data and get it into a spreadsheet; are there any issues with the data structure. This
will allow one to catch potential problems early, and there are always problems (Cook &
Campbell, 1979; Kirk, 1982).

Step 4. Data Collection

Once the instrumentation plan is completed, the actual study begins with the collection of
data (Cone & Foster, 2006). The collection of data is a critical step in providing the
information needed to answer the research question. Every study includes the collection of
some type of data whether it is from the literature or from subjects to answer the research
question. Data can be collected in the form of words on a survey, with a questionnaire,
through observations, or from the literature. This is the meat and potatoes of the project; the
time when one is administering the survey, running the focus groups, conducting the
interviews, implementing the field test. The answers, choices, and observations are all being
collected and recorded, usually in spreadsheet form. Each nugget of information is precious
and will be part of the masterful conclusions one will soon draw.

Step 5. Analyse The Data

The researcher finally has data to analyse so that the research question can be answered. In
the instrumentation plan, the researcher specified how the data will be analysed (Hittleman
and Simon, 1997:31). The researcher now analyses the data according to the plan. The results
of this analysis are then reviewed and summarized in a manner directly related to the research
questions. Data collection has drawn to a close and the researcher has heaps of raw data
sitting in the lap. If it is on scraps of paper, that will probably need to get it in spreadsheet
form for further analysis. If it is already in spreadsheet form, it is time to make sure the
researcher got it structured properly. Run summaries with the tools provided in the software
package (typically Excel, SPSS, Minitab), build tables and graphs, segment the results by
groups that make sense such as age, gender, and look for the major trends in the data.

Step 6. Conclusions and Recommendations

The Conclusions section sums up the key points of your discussion, the essential features of
your design, or the significant outcomes of your investigation (Cobb et al., 2003). Always
address limitations and suggest how they might be overcome in future work. This should
relate back to the focused research question. Here, the answer to the research question(s)
should be clearly stated. The researcher can evaluate how successful they have been in
achieving your research objectives, and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the
research. One may also want to make recommendations for further research. The researcher
spends hours poring through the raw data, building useful summary tables, charts and graphs.
Restate those business questions, and then present the recommendations based on the data, to
address those issues (Smith, 1991). When it comes time to presenting the results, remember
to present insights, answers and recommendations, not just charts and tables. Adding this
additional critical thinking to the final report will make the research more actionable and
meaningful and will set one apart from other researchers. While it is important to answer the
original question, remember that business research is one input to a business decision (usually
a strong input), but not the only factor.
1.d) Discuss three different forms of validity and two different forms of reliability. [25]

Validity is the extent to which the scores from a measure represent the variable they are
intended to. When a measure has good test-retest reliability and internal consistency,
researchers should be more confident that the scores represent what they are supposed to.
There has to be more to it, however, because a measure can be extremely reliable but have no
validity whatsoever. As an absurd example, imagine someone who believes that people’s
index finger length reflects their self-esteem and therefore tries to measure self-esteem by
holding a ruler up to people’s index fingers. Although this measure would have extremely
good test-retest reliability, it would have absolutely no validity. The fact that one person’s
index finger is a centimetre longer than another’s would indicate nothing about which one
had higher self-esteem.

Three forms of validity

Face Validity

Face validity is the extent to which a measurement method appears on its face to measure the
construct of interest. Most people would expect a self-esteem questionnaire to include items
about whether they see themselves as a person of worth and whether they think they have
good qualities. So a questionnaire that included these kinds of items would have good face
validity. The finger-length method of measuring self-esteem, on the other hand, seems to
have nothing to do with self-esteem and therefore has poor face validity. Although face
validity can be assessed quantitatively, for example, by having a large sample of people rate a
measure in terms of whether it appears to measure what it is intended to it is usually assessed
informally. Face validity is at best a very weak kind of evidence that a measurement method
is measuring what it is supposed to. One reason is that it is based on people’s intuitions about
human behaviour, which are frequently wrong. It is also the case that many established
measures in psychology work quite well despite lacking face validity.

Content Validity

Content validity is the extent to which a measure covers the construct of interest. For
example, if a researcher conceptually defines test anxiety as involving both sympathetic
nervous system activation (leading to nervous feelings) and negative thoughts, then his
measure of test anxiety should include items about both nervous feelings and negative
thoughts. Or consider that attitudes are usually defined as involving thoughts, feelings, and
actions toward something. By this conceptual definition, a person has a positive attitude
toward exercise to the extent that he or she thinks positive thoughts about exercising, feels
good about exercising, and actually exercises. So to have good content validity, a measure of
people’s attitudes toward exercise would have to reflect all three of these aspects. Like face
validity, content validity is not usually assessed quantitatively. Instead, it is assessed by
carefully checking the measurement method against the conceptual definition of the
construct.

Criterion Validity

Criterion validity is the extent to which people’s scores on a measure are correlated with
other variables (known as criteria) that one would expect them to be correlated with. For
example, people’s scores on a new measure of test anxiety should be negatively correlated
with their performance on an important school exam. If it were found that people’s scores
were in fact negatively correlated with their exam performance, then this would be a piece of
evidence that these scores really represent people’s test anxiety. But if it were found that
people scored equally well on the exam regardless of their test anxiety scores, then this would
cast doubt on the validity of the measure. A criterion can be any variable that one has reason
to think should be correlated with the construct being measured, and there will usually be
many of them. For example, one would expect test anxiety scores to be negatively correlated
with exam performance and course grades and positively correlated with general anxiety and
with blood pressure during an exam.

Reliability

Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. Every metric or method people use,
including things like methods for uncovering usability problems in an interface and expert
judgment, must be assessed for reliability. In fact, before one can establish validity, there is
need to establish reliability.

Two forms of Reliability

Test-Retest Reliability

When researchers measure a construct that they assume to be consistent across time, then the
scores they obtain should also be consistent across time. Test-retest reliability is the extent to
which this is actually the case. For example, intelligence is generally thought to be consistent
across time. A person who is highly intelligent today will be highly intelligent next week.
This means that any good measure of intelligence should produce roughly the same scores for
this individual next week as it does today. Clearly, a measure that produces highly
inconsistent scores over time cannot be a very good measure of a construct that is supposed to
be consistent. Assessing test-retest reliability requires using the measure on a group of people
at one time, using it again on the same group of people at a later time, and then looking at
test-retest correlation between the two sets of scores. Again, high test-retest correlations make
sense when the construct being measured is assumed to be consistent over time, which is the
case for intelligence, self-esteem.

Internal Consistency

A second kind of reliability is internal consistency, which is the consistency of people’s

responses across the items on a multiple-item measure. In general, all the items on such
measures are supposed to reflect the same underlying construct, so people’s scores on those
items should be correlated with each other. If people’s responses to the different items are not
correlated with each other, then it would no longer make sense to claim that they are all
measuring the same underlying construct. This is as true for behavioural and physiological
measures as for self-report measures. For example, people might make a series of bets in a
simulated game of roulette as a measure of their level of risk seeking. This measure would be
internally consistent to the extent that individual participants’ bets were consistently high or
low across trials. Like test-retest reliability, internal consistency can only be assessed by
collecting and analysing data. One approach is to look at a split-half correlation. This
involves splitting the items into two sets, such as the first and second halves of the items or
the even- and odd-numbered items. Then a score is computed for each set of items, and the
relationship between the two sets of scores is examined.

In conclusion, psychological researchers do not simply assume that their measures work.
Instead, they conduct research to show that they work. If they cannot show that they work,
they stop using them. As discussed above, there are two distinct criteria by which researchers
evaluate their measures: reliability and validity. Reliability is consistency across time while
Validity is the extent to which the scores actually represent the variable they are intended to.
Validity is a judgment based on various types of evidence. The relevant evidence includes the
measure’s reliability, whether it covers the construct of interest, and whether the scores it
produces are correlated with other variables they are expected to be correlated with and not
correlated with variables that are conceptually distinct.
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