Red, yellow, or green light? : signaling performance in the Workers’ Compensation Board of British Columbia executive dashboard

• Main Author: Read, Bryan Andrew
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/14055

In 2002 the Workers' Compensation Board of British Columbia's management began a project to move its executive-level Balanced Scorecard metrics into a dashboard-type intranet application. This thesis begins by discussing this improvement in the communication of Balanced Scorecard results. It then explores, in detail, two different approaches to assessing performance. The first approach outlines the most common methods being used to set targets. These targets are measurable goals that the organization strives to achieve as part of its corporate strategy. The second approach involves the use of historical data to assess current performance. This section of the thesis discusses how the most recent value, short-term and long-term trends can be ranked against prior period measurements, and then combined into an aggregate performance assessment for the business metric. This result can then be used to communicate performance that is better or worse than historically experienced. Both the target setting and historical ranking approaches can be used in the dashboard to trigger an indicator light (red, yellow, or green) that signals performance to an executive. A red light signals that the organization needs to do additional work to explain performance or to initiate projects to improve results. Ultimately, it is through both setting targets and ranking performance that the WCB or any other organization will move closer to achieving its strategic objectives.