The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of the Balanced Scorecard in a higher education distance learning environment, and to highlight the importance of financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of the Balanced Scorecard in a higher education distance learning environment, and to highlight the importance of financial strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a review of the existing literature, case studies and management best practices, the authors use their university as an example to develop a second‐generation Balanced Scorecard including a strategy map and scorecard.
Findings
Higher education organizations with well‐defined financial strategies that are linked to educational outcomes will be well positioned for success even as their funding models change.
Research limitations/implications
The scorecard was created for a publicly funded university and thus some features may be less relevant to privately funded universities.
Practical implications
This paper demonstrates a working, second‐generation Balanced Scorecard and provides practitioners with a proven example of a strategy map and its resultant scorecard. In addition, considerations for the development of a scorecard in higher education are provided as well as working financial strategies for a university.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates the use of a BSC within a higher education distance learning environment and highlights the importance of financial strategies for higher education at a time when most universities are focused on performance metrics associated with learning.
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Keywords
To demonstrate a step‐by‐step model of strategy mapping for improving strategy communication in today's organization. The work is based on experience gained while consulting in a…
Abstract
Purpose
To demonstrate a step‐by‐step model of strategy mapping for improving strategy communication in today's organization. The work is based on experience gained while consulting in a myriad of organizations adopting strategy mapping as a strategic initiative.
Design/methodology/approach
Over the past few years since strategy mapping was introduced in literature, the author found that clients in the organizations with which they consulted were often struggling with how to go about implementing a strategy mapping initiative. It became clear that what was needed what a systematic, step‐by‐step framework that was easy to understand and follow. The author developed and refined a six‐step strategy‐mapping framework, which has proven both efficient and effective in practice.
Findings
The recent literature in the area of strategy mapping has proven very useful in terms of explaining what strategy maps are, and why organizations should adopt. The author demonstrates a proven strategy‐mapping model and provides a context through which it can be understood and successfully applied (i.e. how to implement strategy mapping). Validation of the framework is anecdotal and strongly suggests that the framework is both efficient and effective in applying strategy maps in organizations.
Practical implications
The six‐step strategy‐mapping model provides a clear and dynamic blueprint for all people wanting to implement this very useful tool for communicating strategy. The case study provided in the article provides a clear, hands‐on example that will encourage organizations to undertake their own strategy mapping initiative.
Originality/value
This paper fulfills a need for a sound, step‐by‐step, real‐world, grounded guide for implementing a strategy map in any organization.
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Christopher John Etheridge and Emma Derbyshire
Increasingly, interest in and the uptake of herbal infusions has advanced, namely, owing to their bioactive properties and potential links to health. Given this, the purpose of…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasingly, interest in and the uptake of herbal infusions has advanced, namely, owing to their bioactive properties and potential links to health. Given this, the purpose of the present review was to collate evidence from human trials for five popular herbal infusions.
Design/methodology/approach
The systematic review comprised ten human trials (560 participants), investigating inter-relationships between herbal infusions consumption and health. Only human studies involving German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla L. Asteraceae), ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe Zingiberaceae), lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L. Lamiaceae), peppermint (Mentha x spicata L. Lamiaceae)/spearmint (Mentha spicata L. Lamiaceae) and rosehip (Rosa canina L. Rosaceae) teas were included in the present paper.
Findings
Most herbal infusions serve as a good source of flavonoids and other polyphenols in the human diet. Studies included in this paper indicate that herbal infusions (1-3 cups tended to be drank daily; infusion rates up to 15 min) could benefit certain aspects of health. In particular, this includes aspects of sleep quality and glycaemic control (German chamomile), osteoarthritic stiffness and hormone control (spearmint), oxidative stress (lemon balm) and primary dysmenorrhea (rosehip).
Research limitations/implications
Ongoing research is needed using homogenous herbal infusion forms, brewing rates and volumes of water to further reinforce these findings. In the meantime, herbal infusions could provide a useful supplementary approach to improving certain aspects of well-being.
Originality/value
The present paper collates evidence from human trials for five popular herbal infusions.
Details
Keywords
The New Year will see Britain a member of the largest multi‐national free trade area in the world and there must be few who see it as anything less than the beginning of a new…
Abstract
The New Year will see Britain a member of the largest multi‐national free trade area in the world and there must be few who see it as anything less than the beginning of a new era, in trade, its trends, customs and usages and especially in the field of labour, relations, mobility, practices. Much can be foreseen but to some extent it is all very unpredictable. Optimists see it as a vast market of 250 millions, with a lot of money in their pockets, waiting for British exports; others, not quite so sure, fear the movement of trade may well be in reverse and if the increasing number of great articulated motor trucks, heavily laden with food and other goods, now spilling from the Channel ports into the roads of Kent are an indication, the last could well be true. They come from faraway places, not all in the European Economic Community; from Yugoslavia and Budapest, cities of the Rhineland, from Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Mulhouse and Milano. Kent has had its invasions before, with the Legions of Claudius and in 1940 when the battle roared through the Kentish skies. Hitherto quiet villagers are now in revolt against the pre‐juggernaut invasion; they, too, fear more will come with the enlarged EEC, thundering through their one‐street communities.