Question

Midwest Mfg. uses a balanced scorecard as part of its performance evaluation. The company wants to include information on its sustainability efforts in its balanced scorecard. For each of the sustainability items below, indicate the most likely balanced scorecard perspective it relates to. Label your answers using C (customer), P (internal process), I (innovation and learning), or F (financial).

1. CO2 emissions	6. Pounds of trash diverted from landfill
2. Number of solar panels installed	7. Dollar sales of green products
3. Gallons of water used	8. Number of sustainability training workshops held
4. Customer surveys of company’s sustainability reputation	9. Cubic feet of natural gas used
5. Pounds of recyclable packaging used	10. Patents for green products applied for

Short answer

1. CO2 emissions	P
2. Number of solar panels installed	P
3. Gallons of water used	P
4. Customer surveys of company’s sustainability reputation	C
5. Pounds of recyclable packaging used	P
6. Pounds of trash diverted from landfill	P
7. Dollar sales of green products	F
8. Number of sustainability training workshops held	I
9. Cubic feet of natural gas used	P
10. Patents for green products applied for	I

Step-by-step solution

Definition of Sustainable Development

Development of the economy without depletion of resources is known as sustainable development. Such development takes into consideration the future effect of the present business actions and policies.

CO2 emission

Management of CO2 emission relates to internal processes. Internal processes include internal workings and processes adopted by the company. Therefore, the management of CO2 emissions will be considered part of the internal process.

Number of solar panels installed

The number of solar panels installed relates to the internal process of the business entity because the panels will assist in business operations.

Gallons of water used

Gallons of water used by the business entity relate to internal processes because it will help in developing more sustainable business plans.

Customer surveys of the company’s sustainability reputation

A customer survey of the company’s sustainability reputation relates to the customer perspective of the balanced scorecard because it will help determine the actions that must be adopted to increase market share.

Pounds of recyclable packaging

Pounds of recyclable packaging relate to the internal process perspective of the balanced scorecard because it will help in increasing the sustainability of the business entity.

Pounds of trash diverted from landfill

Pounds of trash diverted from landfills will be considered part of the internal process because it will determine the sustainability of the business operations.

Dollar sale of green product

The finance perspective of the balanced scorecard includes the revenue generated and expenses incurred. Therefore, the dollar sale of green products will be included in the financial perspective of the balanced scorecard.

Number of a sustainability training workshops held

All the training and developments are included in the innovation and learning perspective of the balanced scorecard because it will help in the development and growth of the human resource of the business entity.

Cubic feet of natural gas used

Cubic feet of natural gas used will be included in the perspective of the balanced scorecard because it will help in the determination of the cost of the product and the sustainability of the business entity.

Patent for green products applied for

Patents for green products applied will be included in the innovation and learning perspective of the balanced scorecard because it will bring innovations to the business entity and improve the company’s ability.