History

The Balanced Scorecard Institute was the original certifying body for balanced scorecard practitioners. The first program was delivered to an international group of participants in January 2006, and was conducted jointly with George Washington University College of Professional Studies on their campus in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. Since then, Balanced Scorecard Master Professional programs have been delivered four to five times a year at George Washington University and at other locations worldwide and the Balanced Scorecard Professional Program is now offered over once per month!

Program Overview

The Balanced Scorecard Professional Certification Program provides participants with background and resources in all areas that are important to lead or participate on a team to build, implement, and sustain a balanced scorecard planning and management system in their organization. The program includes in-depth study of strategic thinking, strategic planning, organization assessment, strategy mapping, performance measures and target setting, strategic initiatives, automation, cascading and strategic management.

This program is based on the Institute’s Nine Steps to Success^TM balanced scorecard framework, and expands on other training workshops with additional process substance in each step, more advanced exercises, one-on-one interaction with senior staff, and additional resource material, software tools and templates.

The program is taught in a highly interactive manner, using lectures, lessons learned, practical examples, case studies, software demonstrations, small-group exercises, a Performance Scorecard Toolkit, software tools and templates, and instructor reviews of participants' existing scorecards. Topics covered by the course include:

• Comprehensive approaches to strategic planning, strategic management, performance measurement and target setting, initiative prioritization, performance information systems, and program evaluation
• The Institute’s Nine Step methodology for building and implementing balanced scorecard planning and management systems
• Organization development practices, such as SWOT analysis, employee assessment planning, customer and stakeholder identification, and balanced scorecard program planning
• Modern approaches to strategic thinking and strategy mapping
• Communications strategy development and change management aspects of the balanced scorecard journey
• Facilitation and coaching skills necessary to lead team workshops in the development of a balanced scorecard system for your organization
• How to select appropriate software to collect and report performance information throughout the organization
• How to cascade the enterprise scorecard throughout the organization

Program Benefits

This program is made up of hands-on workshops taught by the most senior Institute facilitating consultants, and is designed to enable anyone involved with developing a balanced scorecard system to act as a coordinating change agent/internal consultant to lead and develop a scorecard system. Instructors will work closely with each participant. Participants will learn how to develop balanced scorecards and apply them in their own organizations. Software for planning and performance measurement will be demonstrated to show how information technology can be used to help develop the scorecard system, collect, report, and visualize performance information, and cascade an enterprise scorecard to business and support units, and to teams and individuals. Past participants have raved about the value they received from working side-by-side with other participants, who come from all over the world and various organization types.  This sharing of practical experience occurs through classroom discussions, through meet-and-greet receptions scheduled during the week, and in some cases through electronic correspondence long after the course has ended.

But Why Get Certified?

There has never been a better time to accelerate your career in strategic planning and balanced scorecard facilitation, and earning a certification is a great way to do just that. Even if you have been working with balanced scorecards for 15 years, certifications are an excellent way to market yourself and stand out from the crowd. Earning certifications shows a potential employer (and your current one) that you are willing to go the extra mile.

Intellectual Property Note 
Certification and training related to the Nine Steps to Success^TM methodology is for internal facilitation and personal use only. Any use of the Nine Steps to Success^TM or other Institute intellectual property beyond internal facilitation use without a formal affiliate or associate agreement with the Institute is prohibited.

Program Tracks

There are two levels of certification. The basic certification level is Balanced Scorecard Professional (BSP) and the advanced level is Balanced Scorecard Master Professional (BSMP). The BSP level includes five days of instruction and the completion of an online exam (see the Exam tab). The BSMP certification includes the BSP program plus a five-day Application course and formal presentation. The Balanced Scorecard Professional (BSP) Certification is designed for students who do not want to achieve the higher level certification or would prefer to get BSMP Certification at a later date. Follow the BSP program to the right (in green) to become certified. Courses include the BSP Certification Pt. 1: Intro to the BSC course and the BSP Certification Pt. 2: Advanced BSC course. The two courses can be taken together in the same week by registering for the BSP Certification Boot Camp. The Balanced Scorecard Master Professional (BSMP) status is the highest certification level, and includes advanced balanced scorecard study, and a rigorous application development project and presentation. Follow the entire program to the right (green and blue) to become certified. Anyone already BSP Certified can simply add the BSMP Certification Application Course to become BSMP certified.  Alternatively, the entire BSMP Program can be completed at once by taking the 10-day BSMP Certification Course. All courses must be taken in order shown to the right.

Certification Exam

The Balanced Scorecard Professional Certification exam, administered online, has 40 questions (multiple choice or true/false pulled randomly from a larger pool of questions). There is a one hour time limit to complete the exam and results are posted immediately. A score of 75% is needed to pass. After completing the course requirements, participants that have not already registered for the program will be given a link to register for the exam. Once participants have registered and course completion has been verified, a link for the exam and login information will be provided. Completed exams are scored automatically and both the participant and the Institute are notified immediately. Certifications will be mailed to the registration mailing address for those that pass. Please allow 4-6 weeks for processing.

Making the Academic Practical Institute workshops, taught by highly-experienced consultants, are short on dry lecture & academic theory and long on hands-on team exercises and interactive discussion for maximum adult learning, engagement, retention and fun. Rather than reviewing frustrating case studies that don't explain how an organization accomplished their results, participants walk through a simple methodology and master the practical steps in applying strategic planning and balanced scorecard concepts to meet the challenges facing a real-world organization. In short, Institute instructors work to ensure that students can build a strategic management system themselves!

Other Differentiators: Participants learn a simple, "do-it-yourself" methodology The Institute is the original certifying body for balanced scorecard practitioners, offering dozens of programs per year since the first in January, 2006 The Institute has trained over 5000 practitioners and has consulted for hundreds of organizations from over 40 countries since 1997 Institute instructors and consultants have decades of practical experience "in the trenches" Participants earn Association for Strategic Planning Certification Body of Knowledge credit All courses in the Program are affiliated with The George Washington University College of Professional Studies and offer CEU credit Separate frameworks & examples for business, government, non-profit and defense sectors Based on a wholly integrated strategic planning framework for building a scorecard system Participants learn to develop meaningful performance measures As opposed to the "one-man-shop" certifications online, the Institute offers a full range of training, facilitation, software and consulting services both in the US and internationally, and is the only organization that trains and certifies in the Nine Steps to Success™ scorecard framework Institute certified professionals from organizations all over the world share their experiences with each other in class and then ongoing through a free commmunity on LinkedIn

Feedback from past participants:

• “The BSI Certification goes far beyond studying the theory & history of a balanced scorecard management system. This course gives individuals the tools necessary to build, implement, and manage a comprehensive tier 1-3 scorecard at their own organizations. The knowledge & skills gained are successful combination of theoretical & practical application that empower students to facilitate construction of this scorecard from the ground up” – Shella Blackburn, Manager Corporate Performance, Mission Essential Personnel.
• "The BSP Certification Boot Camp was on enriching learning experience. The case studies and peer interactions helped to turn theory into practice." – David Branch, Director of Business Performance, Constellation Energy.
• “This course converted me from a skeptic into a believer” - Thedora Borissov, Manager, Performance and Measurement, BC Oil and Gas Commission.
• "I will be sending more of my staff to this [BSP Certification] course" -Steve Jonnes, FBI, Unit Chief - Performance Analysis Unit.
• "Best professional course I’ve ever taken! The demands are endless" — Earnest K. Kiano, Deputy Manager, Kenya Power & Lighting Company.
• “Finally, a comprehensive approach that makes sense and ties all of our tools together”, Todd Moon, Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau, Chief Operations Service.
• “Although we only implemented the balanced scorecard approach a couple of years ago, we have already seen improvements in our operations. The [Nine Steps to Success™] approach helps us focus on our ambitious goal to drastically increase the number of transplants we facilitate by 2015.” - Michael Boo, Chief Strategy Officer, National Marrow Donor Program.
• “Change is easy. Transition is more difficult—Balanced Scorecard Institute showed us not only how to change the organization-but more importantly how to manage the change process effectively.” Joe Cernero, Professional Development Manager, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma.
• “We are very pleased with the help provided by the Institute. We are aiming for high revenue targets in a geographically diverse market, and the Institute helped us translate our strategy into something that employees can actually use.” - Laurent Auguste, President and CEO, Veolia Water Americas.