Lone Pair - Chemistry Definition

A lone pair is an electron pair in the outermost shell of an atom that is not shared or bonded to another atom. It is also called a non-bonding pair. One way to identify a lone pair is to draw a Lewis structure. The number of lone pair electrons added to the number of bonding electrons equals the number of valence electrons of an atom. The lone pair concept is important to valence shell electron pair repulsion (VSEPR) theory, as it helps to explain the geometry of molecules. Sources Albright, T. A.; Burdett, J. K.; Whangbo, M.-H. (1985). Orbital Interactions in Chemistry. New York: Wiley. p. 102. ISBN 0471873934.Ansyln, E. V.; Dougherty, D. A. (2006). Modern Physical Organic Chemistry. Sausalito, CA: University Science Books. p. 41. ISBN 978-1-891389-31-3.Kumar, Anmol; Gadre, Shridhar R.; Mohan, Neetha; Suresh, Cherumuttathu H. (2014-01-06). Lone Pairs: An Electrostatic Viewpoint. The Journal of Physical Chemistry A. 118 (2): 526–532. doi:10.1021/jp4117003

The Beautiful Country Of Honduras - 848 Words

The beautiful country of Honduras is located geographically at the heart of Central America. However, the most important location of this country is in the heart of every Catracho(a); Spanish term for those born or raised at Honduras. To be a Catracho(a) goes far beyond than just sharing territory or the nationality of Honduras. It means sharing an accent, slangs, food, beliefs, values, and folkways that will be detailed further in the paper. Such subculture goes beyond territorial boundaries, a Catracho(a) can reside in any part of the world and still relate to the same shared tangible or intangible items. Therefore, Catracho(a) are a subculture of the Hispanic/Latino culture. Differences in the way a Catracho(a) speaks are evident when citizens from Central American countries are at the same place and speaking to one another. Starting with the accent; it will differ depending on the country you were raised. Costa Ricans have an â€Å"r† phoneme, where in some instances it can sound similarly (not exactly) like an â€Å"l†. Nicaraguans do not pronounce the â€Å"s† at the end of a word and it sounds as if it is substituted by a type of short and soft â€Å"h†. Catrachos(as) pronounce the â€Å"j† and â€Å"s† in an aspirated way, as softly as the â€Å"h† in English or might not be pronounced at all. Intangible and tangible slangs, objects, and actions will have a specific meaning according to the country. Catrachos(as) refer to sharpener as saca puntas but Nicaraguans refer to them as. For earringsShow MoreRelatedHonduras And Its Impact On American Culture1582 Words   |  7 PagesSome people hear the country Honduras and immediately picture the incredible diving offered, others feel pity and fear as they imagine the incredibly high rates of violent crimes. While both perspectives are true, Honduras has a plethora of fascinating traits. 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National Culture and Behavior Management- Free-Samples for Students

Question: Discuss about the National Culture and Behavior Management. Answer: Introduction National culture refers to general acceptable behavior of a society based on beliefs and values that are developed over a long duration of time. They include values, beliefs, common knowledge, perception, and norms of behavior of a population within a sovereign nation (Branine, and Pollard, 2010). They define individuals of the same society and distinguish them from other societies. Behavior management refers to applied behavior analysis that involves application of psychological organizational behavior principles to organizations to enable improvement of group or individual performance in the work place. National culture influences behavior management. An individual or group behavior is determined by the country that they belong to. National culture is important for understanding and predicting individuals or group behavior when directing them towards a common goal. Organizational behavior management is important for managing organizational effectiveness and efficiency. Globalizatio n has led to integration of economies and societies around the world that has brought individuals from different countries to work together. Globalization has removed boundaries and given rise to multinational companies that operates in different countries. Societies are not the same in terms of what normal or not normal to what is considered unacceptable or unacceptable. The difference in values, beliefs, practices are evident from one country to another. The differences in individual behaviors as a result of national culture necessitate different approaches to manage different groups. Employees in countries behave differently and therefore opt to be managed different to attain the same predetermined goods. Sensitivity of national differences by a manager can increase chances of success of a business. Therefore it is important to understand the concept of national cultures in organizations for management to shape and direct employees behavior towards achievement of specific goals. The following essay will discuss national culture and behavior management. This will involve a background study, discussion, significance, and recommendation of the topic under study. Background of the Study The significance of studying and understanding national culture was as a result of increasing international businesses. International businesses have a challenge to successfully adapt to diverse cultures and manage it impact on their daily operations. In order for business to adapt, they require to understand cultural values, stereotypes, values, views and cultural diversity. The study of national culture has in the recent decades attracted researchers interests especially in cultural dimensions and attitude. The research has been aimed at improving business performance in different societies. Hodgetts, luthans and Doh (2006) defined national culture as shared beliefs and values that enables members of their society to determine what is right or wrong. Shachaf (2008), described culture as consisting of implicit and explicit patterns and behavior acquired and is transmitted through symbols that form characteristics of achievements of a group or population. Hickson and Pugh (2014) esta blished cultures are common, symbolic, generational, and adaptive, integrated, and learned not inherited. There are different cultures that exist in the world and understanding their impact on human behavior is critical for international business. Zheng,Yang, and McLean, (2010) pointed out that if multinational managers do not understand the country culture that they operate in can lead to extremely negative business performance. Hofstede (2010) defined cultural values as desirable beliefs and concepts that provide standards for evaluating certain actions, behaviors, and goals to ascertain what is bad or good, acceptable or unacceptable. Limsila, and Ogunlana, (2008), also defined cultural values as fundamental beliefs of people in a society regarding notions of evil and good, important and unimportant, right and wrong. Poole (2013) defined Cultural diversity as ways that cultures differ from one society to another. It shows the impact of how people behave and think within a society. Diversity exists between and within cultures. There are three models of cultural dimensions that can be used to study a national culture. They include; (1) GLOBEs model, (2) Hofstedeov model, (3) Trompenaarsov model. Hofstede model hold that national cultures have a lot of influence on work values. Hofstede dimension model was from a study of 53 countries. Hofstede found that managers and employees of different countries varied as a result of the following dimensions of their national culture; individualism vs collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity vs femininity, short term vs long term orientation. He stated that individuals behaviors were shaped by the dimension of their national culture (De Mooij and Hofstede, 2010). The second model of Trompenaars was based on two rounds survey that involved over 45000 managers. The research found the there were seven bipolar dimensions. They were as follows; individualism and communitarians, universalism and particularism, neutral cultures and emotional cultures, s pecific cultures and diffuse cultures, job status or person status, internal guidance and external guidance and lastly the sequential access and synchronously notion. This model showed that individual or group behaviors in an organization reflected the national culture dimension. Lastly is the GLOBEs model that was as result of 170 scientists working together with management students. The research was undertaken in 61 countries. The research aimed at studying the relationship between organizational culture, culture of the society, and organizational leadership (Brock et al., 2008). The model dimensions were as follows; focus on the future, sexual differentiation, uncertainty avoidance, assertiveness, power distance, institutional collectivism, within group collectivism, humanistic orientation, and focus on results. The GLOBEs model is viewed as the most comprehensive compared to two models. From the background study, national culture determines an individual or group behavior. Therefore, understanding national culture can enable global managers in behavioral management of employees in the organization. Significance of national culture to Behavior management National culture dominant and shapes organizational cultures and influence how they function. The national culture determines organizational culture of an organization and influences some practices that become part of the organization. The national culture shapes how people act, behave, perceive, hold values, and contribute towards the achievement of the organizational goals. An employee behavior is significant to achieving organizational goals through efficiency and effectiveness. The following are the significance of national culture to behavior management; Communication Communication is the process of sending messages through a language that a receiver can understand. Communication can either be verbal or non verbal. Verbal communication refers to sending of message though spoken language. Non verbal communication refers to body or symbol cues of sending a message that can be understood by the receiver. Communication is a cultural framework that enables decoding of a message from a correspondent to recipient. According to Ke and Wei (2008), the interpretation and the extent of understanding of a message from a correspondent to a receiver is highly influenced by culture. This entails that an individual ability to understand a message is based on the number of cultures one has lived in or familiar with. Communication builds relationship and determines how management interacts with the employees. The national culture determines acceptable or preferred methods of communicating in a business. National culture determines how people dress and how it is per ceived. Some national cultures are more formal than other. Global businesses are therefore required to adhere to national communication cultures in order to create best impression to the local business partners or employees. For instance, business communication etiquette in Japan starts with handing of business cards. The Japanese culture is very formal and requires business cards to start a meeting. In addition, communication in a country or organization is determined by the national culture dimension. For example, in countries where there is high power distance, addressing employees should include their titles before their names of which not adhered can cause disappointment in the work place. Therefore, national culture is significant to understanding communication in the society that can enhance effectiveness of the communication in the organization. Style of leadership The style of leadership to be adopted in an organization in a particular country is influenced by the nation culture. The style of leadership refers to managers style of implementing plans, motivating employees and providing direction. These are participatory, autocratic, and laissez-faire. The style of leadership determines the flow of power, responsibilities, and decision making in the organization. A participatory or democratic style of leadership is found in organization where the national culture dimension has low power distance, low masculine, and collectivism. These national culture dimensions encourage leaders to include employees in the management of the organization. The autocratic style of leadership is organizations that their national culture dimensions have high power distance, individualism, and masculine. The leader in an organization decides what has to be done and the employees are expected to follow instructions. Therefore, the culture influences the role and funct ions of employees and management in an organization. For instance, in countries with low power distance, the lower level employees are able to directly communicate to the manager which is opposite of cultures with high power distance. The style of leadership influences the behavior of the employees in the organization. This determines their contribution and engagement in the activities of an organization. This indicates that employees of different counties will have different expected style of leadership from their management. Therefore, adopting a style of leadership that does not align with the national culture can lead to employees protesting or have low morale at their work places. Organizational structure Organizational structure refers to organization framework that defines the way activities are coordinated, allocated, and supervised (Han et al., 2010). Organizational structure ensures all responsibilities in the organization are defined and who reports to who is indicated. The choice of an organizational structure is influenced by the type of culture that the management wants to introduce in the organization. The organizational structure establishes the organizational culture and need to change the culture requires the organizational to change the organizational structure. The organizational structure establishes norms and practices that have to be adhered to by the employees. The organizational culture also establishes communication channels in the organization. In addition, organizational structure defines power in the position in the organization that managers in different levels have. This determines how the organization is managed. The organizational structure of an organization should reflect the national culture in order to facilitate smooth functioning of the organization. For instance, the organizational structure should define the power sharing to avoid conflicts in high power distance societies. Organizations should also consider the relationship of the management and the employees because it influences employees motivation in the work place. Lastly, the organizational structure influences the organizational culture and therefore should ensure it reflects the society norms, beliefs, and values. Turnover and Absenteeism Turnover is the rate of employees quitting their jobs within a specific period of time. Absenteeism is a practice of an employee staying out of work. Turnover and absenteeism have adverse effect to the organizations performance. The inconsistency behaviors experienced in organizations are as a result of acceptance of the organizational culture and the national culture. The organization culture and national culture can allow and tolerate employees to stay away from work or even quit any time they feel like. This is different to other cultures that do not allow employees or managers to stay absent from their work. The national and organizational culture therefore dictates the values, norms, and acceptable practices in an organization. The national culture influences how people in the society values their job and the willingness to work without staying away from work or quitting. Motivation Employee motivation refers to commitment, creativity, and level of energy that an organizations employee brings in their workplace. Motivation determines the level of performance of the organizations (Tung, 2008). Motivated employees meet and exceed their targets while enabling the organization to attain competitive edge through innovations and inventions. Employees who are not motivated underperform in their workplace and they are a liability to the company. It is the responsibility of the management to manage their employees. People dont get motivated the same and it highly depends with the national culture to which a person belongs to. People in different countries value different things differently and therefore cannot be subjected in an equal measure for motivation. Motivation also depends on the organizational culture. For instance, organizations operating in collective cultures should ensure they respect their norms to individuals to feel motivated to work in the organization. People in collective society value to see their norms respected in their workplace and doing so makes them feel as part of the company and motivated to work. People in collective cultures also do not recognize personal motivation. On the other side, individuals from high power distance national countries value motivation based on personal interests. They associate motivation to how best it solves their problems and rather than job satisfaction. Motivation is therefore based on national culture and failure to understand what motivates an employee in the workplace can lead to adverse organizational performance. Organizational culture Organizational culture refers to shared values, assumptions, and beliefs that govern how employees behave in an organization. Organization culture has influence on how individuals act, dress, and perform their duties (Shimoni, 2011). The organizational culture differentiates one organization from one another. A good organizational culture gives an organization a competitive advantage. For example an organization culture that is innovation oriented enabled an organization to stay in the lead in the industry. The organizational culture is highly influenced by national culture. For instance, high power distance culture, organizations have centralized and bureaucratic organizational structures. On the other side, organizations in low power distance cultures, the organizational structure are flexible, flatter and encourage personnel participations. In another account, societies with high masculinity have women discriminated with few women in high ranks or even being given priority. This i s different in low masculinity cultures as all genders are given equal opportunities in their workplace. Conclusion From the discussion in this report, national culture highly influences people behavior in the country. People living in the same society live under the same norms, values and beliefs that enable them determine what is right or wrong and therefore what to accept or not accept. The national culture can be analyzed and determined using three models of national culture. The models outline the drivers of the behavior in the society. The relationship between the national culture and individual behavior is based on the learned over time, symbols, beliefs and values. The national culture influences how organizations are formed and managed in a country. The national culture dictates how the people in the society communicate, get motivated, and consistency in their jobs. National culture also influences the most appropriate style of leadership and organizational structure to be applied in the organization. Lastly, the organizational culture has to align with the national culture to avoid inter nal and conflict in the organization. Understanding national culture is significant for global managers in the process of managing employees behavior. It is therefore recommended for global managers to familiarize themselves with the national culture before starting working in a difference country. This will enable the organization to perform and meet it predetermined objectives in a foreign country. References Branine, M. and Pollard, D., (2010). Human resource management with Islamic management principles: A dialectic for a reverse diffusion in management. Personnel Review, 39(6), pp.712-727. Brock, David M., Oded Shenkar, Amir Shoham, and Ilene C. Siscovick (2008). "National culture and expatriate deployment." Journal of International Business Studies 39, no. 8: 1293-1309 De Mooij, M. and Hofstede, G. (2010). The Hofstede model. International Journal of Advertising, 29(1), pp.85-110. Hodgetts, R.M., Luthans, F. and Doh, J.P., (2006). International management: Culture, strategy, and behavior. McGraw-Hill Companies. Hickson, D.J. and Pugh, D.S.,( 2014). Management Worldwide: Distinctive Styles Among Globalization. Penguin UK. Han, S., Kang, T., Salter, S. and Yoo, Y.K.,( 2010). A cross-country study on the effects of national culture on earnings management. Journal of International Business Studies, 41(1), pp.123-141. Ke, W. and Wei, K.K., 2008. Organizational culture and leadership in ERP implementation. Decision support systems, 45(2), pp.208-218. Limsila, K. and Ogunlana, S.O., (2008). Performance and leadership outcome correlates of leadership styles and subordinate commitment. Engineering, construction and architectural management, 15(2), pp.164-184. Poole, M., (2013). Industrial relations: origins and patterns of national diversity (Vol. 4). Routledge. Pahl-Wostl, C., Tbara, D., Bouwen, R., Craps, M., Dewulf, A., Mostert, E., Ridder, D. and Taillieu, T., (2008). The importance of social learning and culture for sustainable water management. Ecological economics, 64(3), pp.484-495. Tung, R.L., (2008). The cross-cultural research imperative: The need to balance cross-national and intra-national diversity. Journal of International Business Studies, 39(1), pp.41-46. Shimoni, B. (2011). The representation of cultures in international and cross cultural management: Hybridizations of management cultures in Thailand and Israel. Journal of International Management, 17(1), pp.30-41. Shachaf, P., (2008). Cultural diversity and information and communication technology impacts on global virtual teams: An exploratory study. Information Management, 45(2), pp.131-142. Zheng, W., Yang, B. and McLean, G.N., (2010). Linking organizational culture, structure, strategy, and organizational effectiveness: Mediating role of knowledge management. Journal of Business research, 63(7), pp.763-771.

Merits and demerits of a balanced scorecard

Introduction Many organizations in the twenty first century usually use the balanced scorecard to align their strategies and visions. This is usually one of the strategic plans within such Companies. This concept is also usually incorporated by non profit organizations and government bodies.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Merits and demerits of a balanced scorecard specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is also usually used in the measuring of overall performance of organization in relation to set goals. Some businesses usually use it to enhance their external and internal communications. (Atkinson, 2006) This concept is mostly known to have been initiated by Kaplan in the early 1950’s but started being implemented in the nineties. This model is mostly used to analyse employees’ activities throughout the year. This concept is usually praised for its advantages as a management framework within organization. It is also highly criticized for its various limitations experienced by users. This paper looks in-depth at the pros and cons of a balanced scorecard framework of performance management. (Kaplan and Norton, 2004) Merits Balanced view of organizational performance Just like any other framework of managing performance within organizations, the balanced scorecard has its pros and cons. One of the merits of the balanced scorecard is that managers are able to have a view of organization’s performance that is usually balanced in nature. This is comparing to other traditional methods that were used to analyse Company performance. In most cases, the methods would give financial aspects of the business only. They usually overlook other aspects that are part of organizational performance. (Kaplan and Norton, 2004) The balanced scorecard looks at all the features in the light of Company objectives. This enables management team to ascertain whether Company objectives are b eing met or not. This is considering the fact that an organization may be performing spectacularly in financial terms but has poor organizational development. (Neely, 2007)Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This also could include very poor customer satisfaction. It is also possible for an organization to be making enviable profit while its communication systems are poor and processes outdated. A balanced scorecard helps managers to analyze all these aspects and to have an overall view of the Company performance. Through the use of a balanced scorecard, there is a comprehensive view of the organization. (Pandey, 2005) This tends to overturn the conventional idea of organizations having separate departments and isolated functions. It helps to show that all units within organizations are correlated. Analysis of all essential departments helps management team to correct areas that require change. This also includes putting rectification measures in time before the Company’s performance is adversely affected. (Zanini, 2006) Helps in implementing organizational development Through the use of a balanced scorecard, it is easy to implement organizational development. Organizational development is usually implemented in an official and organized way. It involves, coaching and instructing employees in areas of need. It also helps in accomplishment of organizational goals. Majority of the goals are usually long term in nature. Organizational development is known to be part of the strategic plan in many Companies. This is where staffs are trained and educated on various areas such as customer care and resource management. The use of a balanced scorecard may show the customer care levels to be very low within the organization. This usually indicates that staffs need training on customer care. Through this method, staffs easily trained on areas shown t o have a deficit in service delivery. Research shows few managers implement strategic planning. (Atkinson, 2006) The use of strategic maps as part of the balanced scorecard helps the organization to know its participation in achievement of strategic goals. The balanced scorecard in itself can be used to educate staffs on different organizational aspects.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Merits and demerits of a balanced scorecard specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Through the balanced scorecard, it is easier to show staffs on the essence of incorporating more training and development. Staffs get to know the effect of training on overall performance of the organization both in the short term and long term. (Neely, 2007) Benefits of long term performance remedies are enjoyed Further analysis of the balanced scorecard shows that it is quite advantageous as compared to other traditional methods. Other traditio nal methods of performance management analysed financial situations in the Company. This usually resulted in incorporation of short term remedies on handling the problem. For instance, an organization in financial performance would have short term corrective measures put in place. These usually included an increase in prices among other interventions. (Pandey, 2005) Most of the times the short term remedies never worked in the long run resulting in a situation where organizations still had the initial problem to solve. When using a balanced scorecard, managers analyse both the short term and long term effects of remedies. This usually helps as managers are able to put in place strategies that work well for the organization even in the long term. Organizations that usually utilize the balanced scorecard as a framework of managing performance benefit from long term interventions of improving performance. (Zanini, 2006) Flexibility Analysis of the balanced scorecard shows that it makes it very easy to make amendments to the organization when need arises. This makes the system to be highly portable and quite flexible to use. Global and local business markets are usually known to be very unpredictable with changes occurring on a day to day basis. Such changes in the business environment usually necessitate organizations to make internal changes. A balanced scorecard usually helps to make necessary amendments in case of such changes in the business environment. A balanced scorecard helps to make changes in objectives and day to day measures so that strategic goals within the organization can be achieved.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Clear map that is strategic in nature Research shows that the balanced scorecard clearly illustrates the strategic and operational features in an organization. In most cases, organizational measures, actions and day to day decisions tend to waver away from the organization’s strategy. The management team in the organizations usually assumes that they are usually working on strategic goals while this is not usually the case. (Neely, 2007) The incorporation of the balanced scorecard as a framework of managing organizational performance helps in this realization. It usually provides a clear map that is strategic in nature. This also usually includes the cause and effect features of every action. These usually include measures taken on a day to day basis in relation to organizational goals. These strategic maps are simple and can be interpreted by any of the staffs within the organization. This is even those who may not have any prior knowledge in strategic management. (Zanini, 2 006) Planning tool A balanced scorecard is usually very essential in organizations since it can be used by managers as a planning tool. As earlier on illustrated, the business environment is highly characterized by uncertainty. Despite this, a balanced scorecard can be used to put in place a rational budget for a business’ financial year. It can also be used for resource allocation. This is more so financial and material resources within an organization. This is usually based on the fact that a balanced scorecard provides a fact based and systematic management framework. This usually helps to replace planning based on intuition. It usually helps managers to anticipate future outcomes. This is usually because of leading indicators in a balanced scorecard. The simulations and cause –effect features of the balanced scorecard make planning easier. (Neely, 2007) Facilitates improvements within an organization A balanced scorecard is usually known to facilitate improvement w ithin an organization. A balanced scorecard raises the visibility of managers on what is going on within the organization. This is because it shows areas that are currently performing well and those that are performing poorly. At one glance, managers can identify areas that need to be worked upon. (Neely, 2007) Through this, managers easily identify areas that require urgent changes. This spurs improvements to be carried out within the organization. Managers are usually able to identify best practices within an organization through the use of a balanced scorecard. Proponents of this model assert that a balanced scorecard helps to create more innovation opportunities within organization hence improvement of service provision and overall performance in organizations. (Zanini, 2006) Enhances accountability Unlike other traditional frameworks of performance management, the balanced scorecard is more comprehensive in nature. Various features within the organization are thoroughly analyse d and not just financial aspects. This tends to encourage accountability of stakeholders within the Company. This is founded on the fact that the work done in every department has to be analyzed. This in most cases is not just the accountability of employees but also that of the management team. (Pandey, 2005) Some organizations tailor the balanced scorecard such that time management of all staffs and management team is analysed. This also usually includes the way they relate to other staffs within the organization. Employees and management team tend to be more responsible as they go about their duties. (Kaplan and Norton, 2004) Essential in benchmarking Balanced scorecard helps managers to identify areas that are performing poorly within the organization. Benchmarking is part and parcel of strategic management. Many businesses are incorporating benchmarking in order to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. An essential step in benchmarking is identifying processes within an organiz ation. Generally, benchmarking gives a different view of handling quality issues within an organization. It actually acts against any resistance to change whatsoever. This entire process can be carried out by an organization as an individual venture or as a joint undertaking between organizations. (Kaplan and Norton, 2004) A balanced scorecard makes it easy for managers to identify the process within the Company. It also makes it easy to compare the performance of various processes and departments. This allows improvement of quality of production, service delivery to be improved through benchmarking process. It is also essential to note that the balanced scorecard can be used for comparing performance of processes and departments between organizations. (Neely, 2007) Break down of measures at the corporate level A balanced scorecard is usually known to help in breaking down measures at the corporate level. This is such that managers at local levels clearly understand their role in en hancing organizational effectiveness. This also includes the role of the rest of the employees within the organization in improving overall corporate effectiveness. This makes stakeholders take their positions and roles since they get to understand the organizational measures in their respective levels. This means that the organizational strategy is usually made operational through overall translation into targets and measures for each group of staffs. (Zanini, 2006) Limitations Scorecard metrics There are also some limitations of using a balanced scorecard as a framework of managing performance in organizations. One of limitations is the fact that the metrics in the framework do not relate to all organizations. It means that the balanced scorecard metrics cannot be used for all organizations that would desire to use it. This usually leads to a situation where some organizations incorporate the balanced scorecard, use the metrics. These are usually not beneficial to the organization . This makes the entire process of using the balanced scorecard meaningless as the organization may not benefit at all. It is usually recommended that managers tailor make metrics that are usually relevant to the organization before using the balanced scorecard. This would help analyse and improve current performance. (Atkinson, 2006) Limited view of organizational performance Critics of the balanced scorecard assert that it does not give a full view of Company performance. The scorecard has four major areas that managers use as a framework of analyzing performance. These areas in essence are mostly meant to show development and growth aspects of any business. The four areas, according to critics, do not who the overall picture of performance in an organization. It is usually worth noting the financial metric on the framework is not comprehensive in nature. It is highly recommended that managers use the balanced scorecard as part of strategy that is bigger. There is mostly the need for organizations to incorporate comprehensive accounting models as part of the bigger strategy. This usually helps to have a more overall view of Company performance. (Atkinson, 2006) Incorporation of non financial measures For an organization to use the balanced scorecard, it has to tailor the metrics to the Company processes in order to enhance relevancy. This means that managers have to include non financial metrics in order to have an overall view of performance. This has been cited to be a complicated venture. This is usually based on the fact that organizations usually have many non financial departments. It is mostly difficult for managers to identify non-financial metrics to be included and those that should be excluded. This is because the balanced scorecard cannot be effective if all dimensions within the organization have to be included in the framework. (Kaplan and Norton, 2004) When the dimensions are very many, the balanced scorecard usually has high chances of failin g. Critics of the balanced scorecard assert that it is challenging to track non-financial dimensions. This is because the dimensions are usually subjective in nature. The biggest challenge for managers is to include dimensions that are mostly related to outcomes that are usually defined in nature. (Neely, 2007) Time consuming While the balanced scorecard has been applauded for myriad advantages, it has one major limitation. It is usually a very time consuming process. This requires managers to burn the midnight oil trying to workout the balanced scorecard to suit their organizations. Collecting information concerning all the metrics on the balanced scorecard takes a lot of time. Usually this involves collecting information from various stakeholders within the organization. The implementation of the balanced scorecard requires participation of both the management team and staffs. If any of them fails to participate then, the process can never be successful. This in the long run is us ually quite time consuming. (Pandey, 2005) Limited in scanning external environment A balanced scorecard is an essential tool of analysing the internal environment in organizations. This tool is usually limited since it cannot be used to scan the external business environment. This means that balanced scorecard cannot be used in scanning external environmental factors. It cannot replace external environmental systems used to analyse the environment. Managers need to incorporate other systems when scanning the external environment. (Pandey, 2005) Resistance in initiating balanced scorecard Researchers assert that there are various challenges commonly faced when managers try to implement a balanced scorecard. It is usually resisted by some of the staffs during the initiation process. This is usually because they do not see the holistic picture. This requires total commitment of top management. In most cases, employees tend to resist the new system, since they perceive it as a tool tha t is mostly used to show underperformance. Some staffs tend to perceive it as unnecessary addition of administrative tasks. (Atkinson, 2006) Conclusion A balanced scorecard is usually incorporated as part of a Company’s strategies. It mostly used to align strategies and visions in organizations. It is also usually used in the measuring of overall performance of organization in relation to set goals. This concept is mostly known to have been initiated by Kaplan in the early 1950’s but started being implemented in the nineties. This model is usually used to analyse employees’ activities throughout the year. The model has various advantages and limitations. A balanced scorecard gives balanced view of organizational performance. It enhances flexibility when amendments need to be made. It also usually encourages accountability of staffs and even the management team. It is useful to benchmarking process and helps in implementing organizational development. A balanced scorecard also has its limitations. This includes the fact that it is time consuming. It requires a lot of time to include all the metrics in the framework of performance management. It is quite challenging for managers to include all the metrics in the balanced scorecard. It is limited in scanning external environment. This means that it can only be used in scanning the internal environment in organizations. Critics of the balanced scorecard assert that it gives a limited view of organizational performance. This is because it is not all inclusive in terms of relevant metrics in organizations. All in all, balanced scorecard is quite instrumental in organizations and the merits far outweigh the limitations. References Atkinson, H. (2006). Strategy Implementation- A role for the Balanced Scorecard:  Management Decision. 44, 10: 141-1460. Kaplan, R., and Norton, D. (2004). Measuring the strategic readiness of intangible  Assets: Harvard Business Review, 82(2): 52-63. Neely, A. (200 7). The search for meaningful measures: Management Services 51, 2:14-17. Pandey, I. (2005). Balanced Scorecard Myth and Reality: Interfaces, 30, 1: 51-64. Zanini, M. (2006). The Balanced Scorecard here and back: Management Accounting Quarterly, 7, 4: 18-23. This research paper on Merits and demerits of a balanced scorecard was written and submitted by user Makenzie U. to help you with your own studies. 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