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Oracle® Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
11g Release 1 (11.1.1)

Part Number E10544-01
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12 Scorecarding

This chapter describes scorecards and explains how to work with them. It contains the following topics:

What is Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management?

Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management is a performance management tool that lets you describe and communicate your business strategy. You can drive and assess your corporate strategy and performance from the top of your organization down, or from the bottom up.

Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management also enables you to either align your objectives and initiatives with traditional balanced scorecard perspectives, or to create your own to reflect your fundamental business competencies. For more information on a balanced scorecard, see "What is a Balanced Scorecard?"

Use Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management to:

Note:

Because you use KPIs in scorecards to measure progress and performance over time, best practice is to include appropriate time dimensions when defining KPIs to be used within scorecards. For information on time dimensions, see your administrator.

What is a Balanced Scorecard?

Traditionally, companies focus heavily on financially driven strategies without sufficiently considering other contributing perspectives, such as Customer, Internal Processes, and Learning and Growth. Because financial goals are usually backward looking, tending to be defined in terms of growth over historic numbers, they do not account for future market conditions or leverage objectives.

Use the four default perspectives provided to define strategies that holistically include all relevant perspectives and to define strategy structures that ensure stability and success in all perspectives. You can customize the perspectives provided or create your own to best align objectives, key initiatives, and KPIs with your business competencies.

The four default perspectives are:

For more information on Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management, see "What is Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management?"

What is the Scorecard Editor?

The "Scorecard editor" lets you create a scorecard of your entire organization or of individual departments. It consists of numerous panes and tabs:

What are Scorecard Objects?

Scorecard objects are items that you create or arrange to:

How Do I Create a Scorecard?

To create a scorecard, you perform the following tasks. It is recommended that you perform each task in order.

  1. Create a new scorecard to contain the scorecard objects that you need to represent, evaluate, present, and analyze your corporate strategy, such as objectives, initiatives, perspectives, and so on. See "Creating Scorecards".

  2. Create perspectives to represent your key business competencies (Financial or Research and Development, for example) that you can use to align initiatives and objectives. See "What Are Perspectives?" and "Creating Custom Perspectives".

  3. Create the KPIs that gather core business data (Product Sales, for example) and specify the KPI targets, target ranges, and actions. See "What Are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?" and "Creating or Editing KPIs".

  4. Create the KPI watchlists that you want to use to monitor KPIs. See "What Are KPI Watchlists?"

  5. Create and arrange the objectives (goals or desired outcomes) for your entire organization, or for a department. This includes assigning the KPIs that measure the progress and performance of objectives. Note that the top-level objective (that is, the root objective) in the Strategy pane represents the entity (your entire organization or a department) that you are scorecarding. See "What Are Objectives?" and "Creating Objectives".

  6. Create and arrange the initiatives required to meet objectives. You also can assign KPIs to initiatives. See "What Are Initiatives?" and "Creating Initiatives".

  7. Weight individual objectives and initiatives to specify how they impact the overall performance of the entity that you are scorecarding. See "Understanding Initiative or Objective Performance Assessment" and "Assigning Weights to Child Objectives, Initiatives and KPIs".

  8. Set assessment mappings. See "Defining Assessment Mappings for Scorecards".

  9. If appropriate, override the status of KPIs, initiatives, and objectives. See "Overriding the Statuses of Initiatives, Objectives, and KPIs".

  10. Depict relationships between objectives using strategy maps, cause & effect maps, strategy trees, and custom views.

    See "What Are Strategy Maps?", "Creating Strategy Maps", "What Are Cause & Effect Maps?", "Creating Cause & Effect Maps", "What Are Strategy Trees?","Creating Strategy Trees", "What Are Custom Views?", and "Creating Custom Views".

  11. Use comments (also know as annotations) to associate explanatory text with the values of KPIs, objectives, or initiatives for a specific set of dimension values. See "About Comments".

  12. Add scorecard views to dashboards. See "Adding Scorecard Objects to Dashboards".

  13. Create agents from KPIs. (Agents enable you to automate your business processes.) See "Creating an Agent From a KPI".

  14. Optionally define the mission and vision statements that translate your corporate direction into over-arching strategic themes and thrusts that you later support by creating objectives. See "What Are Mission Statements?", "Defining Mission Statements", "What Are Vision Statements?", and "Defining Vision Statements".

What Privileges and Permissions Are Required for Scorecards?

The ability to perform certain tasks within Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management (such as viewing scorecards or creating scorecards) is controlled by privileges. The privileges that are specific to Scorecard include:

In addition to the scorecard privileges, these privileges might also be required:

Privileges are managed by the administrator. For information about privileges, see Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

To alter the permissions of the Scorecard or elements within it (that is, which users have access to it), you need Full Control permission on the scorecard.

For information about permissions, see Chapter 13, "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog."

Using the Edit and View Modes in the Scorecard Editor

The "Scorecard editor" has two modes:

In addition, the information that you can access and the tasks that you can perform in these mode depends on the following:

For information on privileges and permissions, see "What Privileges and Permissions Are Required for Scorecards?"

Creating Scorecards

To create a scorecard:

  1. In the global header, click New and then select Scorecard.

    The "New Scorecard dialog" is displayed.

  2. Specify a name for the scorecard.

  3. (optional) Specify a description of the scorecard.

  4. Select the location in which to save the scorecard.

  5. Specify whether to use the default Balanced Scorecard perspectives.

  6. Click OK. The new scorecard is created. You can now perform the remaining tasks for creating a scorecard, as described in "How Do I Create a Scorecard?"

Opening or Editing Scorecards

To open or edit a scorecard:

  1. In the global header, click Catalog to display the "Catalog page".

  2. Navigate to the scorecard that you want to open or edit and click one of the following links:

    For more information on the view and edit modes, see "Using the Edit and View Modes in the Scorecard Editor".

  3. Make the desired changes.

  4. Save the scorecard.

What Are Vision Statements?

A vision statement is a short statement that describes what your organization wants to become sometime in the future. For example, it might be to become the most successful business in the South America Polypropylene Market. (A vision statement is optional.)

Often, from this statement, you define the key goals and priorities that form your mission statement. For more information, see "What Are Mission Statements?"

For information on defining a vision statement, see "Defining Vision Statements".

Defining Vision Statements

To define a vision statement:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to define a vision statement. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Scorecard Documents pane", click the Create Object toolbar button and then select Vision.

    The "Vision tab: Document tab" is displayed.

  3. Enter and format the vision statement. You can apply such formatting options as bold, italic, underlining, indents, justification, and font size changes.

  4. Click the "Vision tab: Details tab".

  5. Assign the business owner and specify related documents, as appropriate. See "Related Documents area".

  6. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the vision statement rather than use the default name.

What Are Mission Statements?

A mission statement specifies the key business goals and priorities that are required to achieve your vision. (A mission statement is optional.)

For information on defining a mission statement, see "Defining Mission Statements".

You define your vision in a vision statement. For more information on vision statements, see "What Are Vision Statements?"

Defining Mission Statements

To define a mission statement:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to define a mission statement. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Scorecard Documents pane", click the Create Object toolbar button and then select Mission.

    The "Mission tab: Document tab" is displayed.

  3. Enter and format the mission statement. You can apply such formatting options such as bold, italic, underlining, indents, justification, and font size changes.

  4. Click the "Mission tab: Details tab".

  5. Assign the business owner and specify related documents, as appropriate. See "Related Documents area".

  6. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the mission statement rather than use the default name.

What Are Perspectives?

Perspectives are categories in your organization with which to associate initiatives, objectives, and KPIs. A perspective can represent a key stakeholder (such as a customer, employee, or shareholder/financial) or a key competency area (such as time, cost, or quality).

You associate an initiative and objective with a perspective when you create or edit it. See "Creating Initiatives" and "Creating Objectives". You associated a KPI with a perspective when you edit the details of the KPI. See "Working with KPI Details".

For example, when you create an objective called Improved Client Response Time you might associate it with the Customer perspective as the objective sustains and supports customer-related operations.

There are four standard perspectives that are defined by the Balanced Scorecard Methodology:

In addition, you can create custom perspectives for your scorecard.

For information on creating custom perspectives, see "Creating Custom Perspectives".

Creating Custom Perspectives

When you create a scorecard, you specify whether you want to use the default perspectives that are defined by the Balanced Scorecard Methodology (using the Use Default Perspectives? check box. If you:

To create custom perspectives:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to create a custom perspective. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Perspectives pane", click the New Perspective toolbar button.

    The "Scorecard editor: Perspective tab" is displayed.

  3. In the Perspective Name field, enter the name of the perspective.

  4. (optional) In the Description field, enter a description of the perspective.

  5. Click the Set User button to display the "Select Business Owner dialog", where you select the business owner. (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

  6. In the Focus area, specify whether the focus of the perspective is financial or internal facing.

  7. Add related documents, as appropriate. See "Related Documents area".

  8. Click Save.

    The perspective displays in the "Perspectives pane".

You can now associate initiatives, objectives, and KPIs with this custom perspective. You associate an initiative and objective with a perspective when you create or edit the it. See "Creating Initiatives" and "Creating Objectives". You associated a KPI with a perspective when you edit the details of the KPI. See "Working with KPI Details".

What Are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?

A KPI represents the result of a business measure (for example, Product Sales or Operational Costs) evaluated against a target for that measure. You can use KPIs to assess the progress of the objectives and initiatives that form levels of organizational strategy.

You can create KPIs that you need:

For information on KPIs and how to create them, see Chapter 11, "Using KPIs and KPI Watchlists."

What Are KPI Watchlists?

A KPI watchlist is a set of KPIs whose performance you want to monitor.

You can create KPI watchlists:

For information on KPI watchlists and how to create them, see Chapter 11, "Using KPIs and KPI Watchlists."

What Are Objectives?

Objectives are the required or desired outcomes that form your corporate strategy. You can create an objective for:

When you create an objective, you assign it one or more KPIs that are to be used to measure its progress and performance. For example, you can measure the progress and performance of an objective named Improved Customer Satisfaction by assigning it the following KPIs:

For more information on KPIs, see Chapter 11, "Using KPIs and KPI Watchlists."

Within a scorecard, you also create the initiatives that are required to meet the objectives. For more information on initiatives, see "What Are Initiatives?"

Objectives that you create are displayed hierarchically in the "Strategy pane". The root objective represents the entity that you are scorecarding, that is the entire organization or a department. The KPIs that are assigned to assess the performance of objectives are displayed below the objectives in the Strategy pane.

The Strategy pane also shows the statuses of objectives and KPIs using the appropriate colors and icons that you specified for assessment mappings. For more information on assessment mappings, see "Defining Assessment Mappings for Scorecards".

For information on creating objectives, see Creating Objectives.

Creating Objectives

You can create one or more objectives. Objectives that you create should be measurable using KPIs and strategically relevant.

For more information about objectives, see "What Are Objectives?"

To create an objective:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to create an objective. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Strategy pane":

    • If the objective that you want to create can be independently achieved, then select the root objective.

    • If the objective that you want to create is required to meet a higher-level objective, then select the higher-level objective.

  3. Click the Create Objective toolbar button or right-click and select Create Objective.

    The "Scorecard editor: Objective Details tab" is displayed.

  4. Highlight the default objective name in the top left corner and enter a new name for the objective.

  5. In the Description field, enter a description of the objective.

  6. Specify the analytic information (including the KPIs to be used to measure the progress and performance of the objective) by completing the "Analytics pane". For information, see "Completing the Analytics Pane for Objectives or Initiatives".

  7. Specify the collaboration information by completing the "Collaboration pane" as follows:

    1. (optional) Add comments by clicking the Add Comment button to display the "Add Comment dialog". See "About Comments".

    2. Specify the business owner that users can contact by clicking the Set User button to display the "Select Business Owner dialog". (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

    3. (optional) Add related documents by clicking the New Row button to display the "New Related Document dialog". Also see "Related Documents area".

  8. Add related items by completing the "Related Items pane" as follows:

    1. Add one or more objectives that impact or support (that is, help achieve or hinder progress on) this objective. To do so, drag the objective from the Strategy pane and drop it in the Causes table.

      The "Causal Linkage dialog" is displayed, where you specify how closely the objectives are related and whether changes to the values in this causal objective have a direct or inverse impact on this objective.

      For example, for an Increased Client References objective, you might drag and drop the following objectives that could cause (or help or hinder) it: Decreased Client Response Time and Increase Customer Issue Resolutions.

    2. Add one or more initiatives (that is, the tasks that are required to meet the objective). To add an initiative, drag it from the "Initiatives pane" and drop it in the Initiatives Driving This Objective table.

      The"Initiative Linkage dialog", where you specify how closely the initiative and the objective are related and whether changes to the values in this initiative have a direct or inverse impact on this objective.

    3. Add one or more objectives that this objective impacts or supports. To do so, drag the objective from the Strategy pane and drop it in the Effects table.

      The "Causal Linkage dialog" is displayed, where you specify how closely the objectives are related and whether changes to the values in this causal objective have a direct or inverse impact on this objective.

  9. Click Save.

Completing the Analytics Pane for Objectives or Initiatives

When you create an objective or initiative, you must specify the analytics for the objective or initiative by completing the "Analytics pane".

To complete the Analytics pane:

  1. In the Perspective box, select the perspective with which the objective or initiative is to be aligned.

  2. In the Assessment Rule box, select the rule to be used to assess the overall performance of the initiative or objective. For example, select Worst case to specify that the status of the worst performing child KPI or objective is to be used.

  3. (for an objective only) In the Leading/Lagging box, indicate whether the performance of the objective drives other objectives, or is affected by the performance of other objectives or other data or processes.

  4. (for an initiative only) In the Priority box, select the priority that indicates the importance and urgency of an initiative.

  5. (for an initiative only) Specify the start date, due date, and completion date.

  6. In the Action Link area, add any action links that you want to provide to users to let them take actions that are relevant for the status of the objective or initiative. For information, see "Adding Actions to Initiatives and Objectives in Scorecards". Also see "What Are Actions?"

  7. In the Objectives & KPIs or Initiatives & KPIs table, add the KPIs to be used to measure the progress and performance of the objective or initiative.

    Note:

    If no KPIs have been defined, or you want to define another KPI to meet your needs, then you can create the KPI from within the Scorecard editor. For information, see "Creating or Editing KPIs".

    Tip:

    You can modify the columns that are displayed in the Objectives & KPIs or Initiatives & KPIs table. To do so, select View then Show More Columns to display the "Show More Columns dialog", where you can add or remove columns.

    To add a KPI:

    1. Click Objects in the Objectives & KPIs or Initiatives & KPIs table and then select Add KPI.

      Alternatively, you can drag the KPI from the "Catalog pane for Scorecard" or from the "Scorecard Documents pane" (if the KPI has been saved to the current scorecard folder) and drop it in the table.

      The "Add KPI dialog" is displayed.

    2. If the KPI is dimensioned, then for each dimension, specify a value, select Use Variable and specify the variable, or select Use Point-of-View to use the value selected in the point of view area. For more information on the point of view area, see "About the Point of View Area".

    3. In the Label field, enter the name to be displayed for the KPI in the "Strategy pane".

    4. Click OK.

    Note:

    A KPI that you have added to the Strategy pane or Initiatives pane obtains many of its properties from the base KPI as it was originally defined in the KPI editor. You can override some of the base KPI's properties to customize them for use within Scorecard. The KPI properties that you can override are the label, description, business owner, and dimension pinnings. You also can assign a perspective and an indicator type. For information on overriding KPI properties, see "Working with KPI Details".

What Are Initiatives?

Initiatives are time-specific tasks or projects that are necessary to achieve objectives. As such, you can use initiatives that support objectives as milestones as they reflect progress toward strategy targets. For example to implement an objective called Improve Customer Satisfaction, you might create these initiatives:

When you create an initiative, you assign it KPIs that are to be used to measure its progress. For more information on KPIs, see Chapter 11, "Using KPIs and KPI Watchlists."

Initiatives that you create are displayed hierarchically in the "Initiatives pane". The root initiative represents all the initiatives that you implement to achieve objectives and goals. The KPIs that are assigned to an initiative are displayed below the initiative in the Initiatives pane.

The Initiatives pane also shows the statuses of initiatives and KPIs using the appropriate colors and icons that you specified for assessment mappings. For more information on assessment mappings, see "Defining Assessment Mappings for Scorecards".

For information on creating initiatives, see Creating Initiatives.

Creating Initiatives

You can create one or more initiatives. Initiatives that you create should be measurable using KPIs and strategically relevant.

For more information about initiatives, see "What Are Initiatives?"

To create an initiative:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to create an initiative. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Initiatives pane":

    • If the initiative that you want to create can be independently implemented, then select the root initiative.

    • If the initiative that you want to create is required to meet a higher-level initiative, then select the higher-level initiative.

  3. Click the Create Initiative toolbar button or right-click and select Create Initiative.

    The "Scorecard editor: Initiative Details tab" is displayed.

  4. Highlight the default initiative name in the top left corner of the tab and enter a new name for the initiative.

  5. In the Description field, enter a description of the initiative.

  6. Specify the analytic information (including the KPIs to be used to measure the progress of the initiative) by completing the "Analytics pane". For information, see "Completing the Analytics Pane for Objectives or Initiatives".

  7. Specify the collaboration information by completing the "Collaboration pane" as follows:

    1. (optional) Add comments by clicking the Add Comment button to display the "Add Comment dialog". See "About Comments".

    2. Specify the business owner that users can contact by clicking the Set User button to display the "Select Business Owner dialog". (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

    3. (optional) Add related documents by clicking the New Row button in the Related Documents toolbar to display the "New Related Document dialog". Also see "Related Documents area".

    4. (optional) Add the key resources by clicking the New Row button in the Key Resources toolbar to display the "Key Resource dialog".

  8. In the "Related Items pane", add one or more objectives that require this initiative in order to succeed.

    To add an objective, drag the objective from the "Strategy pane" and drop it in the Objectives for this Initiative table.

    The"Initiative Linkage dialog" is displayed, where you specify how closely the initiative and the objective are related and whether changes to the values in this initiative have a direct or inverse impact on this objective.

  9. Click Save.

Opening Objectives or Initiatives Within Scorecards

To open an objective or initiative within a scorecard:

  1. Open or edit the scorecard that contains the objective or initiative. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Double-click the objective in the "Strategy pane" or the initiative in the "Initiatives pane". The "Scorecard editor: Objective Details tab" or the "Scorecard editor: Initiative Details tab" is displayed.

    Alternatively, you can select the initiative or objective and click the Open button on the tab toolbar or right-click the initiative or objective and select the Open option.

Understanding Initiative or Objective Performance Assessment

Oracle Business Intelligence assesses the performance of an initiative or objective by aggregating the assessments of its children. In the process, it uses:

Assigning Weights to Child Objectives, Initiatives and KPIs

You assign weights to the child objectives, initiatives, and KPIs of an objective or initiative to indicate how much it affects the performance of its parent objective.

To assign weights to child objectives, initiatives, and KPIs, the Assessment Rule for the parent objective or initiative must be set to Weighted.

For more information on objective and initiative performance assessment, see "Understanding Initiative or Objective Performance Assessment".

To assign weights to child objectives, initiatives and KPIs of an objective or initiative:

  1. Edit the scorecard that contains the parent objective or initiative of the objectives, initiatives, and KPIs to which you want to assign weights. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Open the parent objective or initiative. To do so, double-click the objective in the in the "Strategy pane" or the initiative in the "Initiatives pane".

  3. In the Objectives & KPIs or Initiatives and KPIs table of the "Analytics pane", enter a weight for each child objective, initiative, or KPI.

    For example, in a root objective called My Company Scorecard, you might assign the following weights to its four child objectives:

    • Improve Financial Results: 70%

    • Improve Quality: 10%

    • Improve Employee Training: 10%

    • Improve Turnaround Time: 10%

  4. Click Save.

Defining Assessment Mappings for Scorecards

You use the "Settings dialog: Assessment Mappings tab" to define the assessment mappings for a scorecard. Assessment mappings are used to assess performance of objectives and initiatives.

Figure 12-1 shows score thresholds and assessment ranges which specify that, when a score falls between 0 and 33, the performance level is Critical, between 34 and 66, Warning, and between 67 and 100, OK.

Figure 12-1 Example of Assessment Mappings for a Scorecard

This image is described in the surrounding text.

For more information on initiative and objective performance assessment, see "Understanding Initiative or Objective Performance Assessment".

To define assessment mappings:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to define assessment mappings. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Click the Scorecard Settings toolbar button in the Scorecard editor.

    The "Settings dialog: Assessment Mappings tab" is displayed.

  3. In the Score Threshold boxes, specify each numerical score (for example, 80) that divides each assessment range.

  4. In the Assessment Range boxes, specify the name of each assessment range (for example, Acceptable) and, for each range, specify the icon and the color to be used to represent the range.

  5. Click OK.

About the Point of View Area

The point of view area of the "Scorecard editor" displays controls for the dimensions of KPIs that are used in the Scorecard to measure the progress and performance of initiatives and objectives. For more information on KPI dimensions, see "What Are Dimensions and Pinned Dimension Values?"

Controls are displayed for each KPI dimension that is referenced in a scorecard with the exception of those that you explicitly prevent from being displayed. If the same dimension is referenced in more than one KPI, then a control can be shared by the KPIs. (For more information on how to set up the controls in the point of view area, see "Setting Up the Point of View Controls".)

Each control includes a label and a down-arrow button that displays a list of the dimension values from which you can select. The label is either the database name for the dimension (by default), a user-friendly label, if specified for the control, or a specific value, if the dimension is pinned to a value.

You use this area to temporarily pin (that is, set values) for the dimensions. When you pin a dimension, the data in the scorecard is filtered to give you a new point of view (that is, a new view of the data). This allows you to focus on specific data of interest to you, such as the area of business for which you are responsible.

The point of view area settings are temporary and are not persisted when the scorecard is saved. To persist pinnings, you use the "Settings dialog: Dimension Settings tab", "Dimension Pinnings dialog", "Scorecard editor: KPI Details tab", or "KPI Watchlist editor".

The Scorecard editor also contains the Back and Forward buttons that allow you to move forward or backward through your point of view history to select a previous point of view or the point of view with which you started.

To temporarily pin a dimension:

  1. Click the down-arrow button to the right of the dimension and select a value. The data is filtered and a new point of view is displayed.

Setting Up the Point of View Controls

You use the "Settings dialog: Dimension Settings tab" to set up the controls for dimensions in the point of view area of a scorecard.

Specifically, you can specify:

For more information on the point of view, see "About the Point of View Area".

To set up the point of view controls:

  1. Edit the scorecard for which you want to set up the point of view controls. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Click the Scorecard Settings toolbar button in the Scorecard editor.

    The "Settings dialog: Assessment Mappings tab" is displayed.

  3. Click the Dimension Settings tab.

  4. Set up the controls for each dimension as desired. To set up the control for a dimension:

    1. Select the dimension and then click the Edit Row button to display the "Edit Dimension Settings dialog".

    2. Specify the settings that you want.

    3. Click OK.

  5. Click OK.

What Are Strategy Trees?

A strategy tree shows an objective and its supporting child objectives and KPIs hierarchically in a tree diagram. It also provides supporting information for the objective, such as business owner and related documents.

A strategy tree lets you easily explore and navigate:

For information on creating a strategy tree, See "Creating Strategy Trees".

Creating Strategy Trees

You can create a strategy tree for the entire scorecard or for a specific objective as follows:

To create a strategy tree:

  1. If you want to:

    • Create and save a strategy tree for an entire scorecard or for a specific objective, edit the scorecard in which you want to create the strategy tree. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

    • Create but not save a temporary, read-only strategy tree only for a specific objective, open the scorecard. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. To create a strategy tree for:

    • The entire scorecard (the root objective), in the "Scorecard Documents pane", click the New Object toolbar button and select Create Strategy Tree.

    • For a specific objective, in the "Strategy pane", right-click the objective and then select View Strategy Tree.

    The "Strategy Tree tab: Diagram tab" is displayed, showing the objective and its supporting child objectives and KPIs hierarchically in a diagram.

  3. To:

    • Display options that allow you to work with a node, click the Options button (on the right side of the node) to display the "Node Options Menu"

    • Display additional performance data for the KPI, such as target value or variance, click the down arrow at the bottom center of the node. To collapse this data, click the up arrow.

    • Expand or collapse a node, click the plus (+) or minus (-) icon beneath the node.

    • Zoom in and out of the diagram, use the toolbar buttons on the "Scorecard editor: Strategy Tree tab".

    • Work with comments (if any), hover the mouse over the Comment button in the upper-right corner of a node to display the "Status window", where you can read the comments that previously have been added, add another comment, or reply to a comment. See "About Comments".

    • Work with status overrides (if any), hover the mouse over the red asterisk in a node to display the "Status window", where you can view the overrides that previously have been applied or apply another override. See "About Status Overrides".

  4. Click the "Strategy Tree tab: Details tab".

  5. Specify a description, assign the business owner, and specify related documents, as appropriate. (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

  6. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the strategy tree rather than use the default name.

What Are Strategy Maps?

A strategy map shows how the objectives that have been defined for a scorecard and the KPIs that measure their progress are aligned by perspectives. It also indicates cause and effect relationships between objectives and other objectives or KPIs with connecting lines. You create cause and effect relationships when you create (or edit) an objective (see "Creating Objectives" or work with KPI details (see "Working with KPI Details". You also can create cause and effect relationships in a strategy map.

You can create multiple strategy maps to represent the strategy of different areas of your organization.

You can create strategy maps in Edit mode only. For more information about the Edit and View modes, see "Using the Edit and View Modes in the Scorecard Editor".

For information on creating strategy maps, see "Creating Strategy Maps".

Creating Strategy Maps

To create a strategy map:

  1. Edit the scorecard in which you want to create the strategy map. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Scorecard Documents pane", click the New Object toolbar button and select Create Strategy Map.

    The Strategy Map tab: Diagram tab is displayed.

  3. Build the map as follows:

    • Add objectives by dragging them from the "Strategy pane" and dropping them in the diagram as follows:

      • If the objective is aligned with a specific perspective, then drop it anywhere in the diagram. It will be displayed automatically in the section for the perspective to which the objective is associated.

        You align objective with a perspective when you create (or edit) the objective. See "Creating Objectives". For more information on perspectives, see "What Are Perspectives?"

      • If the objective is not associated with a perspective, then you drop it in the section for the perspective to which the objective is to be associated. Note that this will not permanently assign the perspective to this objective.

    • (optional) Add the selected objective's direct cause and effect objectives to the diagram by right-clicking and selecting Add Related Strategy Nodes.

    • Add cause and effect relationships, as needed.

      To add a cause and effect relationship, click the Draw A Casual Linkage Between Two Objectives button on the Scorecard editor: Strategy Map tab toolbar, select one of the objectives, and then select the second objective. A line connecting the objectives is displayed.

    If you want to delete an objective from the map, then right-click the objective and select Remove From Diagram.

  4. To:

    • Display options that allow you to work with a node, click the Options button (on the right side of the node) to display the "Node Options Menu".

    • Edit a causal linkage, right-click the linkage line and select Edit Causal Linkage. The "Causal Linkage dialog" is displayed.

    • Delete a causal linkage, right-click the linkage line and select Delete Causal Linkage.

    • Display additional performance data for the KPI, such as target value or variance, click the down arrow at the bottom center of the representation. To collapse this data, click the up arrow.

    • Zoom in and out of the diagram, use the toolbar buttons on the "Scorecard editor: Strategy Map tab".

    • Work with comments (if any), hover the mouse pointer over the Comment button in the upper-right corner of a node to display the "Status window", where you can read the comments that previously have been added, add another comment, or reply to a comment. See "About Comments".

    • Work with status overrides (if any), hover the mouse pointer over the red asterisk in a node to display the "Status window", where you can view the overrides that previously have been applied or apply another override. See "About Status Overrides".

  5. Click the "Strategy Map tab: Details tab".

  6. Specify a description, assign the business owner, and specify related documents, as appropriate. (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

  7. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the strategy map rather than use the default name.

What Are Cause & Effect Maps?

A cause & effect map lets you illustrate the cause and effect relationships of an objective. (Note that cause & effect maps are diagrams that are used in scorecard and are not related to map views that are described in Chapter 3, "Adding Views for Display in Dashboards.")

You create cause and effect relationships for an objective when you create or edit the objective and identify:

A cause and effect map also indicates the proportionality (that is, whether changes in performance or value in the cause and effect relationship are directly proportional (direct) or inversely proportional (inverse) and strength (strong, moderate, or weak) of cause & effect relationships using symbols.

A cause & effect map helps you to better understand the implications of future strategic changes.

You can create a cause & effect map in either Edit or View mode:

For information on creating cause & effect maps, see "Creating Cause & Effect Maps".

Creating Cause & Effect Maps

To create a cause & effect map:

  1. If you want to:

    • Create and save a cause & effect map for an objective, edit the scorecard in which you want to create the cause & effect map. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

    • Create but not save a temporary, read-only cause & effect map for an objective, open the scorecard. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Strategy pane", right-click the objective and then select View Cause & Effect Map.

    The "Cause & Effect Map tab: Diagram tab" is displayed.

  3. To:

    • Display options that allow you to work with a node, right-click the node or click the Options button (on the right side of the node) to display the "Node Options Menu".

    • Display additional performance data for a KPI, such as target value or variance, click the down arrow at the bottom center of the node. To collapse this data, click the up arrow.

    • Edit a causal linkage, right-click the linkage line and select Edit Causal Linkage. The "Causal Linkage dialog" is displayed.

    • Delete a causal linkage, right-click the linkage line and select Delete Causal Linkage.

    • Zoom in and out of the diagram or to set preferences, use the toolbar buttons on the "Scorecard editor: Cause & Effect Map tab".

    • Work with comments (if any), click the Comment button in the upper-right corner of a node to display the "Status window", where you can read the comments that previously have been added, add another comment, or reply to a comment. See "About Comments".

    • Work with status overrides (if any), click the red asterisk in a node to display the "Status window", where you can view the overrides that previously have been applied or apply another override. See "About Status Overrides".

  4. To specify how cause and effect relationships are to be displayed on the cause & effect map, click the Cause & Effect Map Preferences toolbar button on the Scorecard editor: Cause & Effect Map tab.

    The Cause & Effect Map Preferences dialog: General tab is displayed.

  5. Specify how you want cause and effect relationships displayed and then click OK.

  6. Click the Cause & Effect Map tab: Details tab.

  7. Specify a description, assign the business owner, and specify related documents, as appropriate. (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

  8. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the cause & effect map rather than use the default name.

What Are Custom Views?

A custom view lets you show a customized view of your business and strategy data. For example, you might present information about objectives and KPIs on a background image of your choice, such as your company logo.

You can create custom views in Edit mode only. For more information about the Edit and View modes, see "Using the Edit and View Modes in the Scorecard Editor".

For information on creating custom views, see "Creating Custom Views".

Creating Custom Views

To create a custom view:

  1. Edit the scorecard in which you want to create the custom view. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. In the "Scorecard Documents pane", click the New Object toolbar button and select Create Custom View.

    The Custom View tab: Diagram tab is displayed.

  3. Drag objectives and KPIs from the "Strategy pane" and drop them on the diagram.

  4. Specify how you want each objective or KPI to be displayed on the diagram. For each objective or KPI, select it on the diagram and specify whether you want it displayed as:

    • Its full version. To do so, click the Full toolbar button.

    • Its simple version. To do so, click the Simple toolbar button.

    • One of its properties. To do so, click the Property toolbar button and select the property.

  5. Specify the background image by clicking the Properties toolbar button to display the "Custom View Properties dialog", where you specify the image to use.

  6. To:

    • Display options that allow you to work with a node, click the Options button (on the right side of the node) to display the "Node Options Menu".

    • Display additional performance data for the KPI, such as target value or variance, click the down arrow at the bottom center of the node. To collapse this data, click the up arrow.

    • Zoom in and zoom out of the diagram, use the toolbar buttons on the "Scorecard editor: Custom View tab".

    • Work with comments (if any), click the Comment button in the upper-right corner of a node to display the "Status window", where you can read the comments that previously have been added, add another comment, or reply to a comment. See "About Comments".

    • Work with status overrides (if any), click the red asterisk in a node to display the "Status window", where you can view the overrides that previously have been applied or apply another override. See "About Status Overrides".

  7. Click the Custom View tab: Details tab.

  8. Specify a description, assign the business owner, and specify related documents, as appropriate. (By default, the business owner is the creator of the scorecard.)

  9. Click Save to display the "Save As dialog". In the Save As dialog, you can rename the cause & effect map rather than use the default name.

Working with KPI Details

When you create initiatives and objectives, you can assign KPIs to them to measure their progress and performance. You can work with these KPIs within a Scorecard using the "Scorecard editor: KPI Details tab".

Specifically, you can:

To work with KPI details:

  1. Edit the scorecard that contains the KPI. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. If the KPI is assigned to an:

    The Scorecard editor: KPI Details tab is displayed.

  3. Perform any of the following tasks:

    • Override one of the following items:

      • Label, using the Label field

      • Description, using the Description field

      • Business Owner, using the Business Owner field in the "Collaboration pane"

    • Pin dimensions using the Dimensionality area in the "Analytics pane".

    • Run actions that are associated with the KPI, using the action links in the Actions area of the Analytics pane.

    • Associate the KPI with a perspective, using the Perspective field in the Analytics pane.

    • Specify the indicator type, using the Indicator Type field in the Analytics pane.

    • View, add, or reply to comments, using the Collaboration pane. For more information on comments, see "About Comments".

    • View documents that provide supporting information to the KPI, using the Related Documents area in the Collaboration pane.

    • Identify objectives that cause or effect the KPI, using the "Related Items pane".

  4. If you made any changes, then click Save.

Viewing Overview Information

You can view summary information for initiatives, objectives, or KPIs.

To view overview information:

  1. Open or edit the scorecard. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

    The "Scorecard editor: Overview tab" is displayed. It shows summary information for the root objective, which represents the entity that you are scorecarding, that is, the entire organization or a department.

  2. To show summary information for:

Editing Scorecard Objects

You can edit scorecard objects in the "Scorecard editor".

(You also can edit scorecard objects from the "Catalog page". For information, see "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog".)

To edit a scorecard object in the Scorecard editor:

  1. Edit the scorecard that contains the scorecard object that you want to edit. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Double-click the object. For example, to edit an objective, double-click it in the "Strategy pane", or, to edit a strategy map, double-click it in the Scorecard Documents pane.

    Note, for a strategy tree, you can edit only the details of a strategy tree, not the diagram.

  3. Make your changes.

  4. Click Save.

Deleting Scorecard Objects

You can delete scorecard objects from the "Scorecard editor".

(You also can delete scorecard objects from the "Catalog page". For information, see "Managing Objects in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog".)

Caution:

Before deleting an initiative, ensure that it has been completed or is no longer required to achieve an objective. Before deleting an objective, examine any child objectives or other objectives with which it is linked to ensure that its removal will not negatively impact these objectives.

To delete a scorecard object from the Scorecard editor:

  1. Edit the scorecard that contains the scorecard object that you want to delete. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Right-click the object and select Delete. For example, to delete a Strategy Map, right-click it in the "Scorecard Documents pane" and select Delete.

  3. In the confirmation dialog, confirm that you want to delete the object.

Adding Scorecard Objects to Dashboards

You can add the following scorecard objects to dashboards:

For information on adding a scorecard object to a dashboard, see Adding Content to Dashboards.

About Status Overrides

You can override the statuses of initiatives, objectives, or KPIs that measure the performance of initiatives and objectives. To override a status, you must be the business owner of the initiative, objective, or KPI.

Note:

Before you can work with status overrides, your administrator must enable this feature. For more information, see "Enabling Comments and Status Overrides in Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Status overrides are associated with a specific point of view. That is, they are filtered by the values in the point of view area in the "Scorecard editor" that are currently in effect for the object being viewed. As a result, the override for Eastern Region Sales can be different than the override for Western Region Sales. (For more information on the point of view, see "About the Point of View Area".

A specific override will be displayed in all Scorecard or watchlist views when the same object is viewed for the same unique set of dimension values.

For information on overriding statuses of initiatives, objectives, and KPIs, see "Overriding the Statuses of Initiatives, Objectives, and KPIs".

Overriding the Statuses of Initiatives, Objectives, and KPIs

You can override the statuses of initiatives, objectives, or KPIs that measure the performance of initiatives and objectives. For more information about status overrides, see "About Status Overrides".

To override a status of an initiative, objective, or KPI:

  1. Open the scorecard that contains the initiative, objective, or KPI whose status you want to override. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Display the appropriate Details tab as follows:

    You can also display the appropriate Details tab from a view diagram (for example, the "Strategy Map tab: Diagram tab" by selecting Open from the "Node Options Menu" of the parent objective or initiative.

  3. In the Initiatives & KPIs or Objectives & KPIs table in the "Analytics pane", right-click in the cell in the Status column for the initiative, objective, or KPI and select Override Status. The "Status Override dialog" is displayed.

  4. In the New Status box, select a new status.

  5. In the Reason box, enter the reason for the override.

  6. Click OK.

Contacting Business Owners

You can send a message to the business owner of a scorecard object. The business owner is the person who is responsible for managing and improving the business value and performance of a scorecard object. (The business owner might or might not be the same as the person who creates the scorecard or creates the KPI.) You specify the business owner of an object when you create it.

You use the Contact Owner button or menu option to contact the business owner. This button is available in many places in a scorecard, for example, in the toolbar of most tabs, such as the "Scorecard editor: Objective Details tab".

Oracle BI EE uses an agent and the delivery devices and profiles that the business owner specified in the "My Account dialog: Delivery Options tab" to determine where to deliver the message (for example, e-mail, phone, or pager).

To contact a business owner:

  1. Click the Contact Owner button or menu option. The "Contact Owner dialog" is displayed.

  2. In the Subject field, enter a the subject of the message.

  3. In the Priority field, select the priority of the message.

  4. In the Message field, enter the message that you want to send to the business owner.

  5. Click Send.

About Comments

Comments (also known as annotations) allow you to discuss changes in performance and progress for an initiative, objective, or KPI for a specific set of dimension values (that is, for a specific point of view).

Note:

Before you can work with comments, your administrator must enable this feature. For more information, see "Enabling Comments and Status Overrides in Oracle Scorecard and Strategy Management" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Comments are associated with:

A specific comment will be displayed in all Scorecard or watchlist views when the same object is viewed for the same unique set of dimension values.

You can:

Options and buttons to work with comments are available in many places in scorecard, for example, the New Comment button in the "Collaboration pane" or the Comment button in the "Strategy Tree tab: Diagram tab".

Adding Comments to Initiatives, Objectives, and KPIs

You can add comments to initiatives, objectives, and KPIs that measure the progress of initiatives and objectives. For more information on comments, see "About Comments".

To add a comment to an initiative, objective, or KPI:

  1. Open or edit the scorecard that contains the initiative, objective, or KPI to which you want to add a comment. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Display the appropriate details tab as follows:

  3. Ensure that the values that are displayed in the point of view area reflect the desired context for the comment. (For example, you might want to comment on a KPI status for the Eastern region.)

  4. In the "Collaboration pane", click the New Comment button. The "New Comment dialog" is displayed.

    Comments added by clicking the New Comment button will be associated with the status (that is, the Status column) of the objective, initiative, or KPI.

    For KPIs only, you can also associate a comment with other columns such as Trend, Target, or Variance. To do so, edit the parent object, right click on the relevant cell in the "Initiatives & KPIs table, Objectives & KPIs table, Objectives, Initiatives & KPIs table, and New KPI Watchlist table" and select Add Comment.

  5. Enter the subject of your comment and your comment.

  6. Click OK.

Replying to Comments Attached to Initiatives, Objectives, and KPIs

You can reply to comments that are attached to initiatives, objectives, and KPIs. For more information on comments, see "About Comments".

To reply to a comment attached to an initiative, objective, or KPI:

  1. Open or edit the scorecard that contains the initiative, objective, or KPI to which to which the comment is attached. For information, see "Opening or Editing Scorecards".

  2. Display the appropriate details tab as follows:

  3. In the "Collaboration pane", locate the comment to which you want to reply and click the Reply link. The "Reply dialog" is displayed.

  4. In the Comment box, enter your reply.

  5. Click OK.

Displaying Comments in Views

You can display the comments that are attached to initiatives, objectives, and KPIs in views (such as strategy maps). For more information on comments, see "About Comments".

To display comments in views:

  1. Open the view in the Scorecard editor or open the dashboard page that contains the view.

  2. Hover the mouse pointer over the Comment icon in the upper-right corner of an initiative, objective, or KPI.

    The "Status window" is displayed with all the comments that are attached to the initiative, objective or KPI. From this window, you can:

    • Read all comments.

    • Add a new comment by clicking New Comment.

    • Reply to a comment by clicking the Reply link.

    • Pin the window so that it stays open by clicking the Pin button.