Essay on Learning and growth perspective

Fourth perspective of the balanced scorecard – learning and growth – is the perspective which is the most difficult for measuring and goal-setting. However, this perspective is also very powerful, because it affects all aspects of the company, and has a strong impact on the long-term performance and success of the company. It is possible to outline three areas of the learning and growth perspective: human capital, information capital and organization capital (Kaplan & Norton, 2004). Each of these areas should be taken into account in the balanced scorecard.

With regard to human capital, Starbucks expansion strategy should be taken into account: the company is planning to open 800 new stores and many of them are planned to be located in the developing countries (Mylant, 2012). Therefore, a lot of attention should be paid to recruiting and training local employees, and increasing their work satisfaction to reach best performance. Therefore, the following objectives can be set for the human capital area: Objective 1 – Hire local employees and train them to become part of Starbucks team, and Objective 2 – Increase employee satisfaction and motivation. With regard to information capital, the most important thing for Starbucks now is using technology to gain customers in the new regions and retain existing customers. Therefore, Objective 3 is: Use technology to optimize customer interaction with the company. Finally, the long-term strategic objective of Starbucks is to “maintain Starbucks standing as one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world” (Starbucks 2011 Annual Report, 2011). It can be formulated as Objective 4 of the scorecard: Increase Starbucks brand awareness and recognition in the world.