Canadian Blood Services Honoured For Excellence In Strategy Management

Main Category: Blood / Hematology
Article Date: 17 Oct 2007 - 12:00 PDT

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Canadian Blood Services has become the first Canadian not-for-profit inducted into the Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for Executing StrategyTM. The award program publicly honours organizations that are successfully using the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) strategy framework to achieve and sustain breakthrough performance results. Last night, CEO Dr. Graham Sher accepted the award on behalf of the organization at the 2007 Global Public Sector Summit in Washington, DC.

"Operating a not-for-profit and being a strategy-focused organization need not be mutually exclusive," said Dr. Sher. "In an era where taxpayers expect greater accountability from publicly funded organizations, it is imperative that we focus on delivering results. Our strategic themes are Safety, Operational Excellence and Preparing for Tomorrow, and the Balanced Scorecard is our roadmap for that journey."

Canadian Blood Services' journey of transformation began in 1998 when it took over the operation of the blood system in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec. It inherited a compelling case for change, facing a 10-year decline in blood donations, public perceptions of mismanagement, and a severe lack of public trust as a result of the tainted blood crisis of the 1980's and early 1990's. However, by 2002 the organization was able to move from a mode of crisis management to one of strategic management. The adoption of the BSC framework helped integrate "strategy" in every level of the organization and has helped Canadian Blood Services achieve breakthrough performance in some of its indicators.

The BSC concept- created by Drs. Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton - has been implemented in thousands of corporations, organizations, and governments worldwide, and has been cited by Harvard Business Review as one of the most important management ideas of the past 75 years. Based on the simple premise that "what gets measured is what gets done," the BSC puts strategy at the center of the management process, allowing organizations to implement strategies rapidly and effectively.

"The BSC concept has improved our internal alignment, enhanced our metrics-based decision-making, and makes allocating resources against priorities easier," adds Dr. Sher. "In short, it has changed how we manage the blood system by crystallizing what's important to our organization and its mission."

The 93 organizations inducted into the BSC Hall of Fame to date represent a broad cross-section of private- and public-sector industries from more than 15 countries. Previous Canadian inductees include AT&T Canada, Cognos, Nova Scotia Power and the RCMP.

About Canadian Blood Services

Canadian Blood Services is a national not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all Canadian provinces and territories (except Québec) and oversees OneMatch - the Stem Cell and Marrow Registry. A dedicated team of 4,800 staff and 17,000 volunteers enable Canadian Blood Services to operate 40 permanent collection sites and more than 20,000 donor clinics annually. While Canadian Blood Services is a non-governmental organization, it receives operational funding from the Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health, and is regulated by Health Canada.

http://www.bloodservices.ca