Theme

Descriptive statement representing a major component of a strategy, as articulated at the highest level in the Vision. Most strategies can be represented in 3-5 themes. Themes are most often drawn from an organization’s internal processes or the customer value proposition, but may also be drawn from key financial goals.

The key is that themes represent vertically linked groupings of objectives across several scorecard perspectives (at a minimum, Customer and Internal). Themes are often stated as catchy phrases or “buzz” words that are easy for the organization to remember and internalize.

Examples:

• “Innovator”
• “Customer Intimate”
• “Operationally Excellent”
• “Partner of Choice”
• “Environmental Leader”