A balanced scorecard approach at Air Malta p.l.c. : passenger services and cargo transportation activities

Abstract

For decades, companies have measured their performance using only financial indicators. These may have been appropriate during the Industrial Age; however, in today's information-based global economy, many organizations are realising that financial indicators on their own, are neither an adequate measure of competitiveness nor a guide to future performance. The landmark innovation by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton of the Balanced Scorecard has made a great impact in recent years. The Balanced Scorecard provides a wider view of a company by looking at its financial, customer, intimal-business process and learning and growth objectives. However, these measures are more than just a somewhat ad hoe collection of financial and non-financial performance measures since they are derived from a top-down process driven by the vision and mission of the company. The objective of this dissertation is to apply the Balanced Scorecard concept at Air Malta p.1.c. with reference to passenger services and cargo transportation activities. As the airline industry, including Air Malta p.1.o., is undergoing radical change, the Balanced Scorecard concept could represent the right management tool to drive this process of change in the company.