Creating Synergies through Shared Services

Beyond aligning the business units that sell products and services to external customers, organizations can create synergies by aligning their internal units that provide shared services, including purchasing, manufacturing, and distribution. The Balanced Scorecard has been used in numerous ways to help link shared service units with business units and with corporate strategy. This chapter presents two models for developing shared service scorecards: the Strategic Partner Model, and the Business-in-a-Business Model.