Exercise – Balanced Scorecard

This exercise asks you to apply the Balanced Scorecard to Colorado Ricardo Mountain Bikes.

The Scenario: Colorado Ricardo Mountain Bikes

Balanced Scorecard: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process, and Learning and Growth perspectives

Colorado Ricardo Mountain Bikes was founded by Ricardo Francisco, a keen off-road cyclist who grew frustrated with bikes breaking down under the strain of the Colorado mountains. After years of trial and error, he built a bike tough enough to survive the terrain and named it the “Colorado Ricardo”. Word spread quickly among local riders, and Ricardo gave up his day job to build and sell bikes full-time from a small workshop outside Denver.

The business grew quickly in its early years, reaching a peak of around 10,000 bikes sold annually. Sales have fallen for three years running since then, and this year’s forecast is under half that peak. Ricardo still has a loyal following among serious off-road riders in Colorado, spare capacity in his factory, healthy cash reserves, and a strong “hand-built in Colorado” brand story – but almost no presence outside the state, and no products beyond the original off-road mountain bike. Meanwhile, demand for gravel bikes and e-mountain bikes has grown steadily across the wider cycling market.

Your task: Suggest one measure Colorado Ricardo could track under each of the Balanced Scorecard’s four perspectives – Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process, and Learning and Growth – to manage its turnaround.

Once you have drafted your own answer, compare it with Marketing Teacher’s suggested answer.

Written by Marketing Teacher.
Online course · certificate on completion
Study a full online course — and earn a certificate
Three courses that turn the free lessons into ordered modules, written at university Levels 4 to 6, with a short quiz after each.
See the online courses