ms press, microsoft navision axapta v3.0 - balanced scorecard [2002]

7/27/2019 Ms Press, Microsoft Navision Axapta v3.0 - Balanced Scorecard [2002]

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Microsoft Navision

Axapta V3.0Balanced Scorecard


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Microsoft NavisionAxapta V3.0

Balanced Scorecard


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NOTICE

This material is for informational purposes only. Navision a/s disclaims all

warranties and conditions with regard to use of the material for other

purposes. Navision a/s shall not, at any time, be liable for any special,

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negligence or other action arising out of or in connection with the use or

performance of the material. This material is subject to change without

notice.

According to Danish copyright legislation it is against the law to reproduce

any part of this material in any form or by any means without the

permission of Navision a/s.

The software described is supplied under license and must be used and

copied in accordance with the enclosed license terms and conditions.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 2002 Navision a/s, Frydenlunds All 6, 2950 Vedbaek,

Denmark. All rights reserved.

TRADEMARKS

The trademarks referenced herein and marked with eitherTM

or areeither trademarks or registered trademarks of Navision a/s or Navision

Development a/s. However, the trademarks Microsoft, Windows, Windows

NT, SQL Server and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or

trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other

countries.

Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved.

The trademarks of Navision a/s and Navision Development a/s are listed on

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The Arial font was used.

Published by Navision a/s.

Published in Denmark 2002.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LESSON 1

BUSINESS BACKGROUND AND AXAPTA BALANCED

SCORECARD

1.1 BUSINESS BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF

USING AXAPTA BALANCED SCORECARD 1-2

1.2 AXAPTA BALANCED SCORECARD FRAMEWORK

1-7

1.3 EXERCISES 1-8

LESSON 2

SET-UP AND PREPARATION FOR IMPLEMENTING THE

BALANCED SCORECARD

2.1

SETTING UP FOCUS GROUPS

2-2

2.2 SETTING UP KNOWLEDGE PERIODS 2-3

2.3 SETTING UP ANALOGMETERS 2-4

2.4 JOB AID 2-6

2.5 EXERCISES 2-7

LESSON 3

KNOWLEDGE

ACCOUNTS

3.1 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS THE BUSINESS

BACKGROUND 3-2

3.2 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS 3-3

3.3 SETTING UP KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS 3-4

3.4 JOB AID 3-8

3.5 EXERCISES 3-9


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LESSON 4

ADDING TRANSACTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS

4.1 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT JOURNALS (MANUAL

MEASUREMENT) 4-2

4.2 INDICATOR (AUTOMATIC MEASUREMENT) 4-6

4.3 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT FORMULA 4-10

4.4 JOB AID 4-11

4.5 EXERCISES 4-12

LESSON 5

SIMULATING AND UPDATING

5.1 SIMULATING KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS 5-2

5.2 UPDATING KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS 5-3

5.3 SHOWING TRANSACTIONS 5-4

5.4 VALIDATING AND POSTING KNOWLEDGE

JOURNALS 5-6

5.5 JOB AID 5-8

5.6 EXERCISES 5-10

LESSON 6

REPORTS AND ANALYSIS

6.1 OVERVIEW 6-2

6.2 REPORTS 6-3

6.3 STATISTICS 6-5

6.4 ANALOGMETERS 6-8

6.5 JOB AID 6-9

6.6 EXERCISES 6-10

LESSON 7


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COCKPITS

7.1 CREATING COCKPITS 7-2

7.2 JOB AID 7-5

7.3 EXERCISES 7-6

LESSON 8

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON THE ENTERPRISE

PORTAL

8.1 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON THE

ENTERPRISE PORTAL 8-2

8.2 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT 8-3

8.3 EXERCISES 8-6

LESSON 9

DATA LINK

9.1 CREATING DATA LINKS 9-2

9.2 USING DATALINKS FOR INDICATORS 9-5

9.3 EXERCISES 9-7

APPENDIX A

BUSINESS BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF USING

AXAPTA BALANCED SCORECARD II

APPENDIX

B

SET-UP AND PREPARATION FOR IMPLIMENTING THE

BALANCED SCORECARD II

EXERCISE SOLUTIONS V

APPENDIX C

KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS II


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APPENDIX D

ADDING TRANSACTIONS TO KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS II

EXERCISE SOLUTIONS VI

APPENDIX E

SIMULATING AND UPDATING KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT

TRANSACTIONS II

EXERCISE SOLUTIONS

V

APPENDIX F

REPORTS AND ANALYSIS II

APPENDIX G

COCKPITS II


APPENDIX H

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON ENTERPRISE

PORTAL II

APPENDIX I

CREATING DATA LINKS II

EXERCISE SOLUTIONS VI


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DocID: AX-300-ILT-118-v01.00-ENUS

Lesson 1

Business Background andAxapta Balanced Scorecard

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be

able to:

1 Understand the business background and

the concept of the Balanced Scorecard.

2 Understand the Axapta Balanced Scorecard

framework.


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Business Background and Overview of Using Axapta Balanced Scorecard 1-2

1.1 BUSINESS BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF USING AXAPTABALANCED SCORECARD

The Balanced Scorecard Concept

Harvard Professor Robert S. Kaplan and management consultant David P.

Norton first introduced the idea of a Balanced Scorecard in 1996 as a

strategic performance management system, and have since then

developed the concept, as we know it today. The need for such a tool has

emerged from a growing recognition that financial measures alone are

insufficient for managing modern organizations. Financial reporting has

traditionally been performed using a retrospective accounting model that

was developed centuries ago. Unfortunately, this model does notincorporate valuation of a companys intangible and intellectual assets,

such as skilled employees, internal processes, and satisfied and loyal

customers. One could argue that these intangible assets are more critical

to the long-term future of the company than traditional physical and tangible

assets. The Balanced Scorecard, in fact, complements financial measures

of past performance by measuring the drivers of future performance.

Many companies have mission statements and visions, which are

translated into business strategies. However, often these strategies never

leave the boardroom, and are therefore never fully implemented in the

organization. The Balanced Scorecard is a tool that can help translatevisions and strategies into an integrated set of performance and action

measures that cascade down through the organization from divisions to

departments, through operational units down to the individual employee.

The Balanced Scorecard concept as introduced by Kaplan and Norton

measures organizational performance across four balanced perspectives:

Financial perspective, Internal Business perspective, Learning & Growth

perspective and Customer perspective (Source: Kaplan & Norton 1996.

Translating Strategy into action)

Financial Perspective:Financial objectives serve as the focus for the objectives and measures of

the other three perspectives. Every measure should be part of a cause-

and-effect relationship culminating in long-term, sustainable financial

performance. The following illustration is an example of cause-and-effect

relationships: Improving employee skills (Learning & Growth perspective)

leads to reduced cycle times (Internal Business perspective) which, in turn,

leads to improved customer satisfaction and loyalty due to shorter delivery

times (Customer perspective) thereby increasing sales revenue, leading to

an increase in return on capital employed (Financial perspective).


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The Balanced Scorecard itself is an illustration of this strategy. Beginning

with long-term financial objectives linked to customer focused initiatives,

internal operational processes and investments in employees and systems

that are combined to produce the desired economic performance.

Customer Perspective:

Financial success is closely linked to customer satisfaction. Satisfied

customers mean repeat business, referrals and new business, and thereby

contribute to the financial results of the company.

Internal Operations Perspective:

Customer satisfaction is directly achieved through the operational activities

of the company. The objectives and measures for this perspective thus

enable a company to focus on maintaining and improving the performance

of processes that deliver the established objectives that are key to

satisfying customers, which in turn satisfy shareholders.

Learning & Growth Perspective:

The ability, flexibility and motivation of staff support all of the financial

results, customer satisfaction and operational activities measured in the

other three quadrants of the Balanced Scorecard.

By summarizing Kaplan and Nortons four perspectives of management


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you get a picture of the vital elements of the Balanced Scorecard concept.

The integrated cause-and-effect relationship between the four perspectives

is well illustrated in Norton and Kaplans own definition of the Balanced

Scorecard concept:

Balanced Scorecard tell you the knowledge, skills and systems that your

employees will need (learning and growth perspective) to innovate and build the

right strategic capabilities and efficiencies (internal processes perspective) that

deliver specific value to the market (customer perspective) which will eventually

lead to higher shareholder value (financial perspective).

Source: Kaplan & Norton 1996

The Balanced Scorecard example shown below illustrates how the overall

strategic objectives are translated into the performance drivers that the

company has identified as critical success factors. The performance drivers

are translated into more tangible measures that allow the company to

quantify the performance drivers mentioned just above. Measurements

should continue over time allowing comparisons.

Source: Kaplan & Norton 1996

The Overall Process

The top-down implementation model suggests that the Balanced


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Scorecard is initiated and shaped at top-levels in the organization, and then

over time cascaded down through the organization. By employing this

succession, alignment can be easier to obtain. Commitment to the

Balanced Scorecard project at top level in the organization is crucial for the

long-term successes of the project.

However, many organizations choose to perform the implementation from

the bottom-up, building their first Balanced Scorecard, for example, for an

operational unit or division within the business. Starting little-by-little can

make grasping the project of implementing a Balanced Scorecard easier.

By letting each division or unit review the Balanced Scorecard first and

report back to executive management, the organization can be better

positioned for a future full-scale deployment.

The flowchart below illustrates how the major steps in the Balanced

Scorecard project might progress. As you can see, the majority of the steps

involve non-system work in preparation for the implementation. Careful

preparation and design of the Balanced Scorecard is critical for a

successful project, but one should never underestimate the system

dimension of the project. The implementation process, and the training of


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the employees in the system are critical as well, and should not be

overlooked.


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1.2 AXAPTA BALANCED SCORECARD FRAMEWORK

The Axapta Balanced Scorecard framework is based on the Norton &

Kaplan concept described above. While the Axapta Balanced Scorecard

framework employs slightly different terminology, the fundamental elements

and functionalities remain similar to Kaplan & Nortons framework. The

Axapta Balanced Scorecard is based on the concepts of the traditional

Chart of accounts as found in Axaptas General Ledger-module

Great advantages can be obtained by applying the Balanced Scorecard

module together with the other modules in the Axapta ERP-platform. For

example, data can be fed to the four perspectives described above from

the CRM-module (Customer), General Ledger-module (Financial),

Production-module (Internal) and HRM-module (Learning & Growth). The

automatic receipt of data from the system provides a dynamic and updated

scorecard, which means that, for example, managers are always looking at

updated cockpits. To collect intangible information such as customer and

employee satisfaction, the Questionnaire-functionality in Axapta can be

employed to gather valuable soft measures. The Balanced Scorecard is

also integrated with the Business Process Management and the Human

Resource Management modules, since Strategic planning can be linked to

Knowledge accounts as well as organization units. Due to the Data-link

function, the Axapta Balanced Scorecard can easily be employed as a

stand-alone-system. The Data-link function allows you to provide the

system with external data from, for example, spreadsheets and other

applications or databases, or the system can be fed manually via the

Knowledge-journal function.


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1.3 EXERCISES

Exercise 1 Group discussion

Discuss the Balanced Scorecard concepts in groups of two or three

persons. Use one of your companies as the starting point of this

exercise.

1. Find out what your companys strategy is for the future. Formulate

the overall strategy in bullet points.

2. Considering Kaplan and Nortons four perspectives, which

performance drivers are relevant to achieving your strategic goals?


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Lesson 2

Set-up and Preparation forImplementing the BalancedScorecard

This lesson provides instructions on how to

perform basic setup in Axapta Balanced

Scorecard.

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to beable to:

1 Set-up Focus Groups

2 Set-up Knowledge Periods

3 Set-up Analogmeters


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Set-up and Preparing a Balanced Scorecard Implementation 2-2

2.1 SETTING UP FOCUS GROUPS

In Axapta Balanced Scorecard, the Focus group-concept is used similarly

to Kaplan & Nortons Perspectives that was described in the first lesson of

this material. Focus groups are groups of strategic measurement areas in

the company, and are used to group Knowledge accounts in the Balanced

Scorecard. You can group all Knowledge accounts related to the same

focus area in the same focus group. This includes, for example, an

estimation of process capital and innovation capital, regardless of whether

or not the individual Knowledge accounts have comparable values. The

purpose of the Focus groups can be compared with the ledger chart of

accounts account type, which divides the ledger accounts into operating

and balance accounts.

You cannot delete a focus group that is attached to a Knowledge account

in the Chart of knowledge accounts.


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2.2 SETTING UP KNOWLEDGE PERIODS

Knowledge periods define when data is to be collected in the Knowledge

account, and are used when generating knowledge reporting statistics.

You cannot delete a Knowledge period that is attached to a Knowledge

account in the Chart of knowledge accounts.

To create a Knowledge period

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Setup, on Scorecard, and

again on Knowledge periods.

2 Press CTRL+Nor click on the New icon on the toolbar to create anew line.

3 Type a code for the period in the Period field.

4 Type a short description in the Description field.

Example (General tab folder)

Imagine that you want to define a Knowledge period as a half-year:

Start date: 01-07-2002

Unit: Month(s)

Per: 6 (refers to the Unit)

Once you press tab to go to next field notice that the rest of the date fields

are filled in automatically. Now the calculation period is defined.


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2.3 SETTING UP ANALOGMETERS

An Analogmeter is a graphic representation of the value of a Knowledge

account. Analogmeters are attached to Knowledge accounts only after their

appearance has been defined. Analogmeters can be customized to fit any

type of Knowledge account, depending of the type of measurement used.

Example - Analogmeter


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General tab page:

Field Action

Minimum Minimum value of the axis on the Analogmeter

Maximum Maximum value of the axis. This value must match the Unit you

select. E.g. if the Unit is percent the Maximum value could be

100.

Size Size of the Analogmeters in degrees. 180 degrees corresponds

to a semicircle. A semicircle is the most frequently used size.

Unit Symbol for a unit that is placed after the transactions value, for

example USD, %, Minutes etc.

Text color Select a text color for the Analogmeter.

Background

color

Select a background for the Analogmeter.

Lines tab page:

Field Action

Area Interval sequence. 1 is the first interval in the Analogmeter, 2 is

the next and so forth.

Description Type a short description of the interval.

Value The intervals end value. End value for the last interval should be

the same as the Maximum value stated on the General tab

page.

Color Select a color for each interval. If you use the color red to

identify the critical or poor interval and green to identify the

excellent interval be aware of the type of Analogmeter, For

example a low value on Customer complaints is a positive thing

whereas a low value on Customer Satisfaction is a negative

thing.


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2.4 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Creating a

Focus group

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Setup, then on

Scorecard, and again on Focus groups.

2 Press CTRL+N or click on the New icon on the toolbar to

create a new line.

3 Click in the Focus group field and enter the name of the

Focus Group.

4 In the Description field, type a short description of the

group.

Creating an

Analogmeter


Scorecard, and again on Analogmeter.

2 Create new Analogmeter Press CTRL +N or click on the

New icon on the toolbar to create a new Analogmeter.

3 In the Analogmeter field, enter identification for the

Analogmeter.

4 In the Description field, type a short description of the

Analogmeter.

Testing an

Analogmeter

1 Select the Analogmeter you wish to test.

2 Click test.


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2.5 EXERCISES

Exercise 2 Focus Group (Perspectives)

The company wants to focus on:

The percent of its employees possessing a High School education

Course evaluation

In preparation of your Balanced Scorecard and implementation of

Knowledge accounts (Key Performance Indicators) and Performancemeasures, you must set-up the following:

1 Create a focus group named Education

Exercise 3 Knowledge Period

1 Create a Knowledge period. You have to be able to measure KPIs for

each half year, starting with 01.01.2002.

Exercise 4 Analogmeter

1 Create a new analogmeter to be used for a Knowledge account, which

will measure percent of employees with a High School education.

2 You have to define success criteria, critical factors and design for theanalogmeter. A suggestion for description of areas is: very low,

low, middle, high, very high.

3 Experiment using different setups, areas, and colors, and then test the

results.

4 Create another new analogmeter to be used for a Knowledge account,

which will measure course evaluation.


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5 You have to define success criteria, critical factors and design for the

analogmeter. Suggested descriptions for the areas are: not

acceptable, improvement needed, meets requirements, exceed

requirements, outstanding.

6 Experiment using different setups, areas, and colors, and then test the

results.


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Lesson 3

Knowledge Accounts

This chapter provides a business understanding

of the concept of KPIs, and how they are handled

in the Axapta Balanced Scorecard framework.


able to:

1 Understand the concept of Key Performance

Indicators

2 Create a Knowledge account

3 Create targets for Knowledge accounts


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Knowledge Accounts 3-2

3.1 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS THE BUSINESS BACKGROUND

The preliminary work of preparing the Balanced Scorecard is by far the

most demanding and time-consuming aspect of the project. However, it is

also the most critical factor for successfully using the Balanced Scorecard.

Before we can focus on the Key Performance Indicators, we need to

understand the importance of the preliminary processes to an Axapta

Balanced Scorecard implementation.

The business strategy drives the rest of the processes in the Balanced

Scorecard, thus the strategy must be clear and contain concise objectives

and targets. Once the strategy has been communicated, the organization

needs to identify the areas that are absolutely critical for achieving the

objectives and business success. Otherwise, the organization may find

itself without a clear focus. This requires that the strategic focus of the

organization be confined to a few (Norton & Kaplan employs four) key

areas. In Axapta these areas are termed Focus groups which correspond

to Norton & Kaplans Perspectives. (Lesson 2 describes the setup of

Focus groups). Within each Focus group you should define strategic

objectives, and make certain that everything links back to the strategy,

vision and values. It is extremely important that a cause-and-effect

relationship is maintained throughout the entire process, as shown in the

illustrated below. The Mission, Vision and Values statements must be

directly reflected by the strategy. There must also be a chain of cause-

and-effect between the various objectives and measures through all of the

Focus groups.


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3.2 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS

The Balanced Scorecard translates an organizations vision into a set of

performance objectives distributed among the different Focus groups.

Some objectives are maintained in order to measure an organizations

progress toward achieving its vision. Other objectives are maintained to

measure the long-term drivers of success. Through the use of the Balanced

Scorecard, an organization can monitor its current performance (financial,

customer satisfaction and business process results), its efforts to improve

processes, motivate and educate employees, and also its ability to learn

and innovate.

Look to see how performance measures link to the strategic plan. Ensure that

there are specific and direct linkages

Source: Dr. Kaplan

When creating Knowledge accounts (Performance measures) it is

important to make sure that they are directly linked to the strategic vision of

the organization. Knowledge accounts must focus on the outcome

necessary to achieve the organizational vision and the objectives of the

strategic plan. When creating Knowledge accounts and setting Budgets

(Targets), it is important to ask whether or not achievement of the specific

goals will help achieve the overall organizational goals. It is also important

to include a mix of quantitative and qualitative measures. Quantitativemeasures provide more objectivity than qualitative measures; nevertheless,

qualitative measures are an integral part of the Balanced Scorecard

methodology.

Here are some basic guidelines for constructing Knowledge accounts:

Knowledge accounts communicate what is strategically important by

linking back to your strategic objectives

Knowledge accounts should be maintained over a length of time,

allowing comparisons

Knowledge accounts should be used for establishing targets, leading to

future performance

Knowledge accounts should be reliable, verifiable and accurate


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3.3 SETTING UP KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS

The Chart of knowledge accounts is the core of the Balanced Scorecard

module. Knowledge accounts have to be set up for transactions in the

companys Balanced Scorecard.

There are many ways in which you can build a Chart of knowledge

accounts. One way is to create a Knowledge account for each combination.

Example

If you had a Focus group for customer satisfaction, you would create a

Knowledge account for each organization unit where you want to measure

customer satisfaction.

A Knowledge account describes the following:

The organization unit to which the Knowledge account belongs

The Focus group to which the Knowledge account belongs

The Knowledge account period, including information on the last period

posted in, and the next period

Queries, which determine how the basis for the knowledge item is

searched for and valued

The Analogmeter, which is used to graphically show the value of the

accounts items

The budget figure

To create Knowledge accounts

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Periodic, and then on Chart ofknowledge accounts

Note

The Chart of Knowledge accounts form is comprised of two main areas: A

data filtering element (top section), and a data management element. Data

filtering allows you to sort Knowledge accounts by organization unit, focus

group and by status (active/inactive). The green field in left side of the form


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indicates that the Knowledge Account is due.

2 Press CTRL +N or click on the New icon on the toolbar to create a

new Knowledge account.

3 Fill in the fields on the Overview tab page.

4 Go to the General tab page. Select the accounts Analogmeter in the

Analogmeter field. Make sure that the Analogmeter is designed to

measure the outcome of the Knowledge account.

5 Tick off Locked in journal if you do not want the account to be used

in Knowledge journals. (Knowledge journals are used for manual

postings to the Knowledge account more on that in Lesson 4).

6 Tick off Closed if you do not want to allow posting to the account.

7 If the Knowledge account is attached to a Strategic plan from the

Business Process Management module, the Strategic plan can be

selected in the Plan field.

8 Go to the Periods tab page. Select a period from the list. The perioddetermines the calculation period for the Knowledge account in

other words how often the account is being updated.

9 The Periods start date is defined in the setup for the Knowledge

periods (see Lesson 2). Though the already defined start date can be

changed into a new start date if suitable.

10 The Last period fields are not filled in since this is a new Knowledge

accounts and hence there are no previous periods.


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11 The Next period fields will be filled in when the first transaction has

been posted to the Knowledge account or the account has been

simulated (See Lesson 5).

12 The Formula tab page is described in Lesson 4.3

13 The buttons in the right side of the formula will be explained in thecoming chapters.

Deleting a Knowledge account

There are two ways to delete a Knowledge account:

1 The traditional Axapta delete-functionality: Select the Knowledge

account you want to delete and press ALT +F9 or click Delete record

on the toolbar. You cannot delete a Knowledge account if transactions

are attached to it or its indicators.

The second approach, explained below, permits you to delete transactions.

2 There is a more advanced way of deleting the entire Knowledge

account, or just a portion of it. Click the Functions button in the right

side of the screen and select Delete knowledge account. The Delete

knowledge account form will appear:


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Budgets for Knowledge accounts

You should think of a Balanced Scorecard as a management system, notjust another performance measurement program. It is not enough just to

measure results; targets must accompany the measurements. Targets, or

Budgets as they are called in the Axapta Balanced Scorecard, are

designed to stretch and push the organization in meeting its strategic

objectives. When creating Knowledge accounts and setting Budgets

(Targets), it is important to ask whether or not achievement of the identified

goals will help achieve the organizations vision. Again, we must remember

the chain of cause-and-effect.

Note

Budgets should be mutually agreed upon between management and the

person or team held responsible for hitting the target.

Budgets for Knowledge accounts

You can record a budget for all knowledge accounts. The Budget is

compared to realized transactions upon reporting and to graphic

representations of a knowledge account's value.

One budget item can be specified per Knowledge account per period. TheKnowledge item's period is allocated automatically based on either the

Knowledge account's period or the previous forecast item's period.

The newest Budget item can be deleted, preventing in-between periods

without forecast items.

The black line illustrates the Budget on the Analogmeter.


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3.4 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Creating Budgets for Knowledge

accounts

1 Double-click on Balanced

scorecard, then Chart of

knowledge accounts, select an

account and click the Knowledge

budget button in the right side of

the form.

2 The start and end date is filled in

automatically according to the

period defined for the Knowledgeaccount.

3 Enter the value for the Budget in

the Value field

4 On the General tab page you can

select the employee who is held

responsible for the Budget. If you

specified a responsible employee

for the Knowledge account, that

employee is the default.


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3.5 EXERCISES

Exercise 5 Knowledge Accounts (Key Performance Indicator)

1 Create two new Knowledge account in the Chart of knowledge

accounts to measure:

The percentage of employees with a High School education

Course evaluation

2 The Focus group is Education for both Knowledge accounts.

3 The measurement should be taken each half year starting 01.01.2002,

for both Knowledge accounts.

4 The Responsible person for both Knowledge accounts is JCL, June

Cleary.

Exercise 6 Budgets for Knowledge accounts

1 Create budget transactions (target) for the first two periods for your

new Knowledge accounts. The first two periods will be 01.01.2002

30.06.2002 and 01.07.2002 31.12.2002.


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Lesson 4

Adding Transactions toKnowledge Accounts


able to:

1 Understand the concept of Knowledge

journals

2 Understand the concept of Indicators

3 Retrieve data from Axapta tables

4 Retrieve data from Axapta queries


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Adding Transactions to Knowledge Accounts 4-2

4.1 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT JOURNALS (MANUAL MEASUREMENT)

Knowledge journals are used to post transactions to Knowledge accounts.

The purpose of the Knowledge journal is:

To manually post transactions that cannot be updated automatically

To correct errors in existing transactions. Errors can be corrected for

both manually and automatically posted transactions

You can post one item per knowledge account per period. The item can be

posted via the journals or updated automatically. If you settled the

Knowledge account's transaction in a period, you can post a new

transaction in the period, since the account's vouchers cancel each otherout.

There must be transactions in all of the account's periods. For example, if

for four consecutive periods you only posted in the first period, then you

cannot post in the third or fourth period from the journal as long as there

are no transactions in the second period. If you have no values for the

account's second period, you need to post an item with the value zero

before you can post in the third and fourth periods.

When you post transactions from the journal, you do not use the account's

indicator. They are only used when you update the accounts automatically.

In terms of the approval procedure and displaying all, open, or only posted

journals, Knowledge journals contain the same functionality as the Posting

journal in the General ledger module.


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Overviewtab page:

Field Action

Name The name for the Knowledge journal that has been defined in

the Setup

Journal A numeric identification of the journal. This is filled in

automatically when creating a new Knowledge journal and

refers to Axapta number sequence.

Description A short description of the Knowledge journal. An example

could be Re-calculation or simply Knowledge account

transactions.

Posted The Posted field is ticked off automatically when the

Knowledge journal is posted. A Knowledge journal is posted

when the button Post in the right side of the form is pressed.

Creating Knowledge journals

A Knowledge journal consists of one or more Lines, which generate

transactions to the different Knowledge accounts. As in the traditional

financial general ledger, for each Line (transaction) a Voucher isautomatically generated to document the purpose of the transaction.

Before you can enter Journal lines to the Knowledge journal, you need to

create a name for the Knowledge journal. A suitable name could be, for

example, Knowledge journal postings. On the General tab page, it is

important to tick off the Active field in the Approval procedure. This allows

the Knowledge journal to be approved before it is posted.

Approval rights can be affiliated with User groups, such as Administrators.

General tab page:

Field Action

Posted on This field tells you the date the journal was posted

Delete lines

after posting

If you want the lines to be deleted after posting, the tick box

should be ticked off.


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History tab page:

Once the Knowledge journal has been posted (and the approval procedure

has been activated and employed), you can track the history of the

approval process.

Field Action

Reported as

ready

This field tells you which User group has reported the journal

as ready.

Approved This field tells you which User group has Approved the journal

for posting.

Rejected This field tells you which User group has rejected the journal

for posting.

Journal lines

Once the Knowledge journal has been created, you can start creating Lines

(transactions). You can post lines for different Knowledge accounts and for

different periods in the same journal. In daily management of the Balanced

Scorecard the transactions will probably be posted both automatically and

manually to Knowledge journals. One could imagine that one Knowledge

journal is created each month collecting the different Lines (transactions)

for the different Knowledge accounts.

When creating Lines you can choose from the following types:

Next period: The line is posted in the period specified as the next

period for the Knowledge account. The next period is determined

automatically based on the accounts period setup.

Settlement: The line settles a posted item, for example an incorrect

posting. You can choose those periods where items exist that can be

settled, and select the line you want to settle.

Settled period: The line is posted in a previously settled period. You

can choose from periods where the items have been settled or where a

line in the Settlement type journal settles a transaction.

Note

The process of using the three different types will be described in more


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details in Lesson 5.


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4.2 INDICATOR (AUTOMATIC MEASUREMENT)

Setting up Indicators is one of the more technical processes in the Axapta

Balanced Scorecard. However, setting up the Indicators is not a continuous

process, once the Indicators have been defined they can be used for an

unlimited period of time.

A Knowledge accounts indicator is a query that describes the table, criteria

and fields included in the computation of a transaction, as well as the typeof computation. In other words, an Indicator is a way of telling the system

where to get the data and how to use the data for an automatic posting of a

transaction to a Knowledge account. Examples of computations are sum,

average and maximum.

You can create any number of indicators you like for each account. In the

Knowledge account you specify the formula that expresses how the value

of the accounts transaction is calculated with the help of the indicators. All

the indicators you create must be used in the formula, or you will not be

able to simulate or update automatically.

As long as transactions have not been posted to an Indicator it can be

deleted. However, if you have already posted transactions you can makethe Indicator inactive. An inactive Indicator may not be used in the

Knowledge accounts formula.

When setting up an Indicator, the Wizard will help guide you through.

To set-up an Indicator:

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Periodic, and again on Chart of

knowledge account.


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2 Select the Knowledge account you wish to create an Indicator for and

press the Indicators button in the right side of the field

3 Select the Indicator name. It is a good idea to have a fixed structure

for prefixing the names. An example could be 1000-100 (1000 is the

name of the Knowledge account and 100 indicates that it is the first

indicator for the account). Click Next.

4 Select how you want your Indicator to be composed, then click Next.

Axapta table: You can choose which Axapta table the Indicator should

be based on. The most frequently used table-groups are Header and

Transaction. The Header group is a good example of a table group

related to Focus groups in the Balanced Scorecard, as it contains theemployee-table (EmplTable), customer-table (CustTable) and ledger-

table (LedgerTable). The Transaction-group contains transactions in

Axapta such as amount, time and size of different areas such as sales-

orders, invoices, and projects

Axapta query: As an alternative to creating your own query, you can

choose from a list of predefined queries. Queries can be combined in

the Formula field on the Knowledge account.

External query: If the data you wish to measure on is not contained in

Axapta, you can setup an external data-link to an external database

(Creating data links is described in Lesson 9). When data links have

been created, you can select which data link the Indicator should be

based on.

5 Press the Inquiry icon, and select the criteria for the table/query you

chose in the previous process step. Note that if there are date fields in

the table you selected, you should select the date field(s) from the

tables items whose date is within the period calculated when the

account us updated. If you selected Axapta table in the previous step,

you can create your own query by joining two or more different tables.


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To join tables: Right click on the table you selected in Step 4. Now you

can select 1:n (one-to-many-relations) or n:1 (many-to-one-relations)

tables. The available tables are all related in some way to the main

table selected in the previous step.

Create a new Range and select the table you want to join with and

select the Field and Criteria you want to employ in the range.

Note

Creating joined tables requires that the Cross-reference functionality has

been updated. To update the cress references, select Tools in the menu

bar, and then double-click on Development tools, on Cross-reference, thenon Periodic, and again on Update.

Notice: The updating process can be very time consuming, therefore it is

recommended to run the feature overnight.

6 Click Next.

7 In the Date fields form all date-fields from the tables in the query are


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shown. Tick off the date fields you want to include.

8 Click Next

9 In the Calculation dialog, you can select:

Table: Select the table from the list that the calculation is to use.

Field: You can select the fields related to the table(s) selected above.

Type: Select the calculation type to be used for the items, and then

click on Next. The calculation types are:

- average

- sum- maximum

- minimum

- count (calculates the number of items)

10 Press the Test Indicator icon to test the calculation of the indicators

value. Enter the period, and click OK. Axapta then calculates and

displays the indicators value.

11 Press Finished to end setup of the Indicator.

When finished with the Wizard, return to the Knowledge account indicators

dialog. On the Data fields tab page, notice that you can see the date fields

in the table you selected in the wizard.

On the Overview tab page, activate the Indicator by ticking off the Activate

field. The Type field is automatically updated, and will display either:

Not initiated: the indicator does not exist.

Axapta: the indicator exists, and is based on a table in the Axapta

database.

Data link: indicator exists based on the table pointed to by a data link.

Note

Notice: If you have selected the wrong table (in step 4) and have clicked

Next, you cannot go back to change your choice by clicking Back in the

Wizard. You have to close the Wizard, then reopen it and click Next until

you come to the "Select a table" form. Then you can change your choice

and proceed.


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4.3 KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNT FORMULA

The Knowledge accounts formula determines how the value of the

accounts transactions is calculated based on the accounts indicator(s).

To Create a Knowledge account formula


Knowledge accounts. Next, go to the Formula tab page.

2 The Indicators field in the left side of the form displays which

indicators are active for the Knowledge account. The list is updated

automatically, but you can click Refresh to update the list again to

ensure that all active indicators are shown. In the Formula field, you

enter a formula for calculating the transaction's value. You can use the

normal mathematical operators *, +, - and /, as well as parentheses on

as many levels as you like. You can insert the indicators in the formula

in the following manners:

Select the indicator and drag it to the formula.

Type the indicator's code in brackets. If an indicator's identification is 1,

then you type 1.

3 When the formula is finished, click Check formula to verify that the

formula is correct.

Example:

If you want postings for Revenue total to be shown in $1000, the formula

should look like this [1000-100] / 1000. Remember, in the Analogmeter

description, state that the Analogmeter is showing transactions in $1000.


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4.4 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Creating a

Knowledge

journal

1 Press CTRL +N, or click on the New icon on the toolbar

to create a new Knowledge Journal.

2 Click in the Journal name field and select a name from the

list.

3 Enter a short description of the Knowledge journal.

CreatingJournal lines

1 Select a Knowledge journal that has not been posted andclick the Lines button in the right side of the form.

2 Press CTRL +N, or click on the New icon on the toolbar

to create a new Journal line.

3 Select a type.

4 Select the Knowledge account you want to post

transaction for, and enter the Value for the transaction.


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4.5 EXERCISES

Exercise 7 Indicator (automatic measurement) and Formula

1 For the Knowledge account measuring the percentage of employees

with a High School education, create one indicator for the total count

of employees with the Employed status (you dont have to mark any

date fields in this case).

2 Test the indicator.


with a High School education, create one indicator for the count of

employees with a high school education.

4 Test the indicator


with a High School education, update the Formula on your Knowledge

account.

Exercise 8 Indicator (automatic measurement) and Formula

1. For the Knowledge account measuring Course evaluation, create one

indicator for the average of participant satisfaction. Use an Axapta

Query and activate Start date as the date field you want to include in

query range criteria.

2. Test the indicator.

3. For the Knowledge account measuring Course evaluation, update the

Formula on your Knowledge account.


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Lesson 5

Simulating and Updating

This lesson provides an understanding of the

process of simulating and updating Knowledge

accounts and Knowledge journals.


able to:

1 Simulate transactions to Knowledge

accounts

2 Update transactions to Knowledge accounts

3 Update transactions to Knowledge journals


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Simulating and Updating 5-2

5.1 SIMULATING KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS

When a Knowledge Account is updated, the result is posted according to

the defined period for the account. When using the simulation functionality

in Axapta, you can simulate a posting at any time, independent of the

period. That means that you can get a midway result for the Knowledge

account without updating the account. Simulating postings to the Balanced

Scorecard allows you to verify that the defined queries produce the

expected results. Since this is only a simulation, the Knowledge accounts

values are not updated.

Simulation will be interrupted if any errors are detected during verification.

To perform a simulation, the period for the Knowledge account must be

Overdue (illustrated by a green field in the left side of the form). The entire

period must be simulated, or Past due should be postdated before the

simulation.

Note

Closed Knowledge accounts cannot be simulated.


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5.2 UPDATING KNOWLEDGE ACCOUNTS

When you update transactions in knowledge accounts, the following

happens:

A transaction is posted for each indicator.

A transaction is posted for each Knowledge account. The transaction is

calculated from the account's formula and indicator transactions.

The Knowledge accounts and periods calculated depend on what you

specify before you begin the update. The formula, which applies to the

Knowledge account when the item is posted, is saved for the transaction in

such a manner that you can see how the transaction was calculated.

Before updating Knowledge accounts, you must ensure that the base data

is all there. It is recommended that you run the update as a batch, so that

daily operation is affected as little as possible.

You cannot change or delete posted transactions in Knowledge accounts

or indicators. If transactions are incorrect, for example because the

Knowledge account is not set up properly, or because the base data is

incorrect, you will need to use the Knowledge journal and create a manual

settlement.

In the Knowledge journal, you need to offset, or settle, the error in the

account. You can then update the Knowledge account again.


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5.3 SHOWING TRANSACTIONS

Transactions in the Knowledge accounts and Indicators can be viewed and

tracked at any time.

To view transactions


knowledge accounts.

2 Select the Knowledge account you want to see transactions for, and

click the Transaction button in the right side of the form.

Overview tab page:

Field Action

Voucher number Voucher number that the transaction was allocated upon

posting.

Starting date Starting date in the period to which the transaction belongs

Ending date Ending date in the period to which the transaction belongs

Transaction type Indicates whether the transaction is posted via a journal or

calculated through an update

Transaction text Text for the transaction

Responsible Employee who posted the transaction

General tab page:

Field Action

Knowledgeaccount

Knowledge account that the transaction was posted to

Document External document, if any, specified for the transaction in

the Knowledge journal

Document date Document date, if any, of the external document specified

for the transaction in the Knowledge journal

Batch Batch number in the Knowledge journal that the


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transaction was posted from

Settlement Shows whether the transaction is the settlement of anothertransaction

Settled voucher Voucher number of any settled transactions

Formula Formula used to calculate the value of the transaction

.


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5.4 VALIDATING AND POSTING KNOWLEDGE JOURNALS

In Lesson 4.2, how to create Knowledge journals and Knowledge journal

lines was explained. Now, let us take it a step further and focus on how to

validate and update the journals.

In Axapta, you can automatically validate Knowledge journals before

posting. Validation does not concern the quality of information in the

journal; it is simply a technical verification of issues like:

Is the account blocked for Knowledge journals?

Is the account closed so that no posting is allowed?

Is the journal line approved?

Is the account properly setup?

Are there items in the accounts previous periods and is the lines

starting date the same as the starting date for the next period, as

specified in the account?

Have all postings in the accounts period been settled?

Is the ending date on the line the same as that on the voucher to besettled?

Is the voucher to be settled already settled?

Is the value on the journal line the same as that on the voucher to be

settled?

Have all vouchers in the period been settled?

To validate Knowledge journals

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Journals, and again on

Knowledge journals.

2 Select the Knowledge journal to be validated and press the Check

button on the right side of the form.

Or, you can check single lines and vouchers by:


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1 Select the Knowledge journal to be validated, press the Lines button,

and then the Validate button. Notice that you can choose to validate

lines or vouchers only.

The approval process

If you have activated the Knowledge journals approval procedure when

setting up Knowledge journal names (see Lesson 4.2), you must go

through the approval process before posting a Knowledge journal.

You need to approve a journal as ready before you can post it.

1 Select the journal to be approved and press the button Approval.

2 Press the button Approve. Now the journal is ready to be posted.

If the approver wants to reject the Knowledge journal:

1 Select the journal to be approved and press the button Approval.

2 Press the Reject button.

Posting Knowledge journals

If you activated the approval procedure for the journal when setting up

Knowledge journal names, you need to report that the Knowledge journal is

ready and approve it before posting. If not, simply post the journal. Before

being posted, the Knowledge journal is checked automatically and anyerrors must be corrected.

1 Select the Knowledge journal to be posted and click the Post button in

the right side of the form.

Or you can:

1 Select the journal to be posted and press the Lines button, and then

press the Post button.


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5.5 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Simulate updates

to a Knowledge

account

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Periodic, and

on Chart of knowledge accounts.

2 Select the Knowledge account you want to simulate.

Click the Functions button, and select the Simulate

Scorecard option.

3 Enter the date for the simulation to the Simulation date

field. If you leave the field blank, the current date is

used.

4 Click in the Type field, and select a simulation type

from the list. You can choose from:

Past due: Simulation of selected accounts in all

periods that are not yet calculated; see the

simulation date and knowledge accounts' period

information.

Credited: Simulation of selected accounts in all

periods, where a new transaction to replace the

settled transaction has been settled but not yet

posted.

5 Click OK to start the simulation.

6 The Knowledge account transactions field group

shows simulated transactions for the knowledge

account, including the Knowledge account simulated,

the account name, the period, and the value based

on the account's formula.

7 The field group Knowledge indicator transactions

shows simulated transactions for the knowledge

account's indicators in the account that are selected

in the Knowledge account transactions field group,

including the indicator that has been simulated, the

indicator name, the indicator's value, and the

normalized value.

8 Click Analogmeter to view the knowledge account's

transactions graphically in the form of Analogmeters.

An Analogmeter is shown for each simulated


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transaction in the account. The Aanalogmeters are

grouped by knowledge account.

Updating

Knowledge

accounts

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Periodic, and

again on Chart of knowledge accounts.

2 Select the Knowledge account you want to update.

Click the Functions button and select the Update

scorecard option.

3 Click in the Update date field, and enter the date of the

update. If you leave the field blank, the current date

is used.

4 Click in the Type field, and select an update type from

the list. You can choose from:

Past due: Update selected accounts in all periods

that have not been calculated according to the

update date and the knowledge accounts' periods.

Settled: Update of selected accounts for all periods,

where a new transaction to replace the settled

transaction has been settled but not yet posted.

5 Click OK to start the update.


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5.6 EXERCISES

Exercise 9 Update transactions to Knowledge accounts

1. Update the Knowledge account percent of employees with a High

School education for the period (half year, 01.01.2002 30.06.2002).

2. Double-click on Knowledge account, on Statistics, and again on

Analogmeter to view your updated transactions.

3. From the Knowledge account plan you can view Knowledge

transactions, and from there you can view Indicator transactions for

your Knowledge account.

Exercise 10 Update transactions to Knowledge journals

1. Create a new Knowledge journal.

2. Create a Knowledge journal line, choose the Knowledge account

percent of employees with a High School education, and choose the

next period (2nd half year).

3. Create another Knowledge journal line, choose the Knowledge account

course evaluation, and choose the first period (1 half year).

4. Update the Knowledge journal.


transactions and from here, origin from the Knowledge journal voucher.


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Exercise 11 Update transactions to Knowledge accounts

1. Update the Knowledge account course evaluation for the period (half

year, 01.07.2002 31.12.2002).

2. Double-click on Knowledge account, on Statistics, and again on

Analogmeter to view your updated transactions.


transactions, and from there you can view Indicator transactions foryour Knowledge account.


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Lesson 6

Reports and Analysis


able to:

1 View and understand reports

2 View and understand statistics

3 View and understand Analogmeters


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Reports and Analysis 6-2

6.1 OVERVIEW

The purpose of this lesson is to work with the output side of the Balanced

Scorecard. Different kinds of reports, statistics and Analogmeters can be

retrieved from the system, which can create a foundation for further

analysis. The lesson will provide an overview of the key reports and

statistic functionalities available in Axapta Balanced Scorecard.


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6.2 REPORTS

In Axapta, a range of reports is available for the Balanced Scorecard. In

this lesson we will take a look of some of the key reports.

Knowledge-account indicators

The Knowledge account indicators report focuses on how a Knowledge

account indicator is compounded. This report is rather technical, and is

primarily intended for the Axapta Balanced Scorecard Administrator.

1. Double-click on Human Resources, on Reports, on Base data, then on

Scorecard, and again on Knowledge-account indicators

2. Press the Select button and choose the Knowledge account you wish

to view information on, and click OK. As you can see from the table

below, there are many opportunities to create ranges for the

information you want to appear in the report. Click OK again.

3. The report displays which Date fields, Inquiries and Calculations are

used in the Indicator.

Note

There are two more reports in the Scorecard folder: Chart of knowledge

accounts and Chart of knowledge accounts per result group. These tworeports are quite simple and will not be described in this material.

Non-posted journal lines

This report shows Knowledge journals containing non-posted journal lines.

If you have many Knowledge journals and lines, this report is a good tool to

get an overview of the status of the different journal lines.


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1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Reports, then on Transactions,

and again on Non-posted journal lines

2 Press the Select button if you want to create ranges on Start date and

End date of Journal lines.

Transaction list

This report contains and overview of all transactions performed for each

different Knowledge account.

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Reports, then on Transactions,

and again on Transaction list.

2 If no ranges are performed, all transactions for all Knowledge

accounts will be shown.


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6.3 STATISTICS

Axapta has a build-in statistics functionality that allows you to customize

the output on graphics, change views and ranges.

Knowledge statistics

You can use Knowledge statistics to compare a Knowledge accounts

posted transactions with the Budget for a particular number of periods. The

result is always shown in the form of a graph.

1. Double-click on Human Resources, on Inquiries, on Statistics, then on

Scorecard, and again on Knowledge statistics.

2. Select the Knowledge account you want statistics form.

3. Click in the Number of periodshistorical field and enter the number of

periods the statistics are to cover. Only updated periods are covered

in the statistics. If you want statistics to cover all updated periods,

enter a zero in the field.

4. Tick-off the Transactions field if you want Knowledge statistics to

cover posted transactions.

5. Tick-off the Budget field if you want Knowledge statistics to coverposted transactions.

6. Press the Update button to update the graph.


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Setting up Knowledge reporting

Knowledge reporting is a way to create customized groups of Knowledgeaccounts across Focus groups and organization units. One example could

be a Satisfaction Knowledge report, which could contain Knowledge

accounts measuring employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, and

management satisfaction.

It is important to notice that only Knowledge accounts with the same period

set-up can be collected in a Knowledge report. Axapta sorts the Knowledge

accounts so that only the accounts with the period defined in the

Knowledge report are available for selection. In addition to the period set-

up, the measures for the different accounts must be comparable. In other

words, you cannot compare dollars ($) with percent (%) to give anexample.

Knowledge reporting statistics

You can use knowledge reporting statistics to query posted transactions for

a particular number of periods. The statistics are based on the profiles you

defined and attached to the Knowledge accounts in the Reporting field.

Statistics are always calculated for transactions in Knowledge accounts

with the same reporting profile, and results are always shown in the form of

a graph.

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Inquiries, then on Statistics, on

Scorecard, and again on Knowledge reporting statistics.

2 Select the reporting profile whose statistics you want to see. You can

view the Knowledge accounts with the selected profile on the

Knowledge accounts tab page


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3 Select View and Origin. There are tree types of Origin:

Transactions: The basis is the accounts transactions

Budget: The basis is the accounts forecast items

Budget difference: The basis is the difference between realized

transactions and forecast items. The budget difference is only

calculated for periods with both realized transactions and forecast

items. For all other periods, the forecast difference is defined as

zero.

4 Click in the Number of periods historical field, and enter the number

of periods the statistics are to cover. Only updated periods are

covered in the statistics. If you want statistics to cover all updated

periods, enter a zero in the field.

5 Press the Update button to update the graph.


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6.4 ANALOGMETERS

Analogmeters can be viewed from within Axapta, but the Enterprise Portal

provides a more obvious way of viewing Analogmeters (See Lesson 8).

In Axapta you can view Analogmeters in different groupings:

Per Knowledge account:

Double-click on Human Resources, on Inquiries, on Statistics, then

on Scorecard, and again on Knowledge accounts. Next, select the

Knowledge account.

Per Focus group:

Double-click on Human Resources, on Statistics, then onScorecard, and again on Focus group. Next, select the Focus

group.

Per Organization unit:


on Scorecard, and again on Organization. Next, select the

Organization unit.

Per Knowledge reporting (Special report):


on Scorecard, and again on Knowledge reporting. Next, select the

Special report.

Per Cockpit:


on Scorecard, and again on Cockpit. Next, select the Cockpit.


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6.5 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Knowledge

reporting set-up


Scorecard, and again on Knowledge reporting.

2 Press CTRL +N, or click on the New icon on the

toolbar to create a new Knowledge report.

3 Type an identification and Description for the Knowledge

report.

4 Select a Period. Notice you can only select Knowledgeaccounts with the same period definition.

5 Go to the Knowledge accounts tab page and select the

Knowledge accounts.

6 Go to the Analogmeter tab page and select the different

Views (Average, Total, Minimum, Maximum and

Counting) for the report.

7 Select the Analogmeter.

8 You can check the Knowledge report by pressing theAnalogmeter button in the right side of the form.


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6.6 EXERCISES

Exercise 12 Reports and analysis

1 Experiment with Inquiries and Knowledge statistics for different

knowledge accounts, including your two new knowledge accounts:

percent of employees with a High School education and course

evaluation.

2 Experiment with Inquiries and Knowledge reports statistics using

different reporting profiles.

3 Experiment with Inquiries and Analogmeter knowledge reporting for

different reporting groups.


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Lesson 7

Cockpits

This lesson provides an understanding of the

concepts behind Cockpits.


able to:

1 Setup Cockpit groups

2 Design Cockpits

3 Test Cockpits


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Cockpits 7-2

7.1 CREATING COCKPITS

A Cockpit is a collection of Knowledge accounts shown via Analogmeters

related to individuals, or groups of people. You (the Axapta administrator)

can control who is authorized to view the cockpits.

Imagine a cockpit in an airplane. The cockpit contains a collection of panels

that display the vital condition of the airplane. The panels will alert the pilot

if something is going in the wrong way (loosing fuel!!!), indicating that it is

time to take action. The same is the case with the cockpits in Axapta. For

example, cockpits inform management about the condition of the

organization and the business, and indicate whether the organization is

behind or ahead of expectations.

You can design cockpits for different groups of people. One example, as

already mentioned, could be managements need for dynamic information,

served in a clear and easily accessible way, about market share and total

revenue. Another example is an HR-cockpit updating HR-professionals

about employee conditions. For instance, an HR manager would certainly

be interested in viewing Analogmeters for strategic skill levels, turnover

rates, sick days and training per employee, just to mention a few.

Cockpits are only available to employees via the Axapta Enterprise Portal.

Due to the user rights system in Axapta, employees will only be able to see

the cockpits associated to them. (Lesson 8 provides more details on the

Balanced Scorecard on the Enterprise Portal).

Before you can start designing cockpits you need to setup some cockpit

groups (See Job aid).

Designing Cockpits

1 Double-click on Human Resources, on Setup, then on Scorecard, and

again on Cockpits.

2 Press CTRL +N, or click on the New icon on the toolbar to create a

new line.

3 Enter identification and a description for the Cockpit.

4 Select the person in charge from the Employee table

5 The Type field contains three options:


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Cockpits 7-3

Option Description

Public All employees can use the group.

Private Only the employee specified in the Person in charge field

can use the cockpit.

Group All employees associated with the Cockpit group can use

the cockpit.

6 Select Cockpit group. Remember, if you selected Group for the

Cockpit group type, you determined which employees are authorized

to use the Cockpit.

7 Go to the Lines tab page.

8 Press CTRL +N or click on the New icon on the toolbar to create a

new Line. Notice that a sequence number is automatically allocated to

the Line. Sequence numbers determine the sequence in which the

Analogmeters are shown, and can be changed when more lines are

created.

9 Select the Knowledge account from the Chart of knowledge accounts

if you wish to include in the Cockpit.

10 Click on the Calendar icon and select one of the available period(s).

The End date is completed automatically when you select a period in

the Starting date field.

11 Press the Analogmeter button in the right side of the form to test the

Cockpit.


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Cockpits 7-4


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Cockpits 7-5

7.2 JOB AID

Function Procedure

Cockpit group

set-up


Scorecard, and again on Cockpit groups.

2 Press CTRL +N or click on the New icon on the toolbar

to create a new line.

3 Enter identification and a description for the group.

Using the above examples, a Cockpit group could be

Management, Sales, or HR.

4 Go to the People tab page. Here you can select from the

Employee table which employee are authorized to use

the cockpits affiliated to the Cockpit group.

5 Once the Cockpit groups have been created, the

cockpits can be designed.


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Cockpits 7-6

7.3 EXERCISES

Exercise 13 Cockpits

1 Create a new cockpit group, and affiliate JCL, June Cleary to the

cockpit group.

2 Create a new private cockpit for JCL, June Cleary, and choose which

Knowledge accounts and Periods are available for the new cockpit.

Include the new Knowledge account that measures the percentage of

employees with a High School education and course evaluation.

3 Create another new cockpit group, and a new cockpit as a Group

cockpit, and affiliate people and Knowledge accounts to the cockpit

group and the cockpit.


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Lesson 8

Performance Management on theEnterprise Portal

This lesson provides an understanding of how the

Enterprise Portal supports the Axapta Balanced

Scorecard.


able to:

1 View the Performance Management section

on the Enterprise Portal.


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Performance Management on the Enterprise Portal 8-2

8.1 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ON THE ENTERPRISE PORTAL

The Enterprise Portal is fully integrated with Axapta, which means that data

generated in Axapta is available on the Enterprise Portal, and visa versa.

The Enterprise Portal provides managers and employees with self-service,

including role-based security parameters. Employee services is one of the

sections on the Enterprise Portal which enables managers and employees

to conduct business, initiate transactions and acquire information via the

Internet.


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8.2 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance Management on the Enterprise Portal enables managers

(primarily) and employees to track their own, as well as the organizations

targets and performance.

Entering Performance Management

1 Log on to the Enterprise Portal

2 Press the Enterprise Services link in the menu bar placed in the top of

the screen. Notice the change in content of the vertical menu bar in

the left side of the screen.

3 Press the Performance Management link in the vertical menu bar.

Now the view appears as shown above.

Viewing Cockpits

The Cockpits created in Axapta (Lesson 7) will appear when Performance

Management is selected. According to the access rights allocated to the

login used, you will be able to see different Cockpits.

1. Click on the link in the Cockpit field. This will provide you with the

following information:

Type, Person in Charge, Group

Of which Knowledge accounts the Cockpit is comprised


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Start date and End date for the Knowledge accounts

2. Return to the Cockpit overview.

3. Click the Analogmeter icon to view the Analogmeters affiliated to the

Cockpit.

To View Knowledge reporting

1. Press the Employee Services link in the menu bar in the top of the

screen.

2. Press the Performance Management link in the vertical menu bar.

3. Click the Knowledge reporting link.

4. Click the Analogmeter icon to view the Analogmeters affiliated to theKnowledge report.

Viewing Analogmeters for Organization Units

As we said in Lesson 3, you can affiliate Knowledge accounts to

organization units in order to measure, for example, performance and

employee satisfaction.

1. Press the Employee Services link in the menu bar in the top of the


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screen

2. Press the Organization link in the vertical menu bar.

3. You can click the Expand icon to expand the line organization. This

will enable you to view Analogmeters for organization units.

4. Click on the Analogmeter icon to view Analogmeters affiliated with the

organization unit.


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8.3 EXERCISES

Exercise 14 Performance Management on Enterprise Portal

1 Experiment with the Performance Management section in the

Enterprise Portal.

2 View the new cockpits as user JCL, and as another user, to verify the

setup.


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DocID:

Lesson 9

Data Link

This lesson provides an understanding on how

data links are created and used.


able to:

1 Create data links

2 Use data links as an indicator


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Data Link 9-2

9.1 CREATING DATA LINKS

A Data link is a link to an external database. Data links enables you to

retrieve data from other databases than Axapta to the Knowledge accounts

in the Balanced Scorecard. Data links can be used to create an Indicator

for a Knowledge account as described in lesson 4.3.

Requirements

To create data links for databases, you must have installed an OLE DB

Provider or OBDC driver for the database.

In addition, you must have Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC)

version 2.6 or higher installed on your computer. You can download it from

http://www.microsoft.com/data/.

To create data links

1. Double-click on Human Resources, on Setup and on Data Links.

2. Press CTRL +N, or click New on the toolbar to create a new Data link.

3. Enter identification for the Data link, and a Description.

4. Go to the General tab page.

General tab page:

Field Action

Queries Enter a code for the query. Since a query is a counting

function the code could for example be Counter

Description Enter a short description of the query

Time out Number of seconds until the query is interrupted if the

database does not respond. Zero equals no timeout.

Curser

location

Select from the following:

Client: the curser is created on the client

Server: the curser is created on the database server


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Data Link 9-3

5. Enter the Date format. You can use the following components:

D: suppress lead zeros in the number of the day

DD: always use 2 figures in the number of the day

M: suppress lead zeros in the number of the month

MM: always use 2 figures in the number of the month

YY: suppress the first two numbers in the year

YYYY: always use 4 numbers in the year

You are free to choose the sequence of the above components, as well as

the divider to be placed between them. No divider is required.

6. Press the Edit data link button to define the connection string to

the database.

7. Select the OLE DB Provider you want to connect to in your data link.

Press the Next button.

8. On the Connection tab page you select the server, enter User name

and Passwords if appropriate, and select Database.


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Data Link 9-4

9. Press the Test Connection button to test connection to the selecteddatabase.


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Data Link 9-5

9.2 USING DATALINKS FOR INDICATORS

In Lesson 4 we learned three ways to create Indicators for Knowledge

accounts:

Select an Axapta table

ms press, microsoft navision axapta v3.0 - balanced scorecard [2002]

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