American Heart Association Case AnalysisCompetitive Strategy and Operational GoalsSince 1924, the American Heart Association has been very successful in raising funds, sponsoring research, and in spreading awareness about the causes and consequences of stroke and heart disease. In 2006, in support of its mission to “Build Healthier Lives, Free from Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke,” the AHA announced a new strategic goal to increase total revenue from $600 million to $1 billion in order to reduce the mortality rate from coronary heart disease. and stroke by 25 percent by 2010. To achieve such an ambitious goal, the AHA recognized the need to identify and develop a diverse workforce that could deliver on the organization's strategic intent by shifting its focus to attract, select and retain the best talent through strategic investments. The AHA's best-case scenario would be to have a diverse workforce that would consist of identifying "A" players and "A" positions throughout the organization where wealth or value is created to help achieve the lowest levels line to generate the goal of one billion dollars by 2010 and place these players in all positions within the organization. However, the reality is that the best course of action for the AHA, due to budget and time constraints, is to make strategic investments in the workforce that will have high impact and lead to desired outcomes by putting the right people in the right places and not the right people everywhere. The AHA accomplished this by creating a new talent framework guided by eight operational objectives to help lay the foundation for how to identify its “A” players and positions for strategic investments. The goal… half of the document… Building relationships with new donors Business sense Account management Business experience Managing priorities Building a long-term vision AHA Balanced Scorecard With the 2010 goals in mind, it is important that the AHA is able to measure the actions of its employees and ensure the alignment of their behaviors with the strategic objectives of the association. The Balance Score Card developed below serves as a universal tool for doing just that, but it also sends a message to leaders and employees throughout the association that this is the new strategic direction the association will move in, and this will be mapped and measured to ensure we achieve our goals for 2010. However, it is important to note that given the high importance of raising awareness and reducing heart disease by 25% in 2010, the customer dimension of the BSC comes first.