Company: Comcast
Industry: Cable Television / Telecommunications

Comcast - Background
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, internet service provider, and 4th largest home telephone service provider in the United States (Hoovers.com, 2013). Comcast is a member of the Telecommunication / Cable Television industries. Comcast has achieved revenues exceeding $55 billion and $62 billion in 2011 and 2012 respectively (CMCSA.com, 2013). As of the last Fortune 500 report, Comcast ranked #49 in the world and is a member of the S&P 500 (Hoovers.Com, 2013).
Comcast is broken into two primary segments: Cable and Programming.
Comcast Cable operates within the United States. It provides subscribers access to analog and high definition programming. These subscribers are a mix of residential and business customers. Other offerings include digital video recorders, on demand programming, and premium programming such as HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz (Gustin, 2012),
The Programming segment of Comcast consists of several internally owned networks such as the Golf Channel, Style Channel, the Versus network and many others (Wikinvest, 2013). The revenue derived through these programming channels is based, primarily, in residential and business subscription fees. These fees are passed through to Comcast from providers of multichannel video that have agreements to distribute Comcast’s programming lineup, advertising revenue, and global licensing (Wikinvest, 2013).
“The Company’s other business interests include Comcast Interactive Media and Comcast Spectacor. Comcast Interactive Media develops and operates its Internet businesses focused on entertainment, information and communication, including Comcast.net, Xfinity TV, Plaxo, DailyCandy and Fandango” (money.cnn.com ,2013)
Although Comcast has enjoyed significant revenues over the past few years, the company has struggled to maintain a positive rating with customers. In 2012, Comcast was rated the 2nd worst in MSN Money –JZ Analytics customer service survey (MSN Money,2012). Within the survey, four major categories were identified as weaknesses for Comcast: Technical Issue Resolution, Product Knowledge, Product Offerings , and Product Quality.

Comcast - Mission and Vision
The Mission Statement of Comcast is:
Inspired by a rich heritage, Comcast has the experience, creativity and leadership to shape the future of media and technology. We drive innovation to create the world’s best entertainment and online experiences (Corporate.Comcast.com, 2013)

The Vision Statement of Comcast:
As Comcast evolves, we continue to look to the future - seeking out new communications technology, new opportunities, and more choices. We want to continue to provide people with the communications products and services that connect them to what's important in their lives (Corporate.Comcast.com, 2013).

There are several channels that can be derived from Comcast’s Vision and Mission statements. The first is innovation. The second is the use of technology to enhance Comcast’s products. The third understands the needs of the customer. Through these channels, Comcast could develop their corporate strategies to maintain its dominance in the Cable Industry and become the top telecommunications player in the United States.

Comcast and the Balanced Scorecard Approach
Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is built upon an organization’s vision and strategy that measures transitions through four key perspectives: Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process, Learning and Growth (Kaplan & Norton, 1992).
The benefits of the balanced scorecard approach in measuring performance are: * Organizational performance is able to be reviewed and analyzed * Ability to focus on the key factors for success * Critical success factors and indices of efficiency and performance can be determined
There are several contributing factors to the success of Comcast’s balanced scorecard. 1. Aligning Strategy and Executives with Perspective
The BSA should be aligned with Comcast’s Strategy/Vision and the behaviors of it’s executive leadership. Without these synergies, the focus will be easily lost and the success in question. The diagram below illustrates the types of questions that need to be answered in order to formulate the BSA Map
Kaplan and Norton wrote: “Without a comprehensive description of strategy, executives cannot easily communicate the strategy among themselves or to their employees. Without a shared understanding of the strategy, executives cannot create alignment around it. And, without alignment, executives cannot implement their new strategies” (Kaplan & Norton, 1992).

Figure 1: Alignment of Executive Leadership and Strategy with the 4 perspectives of the BSA
In order for Comcast to achieve the goals of it’s strategic vision, the entire corporation, from the CEO to the entry level positions, must be aware of the goals and how they are each accountable and the effect those goals will have on them personally. If this accountability is not obtained, the goals will be lofty at best.

2. Strategy Maps
A Strategy Map is a In order to detail how an Comcast can maximize value through the connection of its strategic objectives with each other within the 4 perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, learning and growth). “By connecting factors such as process management, customer focus, innovation, human resources, information technology, and shareholder value together, can help executives communicate an organizations strategy to employees and assist with implementation” (ValueBasedAssetManagement.net, 2012) .
Listed below are the defining steps for Comcast’s strategy map.
Financial Perspective
Any effort to materialize a strategy map should begin with the definition of Comcast’s financial strategy. "How do we financially sustain Comcast’s vision?”. For Comcast specifically, shareholder value should be the utmost priority. As of 2012, Comcast’s focused on growing net income 20% per year for the next 3 years. The key factor to this growth enabled by growing revenues 15 % while reducing costs by 8%” (CMCSA.com, 2013).
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Customer Perspective:
The customer perspective should be at the center of Comcast’s business focus. This perspective should bring light to the question, "How should we be perceived by Comcast customers?" This task can accomplished through the new customer campaigns, the selling of disparate products across multiple channels and services. Additionally, Comcast must determine ways to differentiate itself from competitors in the Cable and Telecommunications industries and maintain solid strategies for customer retention and appreciation. At the core of this is the ability to sell the companies value proposition.

In an article by Kaplan and Norton, in the Harvard Business Review article "Having Trouble with Your Strategy? Then Map It.", 75% of corporate executives are not aware or not aligned with their respective company's value proposition (Kaplan & Norton, 2000). As it relates to Comcast, the two core components their strategy should be that customers view them as having competitive prices and are easy to do business with.
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Internal Process
The internal process perspective demands a hard look in Process Improvement of internal processes and standards. This perspective asks “what must Comcast perfect and master in order to create satisfaction in its customer base?" Comcast should focus on internal process improvement activities to reduce redundancy and rework, use economy of scale models to increase efficiencies in back office functions, and create greater margins through the complete outsourcing of the customer support function.
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Learning and Growth
This perspective answers the question, "how will Comcast create a community of employees who are able to sustain change and improvement?" Comcast, through successful management of this perspective, will be able align its internal departments (HR, IT, Back Office, Transactional Units, etc) with its vision. To create efficiencies in the the sales and customer service areas, Comcast must invest in sales skills training, which in turn, will enhance the selling process. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By combining all these perspectives and aligning them with the Vision statement of Comcast, a strategy map can be created. The arrows on the strategy map indicate cause and effect over time, and each perspective is explored in more detail. This examination allows for an exhaustive mapping of the factors which will ultimately provide the basis for the success or failure of Comcast’s Vision Strategy.

Comcast Strategy Map

Figure 2: STRATEGY MAP FOR COMCAST CORPORATION – Adapted from “Measuring Business Excellence” by Andre de Waal, 1997, MCB UP LTD.

Comcast – Enter the Balanced Scorecard

Figure 3 – Comcast Balanced Scorecard