Lynnette k. Bryant
Trident University International
BUS 499 – BSBA Integrative Project
Session Long Project Module 4
Dr. Darlene Pomponio
9 January 2012

As one of the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard, the Learning & Growth perspective focuses on how the organization must learn and innovate in order to achieve the set goals. It is the root of the balanced scorecard and requires nutrients to grow. It develops intellectual capital and empowers employees as part of the relationship to the vision and strategy portion of the BSC. Learning & growth perspective can be described as inputs and internal constituents. When Wal-Mart's growth rate accelerated significantly in the late 1990's, investors who owned the stock and who sold promptly when the acceleration stopped in 2000 - made as much as a 400% return in about four years. When a more sustainable growth rate returned during the 2001 - 2005 period, only modest returns were available from the stock - and only for those investors lucky enough to buy at yearly lows. Wal-Mart shares are trading well below their 2004 high and have dropped 30% in total since Scott was named CEO in 2000, even as the Morgan Stanley retail index has risen 180%. Even money managers who own Wal-Mart's shares tend to see the retailer as a beaten-down value play, not a growth company. The underlying economics of expansion have turned against Wal-Mart, even as it relies increasingly on store-building to compensate for sagging same-store sales. On balance, the new Supercenters are just not pulling in enough sales to offset fully the sharply escalating costs of building them. Part of the problem is that many new stores are located so close to existing ones that Wal-Mart ends up competing with itself. All in all, the retailer's pretax return on fixed assets, which include things such as