ABSTRACT

The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand how the motives behind a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) adoption affect the BSC's design, organisational fit, and consequences from a diffusion theory perspective. Using semi-structured interviews, we follow up on three organisations that are long-term adopters of the BSC. We find that the motives for adopting the BSC do not follow the conventional model whereby early adopters have economic (rational) and late adopters non-economic (social) motives, but that these motives interact during the diffusion process. These organisations reframed the BSC and bundled it with other practices to achieve a better cultural, technical and political fit (i.e. top-management-related factors and IT systems). Cultural misfits are the most formative and can overpower technical and political aspects of fit. This has led to management practices that differ from the original design of the BSC. Also, we critically assess consequences of the BSC adoptions. Even adopters emphasising economic motives for adopting the BSC did not attempt to assess its ex-post financial impact. Thereby, our study contributes a critical view on fashionable management innovations.

摘要

这项探索性研究的目的是从扩散理论的角度了解采用平衡计分卡 (BSC) 背后的动机如何影响平衡计分卡的设计、组织契合度和后果。通过半结构化访谈，我们跟踪了三个长期采用 BSC 的组织。我们发现采用 BSC 的动机并不遵循早期采用者具有经济（理性）动机和后期采用者非经济（社会）动机的传统模型，而是这些动机在扩散过程中相互作用。这些组织重新构建了 BSC 并将其与其他实践捆绑在一起，以实现更好的文化、技术和政治契合（即与高层管理相关的因素和 IT 系统）。文化上的不适应是最具形成性的，并且可以压倒适应的技术和政治方面。这导致了与 BSC 最初设计不同的管理实践。此外，我们批判性地评估采用 BSC 的后果。即使是强调采用 BSC 的经济动机的采用者也没有尝试评估其事后财务影响。因此，我们的研究为时尚管理创新提供了批判性观点。