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The Balanced Scorecard and its Possibilities: The Initial Experiences of a Singaporean Firm
Author(s) -
Sandhu Rina,
Baxter Jane,
Emsley David
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian accounting review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.551
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1835-2561
pISSN - 1035-6908
DOI - 10.1111/j.1835-2561.2008.0003.x
Subject(s) - balanced scorecard , unitary state , variety (cybernetics) , object (grammar) , context (archaeology) , process management , computer science , business , accounting , political science , law , artificial intelligence , paleontology , biology
This paper examines the multiple possibilities that arise from the translation of actors' hopes and aspirations when implementing a balanced scorecard. The issue is studied in the context of a Singaporean security company in the initial stages of implementing a BSC. We find that the BSC is a ‘messy’ object, being different things to different people. This messy object is a result of the many possibilities that the BSC might become which ultimately require translating into the local setting. As such, this view challenges Kaplan and Norton's idea of the BSC as a generic and unitary object of performance measurement that is readily applicable to a variety of situations.