Balancing Multiple Competing Objectives with a Balanced Scorecard

Heidi Sundin, Markus Granlund and David Brown

European Accounting Review, 2010, vol. 19, issue 2, 203-246

Abstract: This paper investigates how multiple and competing objectives are managed within an organisation, and the role that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) plays in balancing organisational objectives. The issue of achieving multiple objectives, those which represent the interests of various stakeholders, has come to the forefront of the corporate agenda, as companies are seen increasingly as more than a source of profit for shareholders, but rather as 'citizens' playing a broader role in society. This study adopts an exploratory case study approach to understand how the BSC is used in management decision and control processes to assist with the balancing of objectives. The case organisation is a state-owned electricity company, and provides a unique setting where multiple and equally important strategic objectives exist. The results demonstrate that the BSC has the potential to help in making trade-offs and balancing objectives, but there are certain requirements for this to succeed. The paper provides insights into issues of balanced strategic management, as it discusses 'balance' in terms of both process and outcomes.

Date: 2010
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09638180903118736 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:euract:v:19:y:2010:i:2:p:203-246

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/REAR20

DOI: 10.1080/09638180903118736

Access Statistics for this article

European Accounting Review is currently edited by Laurence van Lent

More articles in European Accounting Review from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().