Applying the Balanced Scorecard in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises - A Survey Study

Abstract

This thesis examines the implementation of the Balanced Scorecard and similar integrated performance measurement frameworks in small and medium-sized enterprises. Results of previous related studies were covered and an empirical analysis of data was conducted.

The goal of this thesis is to find out what types of small and medium-sized enterprises have implemented the Balanced Scorecard or a similar integrated performance measurement system as well as whether and how it has benefited them. This was accomplished by conducting a quantitative survey study of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in Southern Finland. The survey was sent to 400 small and medium-sized companies operating in Southern Finland. The survey generated a total of 67 responses, out of which 55 were usable for the research.

By analyzing the results of the survey, it can be concluded that factors impacting the use of the Balanced Scorecard in small and medium-sized enterprises are the size of the company, as well as the degree to which decision making is delegated to different organizational levels. In general, companies that had implemented the Balanced Scorecard, or a similar system, felt that the greatest benefit has been improvement in monitoring performance and achievement of goals. Most small and medium-sized enterprises that had implemented the Balanced Scorecard or a similar system would also recommend it to other similar organizations. Finally, a key finding was that numerous small companies that responded to the questionnaire used the Balanced Scorecard. However, as validity was found as a key challenge for this study, the reader should be careful about generalizing the results of this study to the entire population.