BSC inside a strategic management control package

Abstract

Purpose Kaplan and Norton proposed the strategy map as a way to overcome the weaknesses of the balanced scorecard (BSC), but this approach may not be enough. The purpose of this paper is to present a strategic management control package composed of three systems from strategic management and management control. This conceptual approach operationalizes strategic alignment, which is the core interest of the BSC. Design/methodology/approach The rationale for this research is derived from the literatures on business models (BMs), the BSC and management control packages. The authors first identified gaps in the BSC literature, which has underlined the BSC’s insufficient connection to strategy, and the strategic literature, which has criticized the BM as being too conceptual. The authors propose to fill these gaps through contributions from the management control package literature. Findings The findings are in line with the current literature on the interdependencies of management control systems. In response to the criticism of the BSC because of its weak strategic foundations, the authors provide a framework comprising three management systems: the BM, the strategy map and the BSC. This framework ultimately promotes two feedback loops that provide a dynamic view of the reciprocal influences of the BSC and strategy. Research limitations/implications Several authors note that the BSC suffers from a lack of conceptualization. The underlying assumptions and the conceptual and empirical validity of the cause-and-effect relationships are particularly questioned. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to overcome the criticism linked to the “low” strategic alignment of the strategy map, and then of the BSC, by proposing a conceptual framework based on a package including three management systems: the BSC, the strategy map and the BM. A major limit lies in the purely conceptual dimension of this research, and it will be interesting to empirically investigate the conceptual package through longitudinal case studies. Practical implications The authors propose guidelines to develop a strategically aligned BSC through a three-step operationalization process to achieve a non-linear strategic management control. Moreover, the authors suggest empirical research avenues to address the weaknesses of Kaplan and Norton’s BSC and to enhance its connection to strategy through an integrated strategic management control package that includes a BM. Originality/value This paper adds value by proposing a package of management systems that includes both strategic management and management control perspectives. The authors, therefore, offer a way to bridge the gap between these research streams and highlight the interest of recent developments in the literature regarding the management control package.

Balanced Scorecard: A Systematic Literature Review and Future Research Issues

“…In the views of Supino and Busco (2019), combining standard costing with the BSC can help identify an organization’s most favourable scenario. Contextually, Bénet et al (2019) propose a business model and a strategic map to overcome the limitations of BSC’s weak strategic fundamentals. By conducting a study on an insurance organization, Dwivedi et al (2021) suggest the combination of BSC and BWM.…”

“…The methodology used appears below the name of the few authors: Conceptual articles . Kaplan and Norton (1992, 1996, 2000, 2005), Stewart and Carpenter-Hubin (2000), Gumbus and Wilson (2004), Gumbus et al (2004), Ahn (2005), Atkinson (2006), Punniyamoorthy and Murali (2008), Dechow (2012), Kaplan (2009), Nielsen et al (2017), Gomes and Romao (2017) and Bénet et al (2019). Case studies .…”

“…It has five perspectives—stakeholders’ satisfaction, stakeholders’ contribution, processes, strategies, and capabilities—rather than four in the BSC. Bénet et al (2019) address BSC’s criticism regarding its lack of tactical basics. The researchers propose a structure with three management systems: business model, strategic map, and the BSC.…”

Development of balanced scorecard for manufacturing using interpretive structural modeling and game theory

“…The BSC framework has been applied in many kinds of research studies and various management fields such as supply chain management (Aliakbari Nouri et al, 2019), research and development projects (Purnomo and Sutanto, 2019), commerce (Rickards, 2007;Shan et al, 2019), enterprise resource planning (Kajtazi and Holmberg, 2019;You and Wu, 2019), business (Meena and Thakkar, 2014;B enet et al, 2019;Hamamura, 2019) and quality function deployment (QFD) (Dincer et al, 2019). An integrated approach for the BSC and knowledgebased system (KBS) using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was proposed and an intellectual BSCKBS was designed to produce an improved approach to strategic planning and decision-making (Huang, 2009).…”

“…, 2019), research and development projects (Purnomo and Sutanto, 2019), commerce (Rickards, 2007; Shan et al. , 2019), enterprise resource planning (Kajtazi and Holmberg, 2019; You and Wu, 2019), business (Meena and Thakkar, 2014; Bénet et al. , 2019; Hamamura, 2019) and quality function deployment (QFD) (Dincer et al.…”