Adherence to the Balanced Scorecard in public and private companies

Abstract

Various studies have indicated that public companies search to meet shareholder expectations can often lead to decision making with a short-term profit focus. This would lead to the loss of investment opportunities in more profitable medium and long-term return projects. Some researchers believe that this problem can be solved by using management tools that favor a balance between financial and non-financial aspects in the company. Among these researchers, Kaplan and Norton argue that this is the main virtue of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Considering the problem BSC intends to solve, this study aims to identify if its characteristics are more adherent to public than to private companies. The problem was investigated through a survey involving executives from 77 companies with annual revenues above R$10 million. Frequency distribution analyses, chi-square tests and Phi and Cramérs V tests were applied, with the support of SPSS software. The results indicate that BSC characteristics are more adherent to public than to private companies, with financial aspects prevailing in companies whose shares are negotiated in the Stock Exchange.