The Balanced Scorecard and long-term financial performance: Evidence from publicly traded companies

Despite the large number of organizations that claim to have adopted a Balanced Scorecard, few studies examine its impact on financial performance. Using publicly-traded firms that are identified as Balanced Scorecard users and a propensity-score matched sample of non-user firms, this study investigates the financial performance impact of BSC usage. Results indicate that over- or under-investment in BSC leads to weaker financial performance and are strongest for the subset of BSC Hall of Fame firms. The findings suggest that implementation of BSC according to the authors' methodology results in significantly better financial performance.