An exploration into the implementation of the balanced scorecard: a multiple case study approach from Saudi Arabia

This research investigates the diffusion and change processes of the BSC in three Saudi companies. It examines the role of agents and how they impact on and shape the implementation, change and/or abandonment of the BSC, resulting in intended and unintended outcomes. The research draws on two theories – strong structuration theory (SST) (Stones, 2005) and diffusion of innovation theory (DIT; Rogers, 2003) – to analyse the production and/or reproduction of social structures, thereby explaining how and why change and/or stability occurs. The research embraces an interpretive and qualitative research approach based on three case studies. The main sources of data include semi-structured interviews with agents involved in adopting and implementing the BSC at different positions and hierarchal levels, and collection and analysis of documentary evidence.
The findings indicate that the process of BSC diffusion in the companies was influenced by a number of external structural forces such as government reforms, ownership structure and external consultants, and by internal factors such as powerful organisational members and agents. Each case study reveals a different BSC diffusion process and outcome. The first illustrates a successful process that resulted in changes to government social structures and the production of new social structures that embody the values and norms of performance, control and accountability, thereby bringing about a revolutionary change in the company and resulting in a number of intended and unintended outcomes. In contrast, the second case study reveals how resistance between two clusters of agents limited the BSC’s diffusion in the company, and hence restricted its impact. Finally, the third case study is a subsidiary company that presents an early stage of the BSC diffusion process. Thus, it examines how and why the BSC was introduced into the company, and highlights the impact of the parent company on the subsidiary.