A Swedish solution to pervasive problems – implementation of Balanced Scorecard?

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Summary, in English

This article examines the diffusion of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in Swedish municipalities. The point of departure in the article is that there is a gap in our understanding concerning the diffusion of new management tools. Over the last decade, research has largely been based on empirical evidence regarding early adopters. Furthermore, these studies have largely been based on case study evidence and on interviews with managers at high organisational levels. We have far less knowledge of the diffusion process over time. Knowledge is also lacking regarding the employment of such constructs within individual organisations. The article is based on a survey of 190 municipalities in Sweden which studied their adoption and employment of the BSC. The empirical findings not only demonstrate that there has been a diffusion of the BSC among Swedish municipalities, but also that the diffusion process largely follows a S-shaped pattern. A mixture of institutional changes can explain some of the diffusion. Interesting to notice is that the diffusion seems to have some pervasive features. A fifth perspective is very common. Further, BSC is mainly implemented in large municipalities and soft services such as elderly care. However, smaller municipalities adopted BSC earlier than the larger ones. The empirical findings also show that the BSC is associated with interpretative viability, both concerning employment and content.

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