Survey-based Evidence on Positive Synergies between Adaptive Culture and a Balanced Scorecard

Abstract

Prior management accounting research has addressed how organizational culture may substitute or complement the use of decision-making and control of management accounting systems (MASs). However, this paper argues that not all organizational cultures and MASs are equal. Their compatibility determines whether their usage together creates any positive or negative synergies. This paper follows a 2017 survey-based methodology with 102 managers of different nationalities. Collected responses indicate the role that culture plays in their usage of the balanced scorecard (BSC) and their consciousness concerning Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Remarkably, our survey of managers reveals that adaptive cultures create positive synergies with the BSC and, consequently, positive judgments on the KPI scale.

Keywords

• Management accounting systems
• Organizational culture
• Adaptive culture
• KPI
• BSC