A critical approach to BSC studies: State of art, critical issues and future trends

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify criticisms of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and create a new model that is more adequate for business performance, thus providing researchers and practitioners with a way to manage critical issues con-nected to the BSC. To this end, we devote our attention to two main research ques-tions: (1) What are the main critical dimensions in the existing studies on BSC? (2) How could the structure of the BSC be modified in order to take into account its critical dimensions? Accordingly, we review articles published in 429 journals, in 22 different subject areas of the Chartered Association of Business Schools' Academ-ic Guide (ABS). We examine a total of 342 papers and obtain 102 relevant papers that focus on criticism of the BSC. Thanks to the information obtained from a survey and interviews conducted with managers of Italian companies, we create an adjusted BSC (ABSC) that allow us to consider the critical aspects from a new perspective, named the critical perspective. The conceptual model is developed in three dimensions (conceptual, structural and environmental). Research findings suggest that considering the critical perspective makes it possible to build the ABSC, making this management tool more accessible and useful for businesses.