Aplicação do Balanced Scorecard ao Setor da Economia Social: o caso de uma Santa Casa da Misericórdia em Portugal

The social economy, also known as the third sector, is the set of organizations originating from social entrepreneurship, which aim to respond to social needs that do not find sufficient or adequate supply in the public and private sector. The Social Solidarity Private Institutions (IPSS) are part of the social economy sector (or third sector), which are non-profit entities. The social economy sector has shown significant growth in recent decades, so the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), as a strategic management model that aims to measure the evolution of an organization in relation to its long-term goals, presents itself as a tool adequate to the management of third sector institutions. This article aims to study and implement the BSC in a Santa Casa da Misericórdia, an entity with IPSS status, using a qualitative methodological approach of an interpretive nature, based on direct data collection and direct contact with the organization and its environment. The results obtained provided information that the BSC proved to be a tool able to helping to outline a strategy for the organization, to communicate it to all employees and also to promote the change of organizational and cultural processes that are more useful to the organization.