The use of the Balanced Scorecard in Portugal: Evolution and effects on management changes in Portuguese large companies

This paper aims to present an historical review on the evolution of Balanced Scorecard's use in Portuguese largest companies, since its appearance until the present day, and also to perform an analysis of the current situation regarding the use of this management tool in Portuguese territory. The question to be studied is – how has the use of the BSC performed and evolved in Portugal, in the last 20 years, and how the application of the tool contributes to changes in management. Initially it has been conducted research on studies carried out in Portugal about the application of the BSC, having been identified three major studies performed within the territory: the first starting the end of 1999, the second carried from 2004 onwards, the last study was conducted throughout 2009. To complete the information provided by these studies it was conducted another research on the current conditions of the use of the BSC as well as of relevant level of application depth, and its relations to organizational change and evolution on management practices. This was pursued by identification of both academic works on the subject and main technical books printed in Portugal on the theme. Thus we were able, as a result of the present study, to present a clear picture about the use of BSC in Portugal since its listing and disclosure until the present day.