1 Balanced Scorecard : Empirical Study on Small and Medium Size Enterprises

The theory states the Balanced Scorecard has several advantages as a performance evaluation method, when compared with exclusively financial measures. The objective of the present study is to analyze the usage rates and the knowledge spreading about the Balanced Scorecard in Portuguese industrial small and medium size enterprises, while researching the existence of factors that explain why the method is not known in all enterprises. We have interviewed people in charge of management accounting in 58 industrial enterprises, from eleven Portuguese Districts. The evidence gathered allowed us to conclude that very few enterprises use the Balanced Scorecard, and that the majority of those in charge interviewed does not know about it. Research on explanatory factors led us to conclude that knowledge about this method is linked with individual characteristics of those in charge of management accounting, such as academic education and age; and with characteristics of the company, such as dimension.