Greening the balanced scorecard

Abstract

Environmental management issues have received an increased amount of attention in recent years, as have various performance measurement systems (PMS) such as the balanced scorecard (BSC). However, implementation of these systems is challenging due to the differences found amongst the companies and users of PMS. This study investigates how the presence of particular supporting factors served to facilitate a PMS change that incorporated environmental measures. Utilization of extant change models enables us to investigate different change factors like advancing and hindering forces, momentum, and the leaders of change. We found two models appropriate for investigating environmental management accounting change, even though the change factors can be either dynamic or static. The study also proposes that company culture should be carefully taken into account when companies are changing their PMS. Technical changes to PMS are far easier to accomplish than are changes to a dominant culture. Finally, we suggest that utilizing the BSC for the purposes of environmental management is a worthwhile pursuit.