The Balanced Scorecard as a Knowledge Management Tool: A French Experience in a Semi-Public Insurance Company

Abstract:     
In this paper we present the Balanced Scorecard, a Strategic Control tool, which is quite famous all around the world and in European countries. Its principle objective is to articulate planning decisions with control ones thanks to non-financial indicators. The Strategic Control and the Agency Theories constitute the foundation of this tool. But in Northern Europe, some specific Balanced Scorecards have been designed within the Knowledge Management Theory framework To work, the Balanced Scorecard needs a sophisticated information system support.

Using two theoretical backgrounds, the Strategic Control approach and Knowledge Management Theory, we analyse the relevance of the Balanced Scorecard. More particularly, we present the French situation. To begin, we show that French managers believe that the Balanced Scorecard is a relevant management instrument to drive the firm's objectives. Secondly, we describe the Balanced Scorecard of a semi-public French insurance company.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 17

Keywords: Balanced Scorecard, Strategic Control, Non-financial Indicators, Knowledge Management, French Experience

JEL Classification: M10, M40, M46, M47

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