Performance measurement under Balanced Scorecard: the case study of a Co-operative Credit Bank in Piedmont

Abstract

This paper aims at studying the implementation of a management control system in a Piedmont Cooperative Bank: the system is based on Balanced Scorecard model (BSC) suggested by Kaplan and Norton
(1996, 2001) applied in the services sector.
The paper starts with the research method and the theoretical background concerning the business model of Cooperative Banks.
Next section is devoted to the presentation of the case study: specifically, the section outlines the competitive position and the organizational structure of the bank, that is wide spread in Piedmont (North of Italy), compared with the other main Cooperative Banks in Italy.
The section includes short comments about the bank's control needs, also considering Risk Management and the way Basel 2 Accord has caused a more extensive need of managerial information.
The following section contains
- the design of the BSC for the bank (corporate) and for the bank's branches (organizational units);
- the operative tools required for the implementation of the system (e.g. current and future performance measures under the different perspectives of BSC);
- the main critical aspects connected to the implementation of the control system itself.
The results obtained confirm the need of a control system based on a comprehensive framework that translates company's strategy into a coherent set of performance measures for the bank (corporate) and, as a
consequence, for the bank's branches (organizational units) as well.
The paper ends with conclusions, especially regarding the care required in choosing the suitable operative tools to translate BSC into practise, implications and suggestions for future researches.