CAT Question: Do Balanced Scorecards increase performance in organizations? • Management Challenge and Research Question The research question is: When an organization has implemented a Balanced Scorecard, does performance improve within an organization? Many organizations have Balanced Scorecards that contain metrics that do not necessarily contribute to improved performance. They might also try to measure areas that are not easy or impossible to measure, such as values ​​or commitment. Additionally, organizations may focus more on meeting task milestones or deadlines than on achieving the initiative's desired outcomes. Another problem is that organizations may focus exclusively on Balanced Scorecard measures while ignoring other important operational initiatives. Finally, Balanced Scorecards can increase organizational performance because of the Hawthorne effect or observer expectancy effect that individuals will change their behavior when it is measured in response to the fact that they know they are being studied. Studies have also shown that high performance can be reflected through the Balanced Scorecard, but this reflects more of the manager's relationship with a particular employee than the outcome of a particular initiative. • Summary of findings/evidence (including any limitations encountered by the research) A study published in the Journal of Management Accounting Research (Ittner & Larcker, 1998) examined the effectiveness of the Balanced Scorecard compared to performance measurement methods used in the past. The results showed that only 5% of respondents believe that the Balanced Scorecard approach is significantly more effective in terms of effectiveness. In the International Journal of Business Administration, in... middle of paper... tips. There are several factors that play a role in this observation, many of which have to do with the nature of the Balanced Scorecard model. First, Balanced Scorecards create an atmosphere where performance is observed and often, when an individual's performance is monitored, they are more susceptible to the observer's expectancy effect, meaning these individuals try harder . Second, Balanced Scorecards increase the accountability of managers. This helps ensure managers “do what they say” so that staff and others see them “living” the sales scorecard. Third, when you include measures, objectives and initiatives in the Balanced Scorecard, you highlight their importance. This in turn brings greater focus to achieving the right result and increases performance, but only when the appropriate objectives, initiatives and measures have been selected.