The impact of long term orientation and diffusion of innovation on BSC use in Australian hospitals

There is significant evidence of the take-up of the balanced scorecard (BSC) in overseas hospitals. This paper provides the first survey of adoption of the BSC in Australian hospitals . Half of the sample had adopted the BSC, but most were relatively recent adoptions. The BSC appears to be in the early stages ofpenetration of the Australian hospital sector. Barriers to the implementation were identified, as well as the factors that caused the BSC to fail. Inadequate training and lack of resources were the two most important reasons for failure. Two factors, long-term orientation and the use of performance measures for strategy implementation, were investigated to identify their impact on the presence of the BSC. Neither explained the use of BSC.