Do Lebanese Banks Apply Balanced Scorecard in Evaluating Their Performance? An Exploratory Study

Abstract

After the development in the administrative work and the focus on quality in its internal and external dimensions, in addition to the undesirable results of financial performance measures that are directed towards knowing past events and not what will be the case in the future, a new management concept appeared close to the end of the last century called the Balanced Scorecard, that balances financial and non-financial measures of performance, to assess short-term as well as long-term performance in a single report. The current research examines whether or not Lebanese banks apply the Balanced Scorecard by its four main dimensions (financial, client, internal operations, and learning-growth perspectives) in evaluating their performance. To achieve the objective of the study the researchers adopt the descriptive-analytical approach utilizing a five-point Likert style questionnaire as the study tool to collect information from the sample that consisted of 165 executives who work in different managerial positions of various departments at branches of banks listed in the Lebanese stock market. The study reached some important findings, mainly that there are potentials for applying the Balanced Scorecard with its four perspectives—primarily the financial perspective—in varying degrees in commercial banks listed in the Lebanese stock market. Based on the findings, the researchers had a set of recommendations directed to decision-makers in the banking sector.