Management Innovation: Case Study of Balanced Scorecard Implementation in Vietnam

Abstract

The study answers the question, “How is a management innovation implemented in a company in Vietnam?” from the perspectives of its participants. Through the case study of the implementation of balanced scorecard in an organization in Vietnam, this study explores the social constructions of an adoptive management innovation and finds that (1) adoptive management innovation follows a pattern of activities which comprises three phases: initiation, execution, and operation; (2) Three mechanisms of communication, training, and institutionalization help to move the management innovation through these phases; (3) In each phase of the adoptive management innovation, series of challenges are emerged along with some discursive tensions. These challenges and discursive tensions tend to be distinctive for each phase; (4) During the processes of adoptive management innovation, there is limited change in participants’ perception; but the participants’ emotion changes during the processes of adoptive management innovation. This study also provides insights on strategies to implement an adoptive management innovation in the context of Vietnam. The implications for theory development and organizational practices are discussed.