The effect of balanced scorecard on organizational performance in the public sector in Kenya: a case study of Kenya Revenue Authority

Abstract

There is an increasing interest on the performance measurement in government since late 1980s encouraged by the new public management movement. Many governments have adopted some sort of performance measurement initiatives to enhance their services and promote transparent and accountable government. The general objective of the study sought to examine the effect of balanced scorecard on organizational performance in the public sector in Kenya a case study of Kenya Revenue Authority. The specific objectives of this study were to establish whether Customer Focus had an impact on the performance of the KRA, to ascertain the effect of financial management on performance of KRA, to determine the effect of internal processes management on performance of KRA and to find out the effect of organizational learning and growth on performance of the KRA. This study utilized a descriptive survey which employed the use of a case study. The population of interest in the study consisted of management staff in all functional departments in KRA. Descriptive analysis and content analysis were employed. In order to examine the effect of balanced scorecard on organizational performance in the public sector in Kenya at KRA, selfadministered drop and pick questionnaires were distributed among sampled' respondents as means of data collection. The data was coded and analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) to enable the responses to be grouped into various categories. Inferential statistics of regression analysis and analysis of variance were used to analyse and present data. Tables, charts and other graphical presentations as appropriate were used to present the data collected. The findings of the study established and concluded that the balanced score card is an instrumental system which has amassed many benefits for the authority. From the findings and conclusions of the study the researcher recommends that for effective and efficient implementation of the BSC, KRA has to ensure its BSC has an appropriate mix of the leading and lagging indicators, embrace a top down approach for the success of the BSC, identify and establish facts behind the low scores in the organizational learning and growth perspective as well as develop mitigating strategies for the same. Finally for the purpose of generalising these findings, a study encompassing more public institutions needs to be conducted.