Italian and Australian local governments: balanced scorecard practices. A research note

Purpose – New public management changes in both the Australian and Italian government sectors have affected their modus operandi. This research aims to illustrate how the balanced scorecard (BSC) has been used in both Italian and Australian local government organisations (LGO), focusing on implementation and practice. Design/methodology/approach – A case study method is applied which was chosen to illustrate the use of the BSC model in both an Australian and an Italian LGO. These specific organisations were chosen as the authors are familiar with their experiments with the BSC. Findings – The main finding was that the BSC was used internally in both the Italian and Australian cases and little material was used for an external accountability reporting technology. Research limitations/implications – The analysis is limited to two LGOs locations, thus no generalisation can be implied. Originality/value – Few studies have reviewed, in the public sector, BSC practices, particularly for local governments.