Title: An empirical examination of both mediated and moderated effects on followers' commitment to change to the organisational BSC approach

Authors: Yi-Feng Yang, Majidul Islam

Addresses: Shu-Te University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. ' Department of Accountancy, JMSB, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd., W., Montreal, Quebec H3G 1M8, Canada

Abstract: Kaplan and Norton (2001) presented their Balanced Scorecard (BSC) for the measurement of corporate performance and the setting of measures for employees| performance and adaptation to fit into corporate dynamism. Studies show that when a leader is unable to raise his/her followers| level of commitment to change to the organisational BSC approach, the corporation will have difficulty in achieving its mission. The commitment to change to the BSC approach provides for long-run growth and healthy business performance. This study was designed to empirically examine the effect of both mediated and moderated relations for the transformational leadership process on the followers| level of commitment to change to the organisational BSC approach. The results of the findings indicated that: there was a positive association between the transformational leader|s people-oriented behaviour and the followers| level of trust, but a negative relationship between the followers| level of trust and their commitment to change to the BSC approach; the level of trust mediated the association between the leader|s transformational task- and people-oriented behaviour and the followers| level of commitment to change to the organisational BSC approach. The findings suggest that the followers| attitude towards the leader, such as their level of general satisfaction, should be identified as a moderating effect/contingency approach.

Keywords: transformational leadership; leadership behaviour; moderated relations; mediated relations; change commitment; organisational BSC; balanced scorecard; corporate performance; performance measurement; trust; organisational change.

DOI: 10.1504/IJAF.2009.026623

International Journal of Accounting and Finance, 2009 Vol.1 No.3, pp.251 - 275

Published online: 21 Jun 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article