List of Abbreviations
Chapter 6: Chapter 6: Findings on the Associations of Organisation Size and Employee Roles with the BSC
6.5 Descriptive statistics
6.5.3 Descriptive statistics of construct variables
This section provides information about all observed variables in each latent construct regarding means, standard deviations and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients.
6.5.3.1 Strategy translation
This latent variable consists of four observed variables (st1, st2, st3 and st4). On the 7-point Likert scales, research respondents answered the items representing the four observed variables between 4.98 (± 1.43) and 5.83 (± 0.82), which reflected respondents’ strong opinions about strategy translation. Item st1 (Our organisation’s strategy map helps me to better understand our organisation’s strategic objectives) scored highest score, followed by Item st4 (My key performance indicators relate to the organisation’s strategic objectives), and Item st3 (I know all about our organisation’s KPI targets), with Item st2 (I know all about our organisation’s KPIs) receiving the lowest rating.
Table 6.5 Descriptive statistics of strategy translation variable
Item Variable Mean St.D. st1 st2 st3 st4
st1 Our organisation’s strategy map helps me to better understand our organisation’s strategic objectives
5.83 0.82 1
st2 I know all about our organisation’s KPIs
4.98 1.43 0.53* 1 st3 I know all about our
organisation’s KPI targets
5.01 1.41 0.54* 0.88* 1 st4 My KPIs relate to the
organisation’s strategic objectives
5.80 0.97 0.50* 0.47* 0.51* 1
Note: St.D. = standard deviation.
N=1643; * indicates that correlations are statistically significant at ρ < 0.01.
6.5.3.2 Strategy alignment
This latent variable consists of three observed variables (sa1, sa2, and sa3). On the 7-point Likert scale, research respondents answered items corresponding to the
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three observed variables between 5.86 (± 0.86) and 6.09 (± 0.70), which reflected respondents’ strong opinions about strategy alignment. Item sa1 (The organisational KPIs are cascaded proportionately) scored highest, followed by Item sa2 (The organisational KPI targets are cascaded proportionately). Item sa3 (My key performance indicators are aligned with those of other colleagues at the same level) received the lowest score.
Table 6.6 Descriptive statistics of strategy alignment variable
Item Variable Mean St.D sa1 sa2 sa3
sa1 The organisational KPIs are cascaded proportionately
6.09 0.70 1 sa2 The organisational KPI targets are
cascaded proportionately
5.99 0.76 0.70* 1 sa3 My KPIs are aligned with those of other
colleagues at the same level
5.86 0.86 0.51* 0.61* 1 Note: St.D = standard deviation.
N=1661; * indicates that correlations are statistically significant at ρ < 0.01.
6.5.3.3 Strategy as everyone’s everyday job
This latent variable consists of seven observed variables (sj1, sj2, sj3, sj4, sj5, sj6 and sj7). On the 7-point Likert scale, research respondents answered the seven items representing the observed variables between 5.41 (± 1.19) and 6.05 (± 0.73), reflecting respondents’ strong opinions on strategy as everyone’s everyday job.
Item sj4 (My KPI targets support the accomplishment of organisational targets) had the highest score, followed by Item sj3 (My KPI targets are realistic), Item sj2 (I have good quality of key performance indicators) and Item sj5 (There is active dialogue with my direct supervisor when determining my KPIs). Item sj1 (My KPIs are in line with organisational KPIs) placed fifth, followed by Item sj6 (There is active dialogue with my direct supervisor when determining my KPI targets), and the lowest rated item, Item sj7 (The rewards system is linked to KPI target achievement). Overall, the average mean score of the seven observed variables, at 5.88, was far above the neutral point.
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Table 6.7 Descriptive statistics of the strategy as everyone’s everyday job variable
Item
Variable Mean St.D sj1 sj2 sj3 sj4 sj5 sj6 sj7
sj1 My KPIs are in line with the
organisational KPIs 5.9 0.791 1
sj2 I have good quality KPIs
6.01 0.677 0.63* 1 sj3 My KPI targets are realistic
6.04 0.681 0.51* 0.63* 1 sj4 My KPI targets support the
accomplishment of
organisational targets 6.05 0.732 0.62* 0.60* 0.57* 1 sj5 There is active dialogue with my
direct supervisor when
determining my KPIs 5.99 0.887 0.44* 0.48* 0.52* 0.50* 1 sj6 There is active dialogue with my
direct supervisor when
determining my KPI targets 5.79 0.958 0.44* 0.44* 0.44* 0.39* 0.66* 1 sj7 The rewards system is linked to
KPI target achievement 5.41 1.189 0.39* 0.38* 0.34* 0.34* 0.36* 0.45* 1
Note: St.D = standard deviation.
N=1645; * indicates that correlations are statistically significant at ρ < 0.01.
6.5.3.4 Strategy as a continuous process
This latent variable consists of four observed variables (sp1, sp2, sp3 and sp4). On the 7-point Likert scale, research respondents answered the items corresponding to the four observed variables between 5.52 (± 1.09) and 5.88 (± 0.81), reflecting respondents’ strong opinions on strategy as a continuous process. Item sp4 (Performance reporting requires solid proof) reached the highest score, followed by Item sp3 (I find the performance reporting procedure easily understandable), Item sp1 (My competence development is aligned with organisational strategy) and lastly Item sp2 (BSC management is supported by sound information technology) with the lowest score. Overall, the average mean score of the four observed variables was 5.40, which was far above the neutral point.
Table 6.8 Descriptive statistics of strategy as a continuous process variable
Item Variable Mean Std. D sp1 sp2 sp3 sp4
sp1 My competence development is aligned with organisational
strategy 5.55 1.01 1
sp2 BSC management is supported with sound information
technology 5.52 1.09 0.58* 1
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reporting procedure easily
understandable 5.66 0.99 0.56* 0.68* 1
sp4 Performance reporting
requires solid proof 5.88 0.81 0.46* 0.53* 0.61* 1 Note St. D = standard deviation.
N=1656; * indicates that correlations are statistically significant at ρ < 0.01.
6.5.3.5 Leadership involvement
This latent variable consists of six observed variables (li1, li2, li3, li4, li5 and li6). On the 7-point Likert scale, research respondents answered the six items matching the observed variables between 5.55 (± 1.02) and 6.03 (± 0.80), reflecting respondents’ strong opinions regarding leadership involvement. Item li6 (My direct supervisor monitors my performance through KPIs) reached the highest score, followed by Item li5 (My direct supervisor actively guides me to reach my performance goals) and Item li4 (The head of the organisation motivates me to accomplish my targets). Item li2 (The head of the organisation provides sufficient information regarding the organisation’s strategies and goals) placed fourth, followed by Item li1 (The head of the organisation educates me about performance management based on the BSC). Item li3 (I know all about our organisation’s objectives) received the lowest rating. Overall, the average mean score of the six observed variables was 5.82, far above the neutral point.
Table 6.9 Descriptive statistics of leadership involvement variable
Item Variable Mean St.D li1 li2 li3 li4 li5 li6
li1 The head of the organisation educates me about performance management based on the BSC
5.62 1.03 1
li2 The head of the organisation provides sufficient information regarding the organisation’s strategies and goals
5.86 0.90 0.63* 1
li3 I know all about our organisation's objectives
5.55 1.02 0.55* 0.59* 1 li4 Head of the organisation
motivates me to accomplish my targets
5.88 0.95 0.64* 0.64* 0.60* 1
li5 My direct supervisor actively guides me to reach my performance goals
5.98 0.89 0.40* 0.40* 0.38* 0.49* 1
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li6 My direct supervisor monitors my performance through key performance indicator
6.03 0.80 0.41* 0.41* 0.43* 0.48* 0.70* 1
Note: St.D mean standard deviation.
N=1650, * means correlations are statistically significant at ρ < 0.01
6.5.3.6 Mean ranking score of latent variables
Table 6.10 provides information on all five latent variables with respect to their number of observed variables, means, standard deviations and mean rankings.
Based on the mean rankings, the latent variable of strategy alignment received the highest score (mean= 5.98), followed by strategy as everyone’s everyday job (mean= 5.88), leadership involvement (mean= 5.82), strategy as a continuous process (mean= 5.62), and lastly strategy translation (mean= 5.40). From these rankings, it appears that, among the five principles of SFO, strategy alignment has the strongest influence on BSC implementation while strategy translation has the least influence.
Table 6.10 Mean rankings of latent variables Latent Variable Number of Observed Variables
Mean Standard Deviation
Mean Ranking
Strategy translation 4 5.40 1.16 5
Strategy alignment 3 5.98 0.77 1
Strategy as everyone’s everyday job 7 5.88 0.845 2
Strategy as a continuous process 4 5.62 0.97 4
Leadership involvement 6 5.82 0.93 3