International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 12, No. 12; 2017 ISSN 1833-3850 E-ISSN 1833-8119 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 204 Using Balanced Scorecard for Managing Performance in Selected Ghanaian Banks Benjamin Agyeman 1 , James Bonn 1 & Collins Osei 1 1 Department of Business Administration and Economics, Presbyterian University College, Ghana Correspondence: Benjamin Agyeman, Department of Business Administration and Economics, Presbyterian University College, Abetifi, Ghana. E-mail: agyemanben35@yahoo.com Received: October 12, 2017 Accepted: October 28, 2017 Online Published: November 20, 2017 doi:10.5539/ijbm.v12n12p204 URL: https://doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v12n12p204 Abstract Prior to 1992, Kaplan and Norton posited that organizations solely rely on financial measures to manage their performance. It has become possible for organizations to incorporate in addition to financial measures non- financial measures to manage their performance. It is in this light that balanced scorecard is one of the tools used to manage performance. However, managing the overall performance of organizations using balanced scorecard is limited in literature in Ghanaian banks. This study explores the extent of use of the four perspectives of balanced scorecard as a tool to for managing performance in selected Ghanaian banks. Survey research method was employed. In relation to the extent of used of balanced scorecard perspectives by selected Ghanaian banks to manage performance, it was found that financial perspective was used followed by customer perspective, learning and growth perspective, and internal business process. The ANOVA test showed that the mean scores of the four perspectives of the balanced scorecard was statistically and significantly different from each other. The research concludes that, Ghanaian banks relied heavily on financial perspective to measure performance. Keywords: Balanced Scorecard, Bank Performance, financial measures, non- financial measures, Ghana 1. Introduction The effect of non-financial variables on the financial performance of banks in Ghana can become significant. The extent to which customer satisfaction, internal business processes, organizational learning and growth influences financial performance indicators is therefore of great importance in assessing performance of banks in Ghana (Yahaya, 2009). Conventional performance measurement systems have been seen as inadequate and insufficient for appropriately and pertinently measuring firm’s performance in the current environment (Ridwan, Harun, & Fahmid, 2013). Today’s competitive environment demands continuous improvement and innovation. However, traditional financial accounting measures like return on investment (ROI) and earnings per share (EPS) can give misleading signals for such activities. The traditional financial performance measures work well for manufacturing industries, but are not adequate for the skills and competencies that companies are trying to master for the contemporary business environment. The complexity of managing an organization today requires that managers are able to view performance in several areas at once. The balanced scorecard allows managers to look at the business from four important perspectives i.e. customer perspective (how do customers see us), internal business perspective (what must we excel at), innovation and learning perspective (can we continue to improve and create value) and financial perspective (how do we look to shareholders). While giving senior managers information from four different perspectives, the balance scorecard minimizes information overload by limiting the number of measures used. It forces managers to focus on the handful of measures that are most critical. Hence the question of the extent of use of balance scorecard perspectives by selected Ghanaian banks? The researcher believe that with the openness of Ghana to the world and foreign investors with a sound political environment and peaceful nation, the banking sector should start adopting holistic performance measurement systems such as the BSC to demonstrate to stakeholders that this sector is turning to exploit financial and non-financial measures to provide investors with performance information. Therefore, a research work of this type is significant and worthy of investigation within the context of the banking sector in Ghana. Asante, 2013 examined the different measures, financial and non-financial, used by Ghanaian banks to evaluate the financial performance of their branches and if the same performance measures are used to access the performance of the divisional managers. Nawangwulan,