Organisational strategic orientation and its impact on non‐financial performance measurement in the financial services industry

Management Accounting (MA) practice is one strand in the complex weave that makes up the social fabric. Social patterns of interaction and societal presuppositions that impel people to act in certain ways are all factors that potentially impinge on the role and nature of MA. Some researchers recognise that normative pressures, as they are associated with social obligations and appropriate social conduct in human behaviours, are significant as far as MA practices are concerned. Thus, MA practices should be understood along with the effects of organisational, vis‐à‐vis management’s, strategic orientation (as a part of normative pressures) in organisations. This empirical study investigates the effect of organisational strategic orientation on performance, especially Non‐financial Performance (NFP) measurement in different types and kinds of financial institutions in Finland, Sweden and Japan. The study reveals that organisational strategic orientation highly influences NFP measurement in financial institutions, though the effects of this factor are different in different financial institutions. After providing the empirical result, some research directions are given for further research.