Performance measurement of corporate venture capital -: balanced scorecard in theory and practice

A large number of corporations have invested in e-business ventures in order to create strategic values, such as enhanced innovation or improved entrepreneurship, within the firm's network. The achievement of these objectives may take several years before resulting in financial returns for the corporation and is therefore very difficult to measure. At the same time, challenging market conditions have put financial valuations especially of e-business ventures under pressure over the last years. Consequently, the realisation of strategic returns becomes increasingly important to Corporate Venture Capital investors. This paper develops a performance measurement framework based on the Balanced Scorecard concept of Kaplan and Norton. The framework intends to make the results of Corporate Venture Capital activities more transparent by integrating both strategic and financial measures. The case of Siemens Venture Capital illustrates the practical use of a Balanced Scorecard. It shows the development process of the Siemens Venture Capital Scorecard and demonstrates its evolution over several years.