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Performance management in companies increasingly requires powerful and sophisticated tools such as the balanced scorecard (BSC) to guarantee the reliability of management decisions. This study aims to determine the role played by corporate culture in the process of adopting this tool. Using the theoretical frameworks of cultural contingency, cognitive theories of the firm, and data from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) on a panel of 100 Cameroonian SMEs using the BSC to monitor their performance, the results indicate that corporate culture significantly influences the level of BSC adoption in SMEs. Specifically, the level of BSC adoption in Cameroonian SMEs increases if the corporate culture incorporates collective myths and beliefs, a sense of language, and a sense of moral values. On the other hand, the level of BSC adoption decreases when the culture does not integrate work methods. These results fit into the framework of cultural contingency theory.