Increasing interest is being shown in performance measurement, in both the academic literature and by practitioners. When implementing innovative products, organisations are facing issues of how to measure and manage the performance of the products concerned and how to do so in a worthwhile way. Reviewing existing literature suggests that there has been limited research on the value of performance measurement and management processes and indeed little conceptual distinction has been made between performance measurement and performance management. A conceptual framework is developed, structured around concepts from the existing literature showing two ways of distinguishing performance measurement and performance management. Performance management processes are shown as broader than performance measurement processes and the influences of the processes on performance are also displayed, another way of differentiating between the two concepts. The framework provides a structure for a pattern matching analysis using empirical data. Empirical data collection involved four case studies, each focusing on a medical device being implemented in the UK public healthcare sector. Forty-six semi-structured interviews explored performance measurement and performance management processes in the implementation of the innovative products, as well as exploring the influences of those processes on performance of the innovative products. The findings from the thesis highlight key performance measurement and performance management processes that occur in the implementation of innovative products, finding that the two can best be distinguished by their influence, or lack of influence, on performance. Performance reporting is also highlighted as a key concept. The findings indicate that performance measurement and reporting processes alone cannot be expected to have an influence on performance, however if performance management processes occur too then they can.

No description available.

The development and application of performance measurement systems for a purchasing function within a professional service company possesses a great challenge for both practitioners and academics. Despite the increasing popularity of this topic, the systems that are currently developed are rarely adequate to be applicable at the business-unit level. Furthermore, the existing productivity measures are predominantly designed to measure performance in industries where the inputs and outputs are both tangible and standardized items. Intangible and non-quantifiable factors of production cannot be reliably measured by manufacturing performance methodologies. Consequently, purchasing professionals seek tools to accurately track purchasing performances and connect it to given business strategies and objectives. This paper aims to develop a design of the performance measurement system that can be applicable onto the optimize-sourcing department of the selected firm of this study. The first section of the paper outlines key performance measurement concepts and establishes a theoretical framework that supports the following research. Subsequent questionnaires and interviews that were conducted with vital stakeholders reveal the flaws of the current performance measurement system. Conclusions derived from the interviews and questionnaires support the findings of extensive literature reviews. In the following chapters, the paper focuses on the development of the new model that overcomes limitations of the model in use. The thesis also lists additional recommendations on the implementation phase of the new model. In the final section, this paper emphasizes the limitations of the proposed model and describes potential challenges related to the implementation phase.

There are many views about the meaning and importance of performance measurement of employees and of organizations. This thesis is concerned with many of these views but is most concerned with performance contracts and quality management and the relationship between them. The whole concept of the measurement of performance is sometimes questioned and in some cases regarded as being both subjective and futile. Van de Ven and Ferry (1980) argued that: "Whether the difficulties associated with assessing the performance of complex organizations can be met by a single set of measurement instruments and process guidelines has still to be proven." Glover and Kelly (1987) contended that measuring the performance of individual jobs can also be difficult: "Performance is hard or impossible to measure with many jobs and occupations, think for example of the differences between the work of architects, surgical appliance fitters, design engineers, criminals, politicians, street traders and musicians. There is often a conflict between volume and quantity of output in the long-term and the short-term such as when profits come before investment and vice-versa." Similarly, Van De Yen and Morgan (1980) argued with regard to organizational performance that: "Performance is a complex construct that reflects the criteria and standards used by decision makers to assess the functioning of an organization. As this definition suggests, performance is a value judgement on the results desired from the organization at different levels of analysis--and--often change over time." However, the demand for measurement of performance, whether it comes from the first level of supervision or from a shareholders' meeting, does tend to mean that attempts be made to measure performance (Talley, 1991).

Thesis (doctoral)--Universität St. Gallen, 2008.

Abstract Facilities management (FM) has been identified as a significant contributor to the overall economy of Australia. Its focus is not only the maintenance of property but also the operation of business. Measuring and improving performance in the FM of buildings is becoming important for organisations to create stakeholder satisfaction. Among various FM performance indicators and measurement approaches, choosing the right ones is always difficult. Besides, FM lacks a commonly-agreed or generally-accepted definition of what it entails and a theory of what it does. Its unclear scope and activities are a clear gap in the current state of knowledge. The recognition of the interrelatedness of these aspects is important and leads to the research question for the current project, namely: How can performance be measured and improved in the FM of buildings to satisfy different stakeholders? The project’s aim is to answer this research question by broadening the traditional scope of FM to acknowledge the situation of various relevant stakeholders (people); by offering a new demand-side approach (process) to measure performance; and demonstrating ways to use that means to improve the FM of the built environment (space). Acknowledging the importance of independent research skills and the ability to relate a specific topic to a broad framework of knowledge, this project contributes specific knowledge about the FM industry. A new approach (a virtuous cycle of integrated FM) is developed not only to link the input of facilities and services with the output of business operations, but also to allow multiple stakeholders to participate in decision-making. As demonstrated by the theoretical outcomes, customers are central among other stakeholders to business operations and they have patently different views and management outlooks on FM from the supply-side parties, namely, owners, managers and some tenants. Thus, a balanced approach for all stakeholders in an organisation is required to minimise the effect of asymmetric, imperfect and incomplete information. In addition to “best practice” reckoning which has been widely applied in organisations for years, this research recommends a “best match” approach. The answer to the research question emerges in the form of a performance flowchart with a list of operational tasks, which act as guidelines to acknowledge the situation of various relevant stakeholders, measure performance, and demonstrate ways to improve the FM of the built environment. Importantly, the research is not only directed at grounded theory-building; it acts as a pioneering pilot study to stimulate discussion among professionals and specialists, contribute to the current FM field and provide a basis for future research.

Universiẗat, Diss.--Bamberg, 2007. / Literaturverz. S. 227 - 253.

Zugl.: Köln, Fachhochsch., Diplomarbeit.

This thesis explores the question of whether Performance Management Systems (PMS) contribute to the managing of Executive Agencies (EAs). Exploring this question empirically in the context of the Jamaican public sector, it develops a realist methodology with methods, which are applied to the study of four Jamaican Executive Agencies (JEAs). Primary research conducted in 2011 through semi-structured interviews is combined with secondary research that considers both official government and unofficial resources such as reports (official) and newspapers (unofficial). The thesis is one of very few studies to focus on JEAs, one of only two studies to explore PMS in JEAs, and the first to make a focus on PMS in JEAs the primary object of study. It therefore contributes to a very limited literature, which is, therefore, both a strength of the thesis insofar as it breaks new ground, and also a challenge. It is a challenge because the lack of available literature on JEAs with which to relate. In order to address this lack, drawing on Historical Institutionalism (HI), Path Dependency (PD) and Policy Transfer theories, it argues that it is reasonable to draw on British literature owing to the historical influences of Britain on Jamaica, their institutional and constitutional contexts and, particularly, because the agencification of the Jamaican public sector has been based on the British Next Steps Model. From reviewing the British literature an Integrative Conceptual Framework (ICF) is developed. This framework incorporates those factors deemed as critical to the development of PMS in the organisational performance management literature, (that is, both management and public management), in order to harness the structural, procedural, situational and behavioural aspects discussed in the existing literature into a single framework. The ICF is at the heart of the thesis because it influences the methods used in conducting the primary research, and the presentation of research findings. It is therefore a major contribution of the thesis, and it is recommended that this framework could be applied in other contexts (e.g. in the private sector) and locations (e.g. in countries other than Jamaica) to analyse the use of PMS for managing. By triangulating the primary research findings with secondary data, that is, existing literature on the four case studies, the ICF is applied to generate a longitudinal aspect to the study. It is also found that PMS do contribute to managing JEAs, and that the use of PMS in JEAs has evolved positively over time for managing JEAs. The research findings discuss how PMS contributes to managing the four JEAs in terms of the different components of the ICF. Based on this, the study is able to add to existing academic literature, and make recommendations to practitioners. The contribution of this thesis to literature therefore incorporates both a conceptual and theoretical aspect, and also has a practical element. Both of these, it claims, could form the basis for further research.

The master thesis deals with the performance evaluation of the selected company according to the multi-criteria model START PLUS. Based on the assessment of key performance indicators in individual areas a scoring is created in order to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The last chapter of this thesis is dedicated to proposal of concrete measures and recommendations to increase the performance of the analyzed company.