Performance measurement of Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) is of increasing importance for aid agencies, policy-makers and donors. A widely used benchmark for measuring the efficiency of NPOs is the overhead cost ratio, consisting of the total money spent on administration and fundraising relative to the budget. Donors generally favor a lower overhead cost ratio as it ensures that more Money directly reaches beneficiaries. Unlike fundraising expenses, administrative costs do not contribute to advertising the actions of an NPO even though they account for a significant proportion of overhead cost. Reducing administrative expenses is a logical consequence from a financial viewpoint, but might negatively affect NPOs through the resulting administrative capacities. This phenomenon is known as "Nonprofit Starvation Cycle" This work provides an analytical framework for analyzing NPO decision making concerning administrative costs. The paper provides answers to important research questions on the optimal level of administrative spending, the influencing factors and the effects of available information on NPOs. The research shows that focusing on financial performance measurements can result in reduced utility created for NPOs. Less transparency often leads to increased utility for NPOs, but more transparency can increase NPOs' utility if the information available exceeds a certain threshold. Fluctuating donations are challenging for NPOs' planning and may Impact administrative capacities negatively.

The wide range of applications for single input single output controllers have encouraged interest in monitoring their performance. Over the past two decades researchers in the area have found many performance enhancement opportunities by applying these techniques. These are most evident in large operational plants with hundreds of controllers being monitored at the same time. Early performance measures were based on minimum variance control as a benchmark for controller performance. Many other procedures have since emerged that have improved the level of accuracy in these performance measures. In addition, these improvements made it easier to implement control loop performance monitoring in large industrial settings. This thesis looks at the performance measures in use for single input single output controllers. The work here looks at incorporating these different measures for a specific manufacturing plant. Ways of identifying the goals and objectives of controllers in a system are presented. Furthermore, measures are proposed that most accurately indicate if these goals and objectives are being met. The concept is demonstrated on a distillation system in a gas plant. It is shown how using these objective driven techniques can provide the user with sound results. These results do not require much user analysis to identify sources of problems and areas of improvement.

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) is a holistic management philosophy put forward by Eliyahu Goldratt in 1984. The thinking process and improvement tools discussed in this theory are mainly geared to manufacturing environments, however their applicability to service environments has also been shown for private professional service organizations. This study demonstrates that the steps and principles of the TOC can also be applied to non-profit services, such as the elective course registration process described in this thesis. In the case of non-profit organizations, the challenge is to define the performance measures of the TOC, which are Throughput, Inventory, and Operating Expense. This study offers a novel definition for these measurements, and using the principles of the TOC, it identifies the bottleneck and constraints of the elective course registration process. Using this analysis, the study then redesigns the system in order to improve the performance measures of the system.

This report explores the effects of rapid growth in Austin, Texas, with an emphasis on local government budgets, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction. The relationship between urban growth and public finances has been studied extensively, but a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between growth and public finances, service delivery performance, and citizen satisfaction over time is lacking. A multi-decade analysis reveals a steady increase in the cost of local government services and levels of taxation, with corresponding high performance and citizen satisfaction over time. In light of these findings, recommendations to improve cost-effectiveness, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction include: regular audits of the City’s performance measurement system to ensure the metrics tracked remain relevant to the challenges; better coordination of taxes and expenditures among local government entities to minimize the tax impact on residents; greater consideration of less costly alternative municipal service delivery systems; and concerted efforts to engage residents in the budget and service delivery decisions. / text

Empirical studies within a cognitive load framework have determined that for novice learners, worked examples provide appropriate levels of instructional guidance. As learners advance in specific subject domains, worked examples should be gradually replaced by practice problems with limited guidance. These studies compared immediate and delayed performance in transfer from examples to practice problems using example-problems pairs and gradual fixed fading of worked examples as well as a control condition of pure problem solving. These studies were conducted with employees of a financial services company in a classroom environment. In Experiments 1 and 2, the fading condition indicated possible benefits over the other conditions on immediate and delayed performance measures (although results were not statistically significant). Experiment 3 used a modified fading method and demonstrated that the fading condition performed marginally better than the problem solving condition on delayed performance measures (although results were not statistically significant). Even though the fading condition did not demonstrate significant advantages in immediate post-test measures, over time learners benefited most from this condition. Experiment 4 investigated if the delayed fading effect found in experiment 3 would be observed using far transfer test performance measures. The results of this experiment indicated that the fading condition performed marginally better than the problem solving condition on delayed transfer post-test performance (although results were not statistically significant). Generally the results of this thesis favored the fading condition over the example-problem and problem solving conditions, and the advantage of this condition was enhanced with greater performance in delayed and transfer post-test measures.

abstract: In this study, I examine the extent to which firms rely on relative performance evaluation (RPE) when setting executive compensation. In particular, I examine whether firms use information about peer performance to determine compensation at the end of the year, i.e. after both firm and peer performance are observed. I find that RPE is most pronounced for firms that allow little or no scope for ex post subjective adjustments to annual bonuses. Conversely, firms that rely mainly on subjectivity in determining bonus exhibit little use of RPE. These findings suggest that information about peer performance is not used at the end of the year. Instead, peer performance seems to be incorporated in performance targets at the beginning of the year, at least among firms primarily using objective performance measurements. In addition, I provide new evidence on the determinants of the use of subjectivity. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Accountancy 2013

The thesis evaluates both the business and financial performance of Arctic Paper Munkedals AB. The company was founded in 1817 and is located in Munkedal, Sweden. The evaluation was achieved through ratio analysis of the annual reports of Arctic Paper Munkedals AB over a five-year period and business performance analysis using the balanced scorecard model. The data collections are from the annual financial reports for five years before the 2008 recession. Different financial ratios were evaluated such as short-term liquidity ratios, leverage ratios, profitability ratios, asset utilization and capital market ratios. The mathematical calculations were established for ratio analysis from 2003-2007 along with graphical analysis and comparisons. According to Altman (The Journal of Finance, 1968), observed evidence for five years prior to failure was cited as conclusive that ratio analysis can be useful in the prediction of failure. The research paper also analyzes the business performance of Arctic Paper Munkedals AB using the balanced scorecard model. This model is a customer-based planning and process improvement system, with its primary focus on driving an organization's change process by identifying and evaluating pertinent performance measures. It complements the traditional financial perspective with other non­financial perspectives such as customer satisfaction, internal business process as well as learning and growth. The balanced set of performance measures tells a concise yet complete story about the achievement and performance of the organization toward its mission and goals. It provides a holistic view of what is happening in the organization.

Magister Legum - LLM / An understanding of the structure, function and performance relationships in different sports, including softball, allows for improved coaching approaches, development of sport specific fitness and skills training programmes, team selections and talent identification in young players. Despite the fact that fast pitch softball is an established sport with a long history, it has received little scientific attention. It does for example, not have a specific battery of softball specific fitness tests and relies on the tests and norms of baseball. The specific morphological and fitness demands of the sport are therefore not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to establish whether morphological and fitness characteristics are related to skill and performance measures in men's fast pitch softball players and to determine what the strengths of any such relationships are. The sample was purposively selected and consisted of 15 Provincial and 15 club male fast pitch softball players. All participants were members of the provincial Softball Federation. Anthropometric, fitness and skills test and measurements were conducted at the training sites over a number of weeks because it coincided with team training. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, skinfolds, and were done in accordance with ISAK specifications. Derived anthropometric variables included BMI and body fat percentage. The following physical fitness tests were conducted: vertical jump test, standing broad jump and the Illinois agility run while the skills tests conducted were the softball throw for distance, the two base sprint test, the batting tests and the fielding test. Match statistics were easier to obtain since records were available in printed form from the Provincial softball federation for the Provincial players and from the club for its members. The data obtained were analysed and interpreted both collectively as a group of thirty and then separately as provincial and club teams for the purpose of comparison. Since the data were not normally distributed, the Spearman's rank Correlation was used to test for associations between variables. Comparisons of the squads were done using the nonparametric Wilcoxon Rank Sum test. The results of the study identified a number of strong significant relationships between the different variables tested. Height and percent body fat, amongst others were found to be the two anthropometric variables which significantly interacted with two key performance areas of fast pitch softball i.e. batting and fielding. Percent body fat also negatively correlated with the vertical jump test which highlights the general negative impact of excess fat on performance. The relationships established in this research strongly suggest that coaches include fitness, morphological and skills tests in their coaching and fitness programmes and they should further be used in team selections processes as they are strong indicators for success and will make the selection process more objective.

<p>The main objective of this thesis is to analyze the transportation infrastructure based on performance measures. In doing so, the abstract presents a transportation network as a system of nodes and links. It is important to identify critical components in transportation networks. In identifying critical components of the network, performance measures such as nodal degree, nodal closeness, nodal eigen vector, nodal betweenness, which are the most widely used were explored in the analysis of the network. These measures account for the vulnerability of a node to failure in the transportation network.</p> <p>In our daily use of transportation networks, we are faced with disruptions that engender change in the transportation network. Disruptions tend to be commonplace in transportation systems. These include manmade disruptions such as accidents to natural disasters such as floods due to rainfall and hurricanes, seismic activities among others which are unprecedented. These incidents change how road users interact with the transportation system due to the disruptions that occur. The disruptions cause increased travel time, delays and even loss of property. These disruptions lead to direct, indirect and induced impacts.</p> <p>This study provides a firsthand diagnosis of the vulnerability of the transportation network to flood by ranking the nodes using performance measures and multicriteria evaluation. The paper found out that various performance measures may produce different critical nodes but with the employment of sensitivity analysis and veto rule, the most critical node can be established The paper found out that node 80 is the most critical and essential node of the entire network after the impact of flood. </p>

Purpose – This research aims to examine the relevant literature related to maintenance performance measurement in the manufacturing sector. In the process, innovative approaches and models utilized to measure and manage maintenance performance in manufacturing operational settings are classified and examined. Based on this investigation, future research directions and themes are identified. Design/methodology/approach – A database of 251 peer-reviewed publications, published during the last 30 years, was utilized for the purpose of this research. The published works included contributions from both practitioners and scholars. Findings – This literature review-based research revealed important themes related to evolution of maintenance performance management. These themes focus on the effective utilization of maintenance resources, information systems support, and human factor management. Based on this literature review, a conceptual framework, which traces the different operational and organizational facets of the evolution of maintenance performance management, is offered. Research limitations/implications – Based on the findings of this study, it is concluded that the area of maintenance performance and management is in need of more future systematic research efforts aimed at solidifying theoretical constructs and promoting the utilization of more practical applications. Practical implications – Findings derived from this investigation have relevant manufacturing implications. In this context, understanding the different approaches to maintenance performance measurement and management, as utilized in manufacturing organizations, is critical to these organizations' performance improvement efforts. Originality/value – Understanding the types and scopes of the different approaches and models utilized to manage and measure maintenance performance in manufacturing operational settings is important in light of the growing competitiveness of the manufacturing sector.