Purpose: Agri-food firms face many challenges when assessing and managing their performance. The purpose of this research is to determine important factors for an integrated agri-food supply chain performance measurement system. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses the Peruvian kiwicha supply chain as a meaningful context to examine critical factors affecting agri-food supply chain performance. The research uses interpretative structural modelling (ISM) with fuzzy MICMAC methods to suggest a hierarchical performance measurement model. Findings: The resulting kiwicha supply chain performance management model provides insights for managers and academic theory regarding managing competing priorities within the agri-food supply chain. Originality/value: The model developed in this research has been validated by cooperative kiwicha associations based in Puno, Peru, and further refined by experts. Moreover, the results obtained through ISM and fuzzy MICMAC methods could help decision-makers from any agri-food supply chain focus on achieving high operational performance by integrating key performance measurement factors.

Introduction: With many thousands of deaths still annually attributable to driving under the influence (DUI), it remains imperative that we continually address the problem of producing and sustaining effective countermeasures, and that we subject these efforts to empirical scrutiny. This article presents relevant findings from state-wide datasets. Results: A formula generating a potentially useful metric for assessing aspects of the DUI prosecutorial chain is presented, focusing on the rate of proactive DUI arrests. While in need of cautious interpretation due to issues of inherent inaccuracies in large databases, small numbers of crashes and/or arrests in multiple jurisdictions, and the lack of replication in other states, the analyses show no relationship between the level of DUI arrest activity and DUI-related crashes. This finding brings into question the efficacy of the many millions of dollars devoted each year to targeted DUI enforcement, as it is currently being implemented. Conclusions: Results are discussed in terms of developing adequate disincentives to DUI so as to raise general deterrence via dramatic increases in proactive DUI enforcement and then engaging in pervasive and persistent social marketing of such efforts to maximize the perception that arrest and punishment for DUI is always imminent, that penalties will be swift, certain, and severe. It is echoed that accurate data need to be collected at all levels of the DUI arrest and prosecution process in every jurisdiction within a state, so as to facilitate the empirical assessment of countermeasure efficacy in reducing alcohol-related crashes. Impact on Industry: Given that this work needs to be replicated, the impact on the traffic safety industry is potentially huge. The present data indicate that law enforcement efforts to further abate DUI-related crashes are apparently ineffective, though likely necessary to maintain reductions achieved in the 80s and early 90s. Thus, to attain additional systematic reductions, a dramatic increase in enforcement will be necessary as will a diversification of abatement efforts, including an increase in aggressive social marketing tactics to positively impact our traffic safety culture by making DUI universally unacceptable (for a discussion of this latter issue and on the use of positive reinforcement to change driver behavior, see Dula & Geller, 2007).

The objective of this study is to investigate the approaches utilised by external decision-makers in their evaluation of the different facets of performance of manufacturing organisations, operating as open systems. In process, important linkages which exist among relevant performance parameters are explored. The types and frequencies of performance measures used by the sampled Portuguese financial analysts are compared using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis. Results tend to underscore the significance of the collective performance of all subsystems of the manufacturing system. Based on the findings of this research, implications focusing on the management of organisational performance systems are identified.

Purpose - This paper aims to introduces a measure to assess the perceived effectiveness of multi-hospital organizations (MOs). Design/methodology/approach - A sample of top managers of non-profit hospitals serves as the study setting. Data were collected via mail surveys. Usable responses were obtained from 189 hospitals. The measure was developed by considering the instrumentality and effect components of a set of relevant motives for joining an MO. During the course of the study, three alternative formulations were examined. Findings - Results show that the measures based on effect alone and a multiplicative combination of effect and instrumentality demonstrate sound psychometric properties. The recommendation here is to adopt the latter measure. Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to a particular sample. Replications among other samples are needed to validate the current findings. Also, because the exact content of the objective function of a hospital for joining an MO is not necessarily constant over time, there is a need to conduct similar studies on a periodic basis. Practical implications - The measure recommended here uses multiplicative/weighted instrumentality and effect scores as opposed to only the instrumentality or effect scores. This makes it possible to go beyond the mere "why" or "how" questions. Simultaneous consideration of instrumentality and effect dimensions affords a richer and more relevant understanding. Originality/value - Valid and reliable measures of performance are critical for both managerial and research purposes. The measure proposed in the current study could be used in structural equation models to investigate the effect of individual actions on performance and the impact of performance on other outcome measures (e.g. intentions to stay in an MO).

Purpose: With the growing importance of performance measurement and management, this exploratory study intends to examine the practices of maintenance managers with regards to maintenance measures, as used in their organizations. In this process, the study attempts to uncover the relevant maintenance performance dimensions from the perspectives of the surveyed managers. In addition, the mediating effect of information availability on the main performance measures utilization is studied. Design/methodology/approach: The research at hand is survey-based. It utilizes the responses of a sample of ninety-five (95) experienced maintenance managers to identify the most relevant maintenance performance measures. Factor analysis is then utilized to uncover the important dimensions of performance, as seen by the respondents. Additionally, using the Partial Least Squares method, several models were studied. Findings: The findings of this exploratory research appear to suggest that maintenance managers are beginning to broaden their perspective with regard to performance management. While machine and plant-related performance measures are still emphasized, maintenance managers are slowly moving toward a wider organizational orientation. While the manufacturing organizations are becoming more and more customer-oriented open systems, the maintenance function of these organizations is still, for the most part, operating under the semi-open system orientation. Overall, it appears that an emerging maintenance strategy is slowly taking shape. Research limitations/implications: For the most part, performance measures and measurement related to maintenance have not received enough attention from researchers. Therefore, the literature dealing with the different facets of performance in maintenance has not been forthcoming. The study attempts to fill this apparent gap in the literature. This is important, as maintenance managers are being asked to contribute to the achievement of the competitive strategies of their organizations. Therefore, they must quickly learn how to view maintenance from a coherent strategic organizational perspective. Such a perspective should help in integrating the maintenance, resources, capabilities, and technical know-how in order to serve the strategic goal of their organization. The research at hand is limited to a sample from Portugal. Therefore, the results and conclusions must be interpreted accordingly. Practical implications: As maintenance managers struggle to move from a machine-orientation to a more organizational-wide strategic orientation, they are often left with many questions and few answers. This study attempts to bring this problem to the spotlight so that it can receive more systematic empirical and practical research. In this context, the role of maintenance managers in the process of organizational strategy formulation should be examined. Originality/value: The study presented in this article has practical, as well as theoretical contributions. It deals with an area of performance measurement, which so far has been relatively ignored. It uses a system orientation (closed vs open), in addition to the strategic orientation (single vs multi-faceted strategy) in order to shed some light on the need to have consistency between the nature of the system and its strategic objective.

This research mainly examines the relationship among competitive methods, performance measures, and strategic orientations utilised by 68 Portuguese manufacturing organisations from different industries. The findings reveal that the surveyed organisations appear to be following a hybrid-mixed strategy. The group with the best results adopted the most balanced strategic approach, as it emphasised most of the different strategic dimensions. The examination of the strategic orientations, performance dimensions, and most utilised performance measures reveals inconsistencies among the surveyed organisations, which clearly indicates that the strategic choices and performance measures and measurements are misaligned. This study has direct practical implications to executives of manufacturing organisations, as they attempt to integrate their organisational systems in pursuit of effective strategic competitive performance. Based on the results of this study, a conceptual framework is proposed to facilitate the alignment among the competitive methods, performance measurement, and selected strategy.

La mesure de performance est utilisée dans tous les systèmes informatiques pour garantir la meilleure performance pour le plus faible coût possible. L'établissement d'outils de mesures et de métriques a permis d'établir des bases de comparaison entre ordinateurs. Bien que le monde de la carte à puce ne fasse pas exception, les questions de sécurité occupent le devant de la scène pour celles-ci. Les efforts allant vers une plus grande ouverture des tests et de la mesure de performance restent discrets. Les travaux présentés ici ont pour objectif de proposer une méthode de mesure de la performance dans les plates-formes Java Card qui occupent une part considérable du marché de la carte à puce dans le monde d’aujourd’hui. Nous étudions en détails les efforts fournis par d'autres auteurs sur le sujet de la mesure de performance et en particulier la mesure de performance sur les cartes à puce. Un grand nombre de ces travaux restent embryonnaires ou ignorent certains aspects des mesures. Un des principaux défauts de ces travaux est le manque de rapport entre les mesures effectuées et les applications généralement utilisées dans les cartes à puce. Les cartes à puce ont par ailleurs des besoins importants en termes de sécurité. Ces besoins rendent les cartes difficiles à analyser. L'approche logique consiste à considérer les cartes à puce comme des boites noires. Après l'introduction de méthodologies de mesures de performance pour les cartes à puce, nous choisirons les outils et les caractéristiques des tests que nous voulons faire subir aux cartes, et nous analyserons la confiance à accorder aux données ainsi récoltées. Enfin une application originale des cartes à puce est proposée et permet de valider certains résultats obtenus. / Performance measurements are used in computer systems to guaranty the best performance at the lowest cost. Establishing measurement tools and metrics has helped build comparison scales between computers. Smart cards are no exception. But the centred stage of the smart card industry is mostly busy with security issues. Efforts towards a better integration of performance tests are still modest. Our work focused on a better approach in estimating the execution time within Java Card platforms. Those platforms constitute a big part of the modern smart card market share especially with regards to multi-applicative environments. After introducing some methodologies to better measure the performance of Java Cards, we detail the tools and the tests that we mean to use on smart cards. We will thereafter analyze the data obtained in this way. Finally, an original application for smart cards is proposed. We used it to validate some points about the results.

In the United States, nonprofit organizations (NPOs) face a precarious future because of their heavy reliance on the financial support of government funding, other donor agencies, and philanthropic foundation resources. The purpose of this study is to understand how and to what extent leadership of NPOs can benefit from using funder-required performance data to improve organizational sustainability. Using Pfeffer and Salincik's resource dependency theory to explain organizational sustainability, this qualitative multiple case study of 10 NPOs in a northeastern U.S. state includes 14 interviews with NPO leadership, a document review of NPO 990 tax filings, annual performance reports, and board meeting minutes. All data were inductively coded and then subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. Key findings indicated 6 overarching themes associated with NPO sustainability and funder-required performance measures that impact program sustainability but are mainly used for compliance: (a) NPO adoption and use of performance measures; (b) data collection and evaluation for external compliance; (c) information pertaining to financial, operational, and administrative decision making; (d) NPO leadership decisions regarding internal constructs, operations, and management; (e) resource dependency; and (f) sustainability practices. The implications for positive social change include strategies for NPO leaders to use to ensure survival, continuous community impact, and awareness for policymakers regarding legislative and regulatory developments that may inadvertently harm NPOs.

I examine mutual fund performance using three different perspectives. I begin with Mutual Fund Holdings Batting Average, in which I analyze mutual fund performance through the creation of a new variable using funds’ stock holdings information. My results show that this new variable, Holdings Batting Average, is related to the future performance of managers. My next chapter, Quarterly Mutual Fund Holdings Information and Window Dressing examines two different approaches of using holdings information. I recommend that fund holdings reported at the beginning of the quarter are more related to actual mutual fund performance than holdings disclosed at the end of the quarter. In my last chapter, Morningstar’s Upside and Downside Capture Ratios¸ I test these two ratios that are being reported by Morningstar. I find that these measures do not predict outperformance, but appear to be related to future fund flows.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate and understand which significantparameters affect OTD within an ATO company, and furthermore develop a model which wouldenhance proactive work in order to achieve a higher OTD.Design/methodology/approach - The data is primarily of qualitative nature, employing semistructuredinterviews and workshop, with backup from quantitative production data. Anabductive approach was applied by iterating and aligning findings with relevant literature andtheory. These mixed methodologies created a triangulation of data, which through our analysishelp with the validation of our conclusions.Findings - Through our findings we can conclude that significant parameters which lowers OTDfor an ATO company can be found all through the supply chain. For this thesis and its model,parameters were chosen based on their ability to be quantified. For ABB GA Products, we found36 significant parameters as well as a systematic approach for an ATO company to iteratively gothrough them to investigate which orders are affected by which flags. Through this approach anATO company should be able to work more proactively towards higher OTD.Research limitations/implications - This thesis is conducted through a case study at ABB GAProducts only, which should be considered when using the results for further research.Practical implications - Specifies a logical scheme to classify risk of delayed orders.Originality/value - Advances theory in production and operations management regardingperformance measurement, towards a more proactive approach of measuring reactive KPI’s