Performance management at all levels of employees within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) is a key challenge, currently only applicable to senior managers. The employer was proactive in introducing the Ekurhuleni Excellence Awards to the gap that is created by the legislation, but the effort seems not to be working as employees do not understand the criteria that are used for nominations. The empirical study entailed 54 respondents who completed the questionnaire, in five different departments which are Finance, Human Resources, Information Technology, Legal and Administration. In this study, the Performance Management System (PMS) of the EMM was analysed, and the biggest challenge being faced by the EMM is the inability of the EMM to address staff retention (at 57%) and succession when employees leave the EMM (at 62%). The two challenges identified by the study are most crucial for the success of the PMS. The PMS of municipalities is legislated by different Acts, and in order to address service delivery challenges, the Acts need to be reviewed to include all levels of employees. National and Provincial Government have implemented the PMS so that municipalities, as another sphere of Government, will improve service delivery as well as employee motivation. The EMM senior managers, together with the Human Resources department, should craft a strategy or action for the future in order to successfully cascade the PMS to other levels of employees. The EMM Performance Management Policy that is currently operational is in line with the Municipal Regulation no. R805, so the Policy complies fully with the legislation. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010.

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to examine and map out the network innovative companies and to calculate values of the network structure in order to compare them to different performance measures. Furthermore, we aim to investigate the trade-off efficiency of innovations in a particular network structure, more specifically to investigate if the same elements generating more innovations have a relationship with economic performance that originates from innovations.   Methodology - This study give emphasis to map and illustrate the Swedish companies on NASDAQ OMX First North network through direct and indirect connection and to compare the centrality, density and size of the companies ego network in our population with the performance measures which are logically connected with the launch of an innovation; average EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) and average annual turnover. Findings - First we noticed that there was a significant connection between a negative average EBITDA and positive average annual turnover for our population, as we foretold would occur during the launch of an innovation. Secondly, the paper suggests that there is a weak or near non-existent connection between the elements that generates more innovations and the result of innovations, e.g. the economic performance of innovative firms. This might indicate that the focus of recent studies in the subject might have been mistaken focusing on the quantity of innovation, when the basic assumption of an innovation is that it is qualitative and thereby generates money for the company. This study suggests that more innovations do not necessarily lead to better economic performance for the companies within our population.

Performance management and goal attainment are two subjects over which thousands of books and articles have been written. The manufacturing sector in South Africa is competitive and companies have to continuously strive to better themselves to meet the ever changing requirements of their customers. What is important to the company of today is that the goals and strategies must be reviewed on a regular basis. The question that can now be asked, is the following: How can corporate goals be attained through the management of the company's performance? The purpose of this study is to establish how companies achieve their set goals through the management of their performance. The focus was not only placed on the financial indicators of performance, but also placed on how the companies manage their non-financial performance. In the current competitive environment in which manufacturing companies find themselves, the importance of non-financial performance has increased to the same level as financial performance. Empirical research was performed by means of a questionnaire and interviews in order to determine how companies operate to achieve their set goals and to arrive at conclusions and recommendations based on this research. It was found that companies give the same amount of attention to the financial and non-financial indicators of performance, but that there is room for improvement in the use of non-financial indicators. There was also found that companies achieve their set goals through the use of performance management. / Thesis (M.Com. (Management Accounting))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Poor employee performance is one of employer’s most common challenges. The study aims to explore the effectiveness of a Performance Enhancement Programme (PEP) used within an electricity supply company and identifying the contributing factors for managers and supervisors not utilizing the programme. The research method consists of two parts, a literary review and an empirical study. The empirical study was done by means of a survey conducted on a sample of 210 Eskom supervisors and managers of the North Western Region of Eskom. The measuring instrument consisted of a structured questionnaire, developed by the researcher. The results revealed that supervisors and managers are using PEP and that they see it as a good tool to manage poor performance. Respondents indicated very clearly that they need training to be able to address poor performance. The findings concerning the effectiveness of the PEP were inconclusive. The small sample size was a limitation to the study. The questionnaire proved to be lacking in determining the effectiveness of the Performance Enhancement Programme. The sample only included supervisors and managers in the North Western Region of Eskom. Further research needs to be conducted with a larger sample including employees on all levels. / Thesis (MBA)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

Background: Foresight is a vague concept with several definitions. There is barely any existing practical evidence of how it should be conducted or what effect it could have on a company’s performance. Due to the lack of research done, a study within the field was justified. Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to investigate and measure if, and how, foresight practices influence company’s financial performance. Method and theory: A theoretical framework was established in order to compile knowledge about the field. These theories were used as a basis for upcoming in-depth interviews. To make foresight measureable the foresight maturity model was applied in order to assess the company’s foresight practices and to compare it with financial performance. The financial performance was assessed by doing an archival analysis on the company’s annual reports. Findings: The study indicated that foresight practices were limited within the studied companies. However, all the companies used it to some extent. Conclusion: The practices of foresight are greatly contextual and a clear relationship between how the foresight practices affect financial performance is difficult to map out and is need of further research. Tendencies of foresight practices influencing financial performance were however noticed. These tendencies indicated that there is a positive relationship between foresight practices and financial performance.

This dissertation presents an instrumentalist’s perspective on cognition and meta-cognition in music performance. The goal of the study is to identify and apply methods of inquiry that are phenomenologically resonant with instrumental practice. The first chapter, situating the study in the context of the writer’s musical training, examines ways of studying and representing performance knowledge. The second chapter presents a case study of the preparation of Tōru Takemitsu’s Masque for Two Flutes (1959-1960). Using grounded theory methodology, this chapter investigates the role of gesture in the negotiation of musical understanding. Chapters 3 through 5 draw on Herbert H. Clark’s joint activity theory of language use to conceptualize music-making, taking into account context, process, and other domains of musical activity. Finally, Chapter 6, in addition to re-defining "virtuosity" for the 21st century instrumentalist, presents a set of philosophical considerations for cognitive studies in music performance.

It can be stated that performance measurement is the foundation of performance management in any construction organisation. Traditional financial performance measurement is not capable of capturing the true performance of an organisation. Thus the results of such financial performance measurement can not be used by managers to derive future performance in their organisations. The balanced scorecard (BSC) performance measurement approach used in other industries has been proposed for construction, as it takes into account critical wider perspectives. However, the construction BSC consists of four perspectives that are highly suitable for construction industry, namely business development, stakeholder management, process management, and innovation and learning. The primary objective of the research is to develop a balanced scorecard framework for construction contractors and measure performance of contractors using that framework. The results of the questionnaire s urvey carried out and follow-up interviews conducted among 34 senior managers in Melbourne revealed that the above performance measurement framework is appropriate to use in a contracting organisation. The respondents perceive that the process management perspective measurement is more desirable than others. The stakeholder management perspective received moderate rating, while business development and innovation and learning perspectives both received average importance rating by the respondents. An actual performance measurement carried out on seven contractors in Melbourne to illustrate the use of the BSC performance as a strategic performance management tool in construction reveals the following: 1. Contractors' current performance levels in regard to process management and business development are moderately high, while stakeholder management and innovation and learning performance are perceived to be average. The contractors also perceive that performance in regard to stakeholder management is of higher significance for their business success, and 2. Performance with regard to managing employees and launching knowledge management initiatives was found to be low, so there is much room for improvement. Human resource management (HRM) is managing employees to develop and utilise their full potential in alignment with organisational objectives. It is recommended that contractors have to introduce new strategies for HRM. The HRM strategies should focus on recruitment, training and development activities of employees. Apart from HRM, the knowledge management (KM) also needs attention. The KM can be stated as effective use of available resources to increase the level of learning and innovation in the organisation. To enhance performance of KM contractors have to conduct project reviews on completion of every project and document useful information. This would enable managers to discuss company-wide performance at management meetings and further scrutinise this information. Having separate Balanced Scorecards for HRM and KM is expected to bring enormous advantages for a contracting company.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 2007. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 58-60).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2003.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1997. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 285-291). Also available on the Internet.