This thesis builds on the first configuration model developed and expanded in the IFS. The model considers the factors that impact on managers as they undertake performance management of their staff. This thesis transforms the original model through a second and into a third and final configuration. The questions that underpin this research are concerned with managers' experiences as they engage in managing performance and explore the triggers that enable managers to begin a process of, and sustain, managing underperformance within their team. The methodology and research approach adopted is that of social construction which allows managers' worlds to be co-constructed. In undertaking this study, researcher reflexivity was developed, by engaging with colleagues and other interested individuals. The research discourse was not a neutral process and emotioning in research was explicitly recognised. The research design and methods of data collection worked with senior managers across public and private sectors and also engaged with manager groups to provide situations where emerging constructions could be worked up. This continuing professional engagement gave a way of interacting with the emerging discourse to refine the constructions. The research findings identify the significance of contextual factors within any manager's world and the increasing importance of external conditions such as Best Value. The idea of potent and impotent organisations in sustaining a high performance culture is created and the characteristics of each identified. The concept of "other" emerged as managers described the individual who was underperforming and the level of fear and emotional impact on them as they engaged with the "other" in performance management. During the research managers described their feelings in different ways but there was a universal factor - managers do have feelings. Performance management is a Wicked Problem and the rhetoric belies the level of complexity that this research has identified namely - There is no definitive Problem, there is no definitive Solution. Finally the research recommends action for policy makers and managers in order to better develop the systems and processes needed to achieve super performance.

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A large literature has described the effects of advancing age on cognitive laboratory tasks, but there have been few attempts to investigate its effects on everyday cognitive performance. The experiments reported are an attempt to explore the effects of age on the everyday memory task of comprehending and remembering events as conveyed by television and in everyday perception. The methodology used was cross-sectional with all subjects well-documented on a number of indices. These were assessed as predictors of performance on different cognitive tasks relating to the everyday memory task. Age per se was found to have a limited effect on performance, the best index of the cognitive effect of ageing being I.Q. test score. This index picked up most of the variance on the measurements taken. Experiments were designed to examine the elderlys' recall of television news broadcasts. These demonstrated that elderly people with low I.Q. test scores have difficulty recalling facts and details from such an information source. Subsequent experiments attempted to identify the processes which explain groups differences on this task.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. As such, it is in the public domain, and under the provisions of Title 17, United States Code, Section 105, it may not be copyrighted. / MBA Professional Report / The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of Enerrgy Saving Performance Contracts (ESPC) within the Department of Defense, focusing on the United States Air Force's utility and energy acquisition. The significant value of the ESPC is its alternative financing mechanism that authorizes Federal facilities regionalization without upfront investments. The paper focuses on Dyess Air Force Base's ESPC, as Dyess's benchmarking ESPC was selected for the Presidential Award recognition for Leadership in Federal Energy Management. The six major contracting processes within the three main management levels encompass many of the best-preactice characteristics. The interviews referenced herein with the service end-users, both the regional and local contracting officers, allow the reader to further understand how the Integrated Product Team's significant efforts resulted in a successful ESPC.

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This thesis examines attempts to improve the efficiency of local authority bureaucracies during the 1980's. A number of significant policy initiatives such as the establishment of the Audit Commission, the pressure for local authorities to implement systems of performance measurement and the introduction of performance related pay schemes reflect this quest for improved value for money. The thesis reviews existing economic theories of bureaucracy which show how inefficiency arises in the public sector. Two major hypotheses within this literature are identified; bureaus are inefficient because it is in the interests of bureaucrats either to produce too much output (allocative inefficiency) and/or to produce output at above minimum cost (X-inefficiency). The policy prescriptions arising from this theoretical framework suggest that strategies to reduce inefficiency must aim to change bureaucratic behaviour. One strategy seeks to induce bureaucrats to produce efficiently, whilst the other seeks to provide sponsors with the necessary information on costs to enable them to force bureaucrats to produce efficiently. Performance related pay schemes, which aim to change bureaucratic behaviour, are concerned with eliminating labour X-inefficiency. Our research suggests that the diversity of current schemes reflects a lack of consensus over the definition of indicators of employee performance. The general result of the introduction of performance related pay has been increased salaries for senior officers. Our assessment of the work of the Audit Commission in the area of value for money audits and our empirical research on the impact of performance measurement in local authorities indicates that a wealth of information has been generated in the form of performance indicators (PIs). However, the use of this information as a control device is limited as these indicators are clearly biased towards measuring X-inefficiency as distinct from allocative efficiency.

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While previous research describes a broad set of factors that discriminate between new product success and failure, both the study findings and the models developed have tended to be very general. This has made it difficult for those involved in NPD to apply the lessons presented - "they are unable to relate them directly to their own situation" (Craig & Hart, 1992: 38). However, the way companies undertake the process activities during the development and launch of a new product has regularly been identified as being critical to the outcome of the NPD project (Booz et al, 1982; Cooper, 1979,1980,1990; Crawford, 1984; Maidique & Zirger, 1984). This research fills a gap in the literature by explicitly focusing on the internal NPD process activities and project organisation within one industry, the Automotive Components Industry. The contribution of the research is to identify the critical success factors for the NPD process within Automotive Component firms, confirm whether different dimensions of success exist for this industry and identify whether the antecedents of successful NPD differ depending on the dimensions of success. A model was developed, which was then tested using a six page postal questionnaire sent out to UK automotive component suppliers. 76 completed questionnaires were collected from 66 firms. After a careful reliability and validity analysis of the measures used in the survey, a multiple regression analysis was undertaken to identify the critical success factors for each of the dimensions of success. The findings from this research validate many ideas presented in the NPD literature. However, what is evident from this research is that new product success dimensions can not be treated together, and that average models can be misleading. This may well have made it difficult for practitioners to relate the findings of previous studies to their specific development situations and could begin to explain why, despite all the research that has been undertaken in this area, failure rates are still so high.