This thesis presents the findings from two case study examinations of strategic performance measurement systems within two turbulent environmental contexts: the U.S. security software industry and the U.S. health care industry. Despite a three-­‐decade emphasis on performance measurement research, little empirical work has been carried out inside turbulent settings—contexts characterized by rapid change, high levels of instability and complex configurations among environmental variables. This research targets that gap. Through exploratory case studies from seven security software firms paired with a single in-­‐ depth case investigation within a transforming health care system, this study addresses the question: “how do firms in turbulent environments measure strategic performance?” The research found that in turbulent environments, an effective strategic performance measurement system contains six interrelated elements: management aims, performance objectives, uncertainty areas, decision data, management attention and performance measures. Top managers focus on their aims and performance objectives to meet requirements via a closed-­‐loop approach while monitoring uncertainty areas and gathering decision data in an open-­‐loop way. This union of feedback and feedforward control enables dynamic interaction among the various elements of the system all of which are informed by performance measure data. Effective use is moderated by management’s focus of attention. The research has implications for information processing and management control literature; it extends existing theory to incorporate the use of semi-­‐structures within the framework of the strategic performance measurement system as a means of overcoming the challenges of uncertainty. Further, the research contradicts both extant literature and practice convention that claims strategic performance measurement frameworks need to be balanced to be effective. Practitioners are provided with a strategic performance measurement framework for use in turbulent environments. The framework would benefit from further examination in a variety of different, equally turbulent, contexts.

This thesis presents the findings from two case study examinations of strategic performance measurement systems within two turbulent environmental contexts: the U.S. security software industry and the U.S. health care industry. Despite a three-­‐decade emphasis on performance measurement research, little empirical work has been carried out inside turbulent settings—contexts characterized by rapid change, high levels of instability and complex configurations among environmental variables. This research targets that gap. Through exploratory case studies from seven security software firms paired with a single in-­‐ depth case investigation within a transforming health care system, this study addresses the question: “how do firms in turbulent environments measure strategic performance?” The research found that in turbulent environments, an effective strategic performance measurement system contains six interrelated elements: management aims, performance objectives, uncertainty areas, decision data, management attention and performance measures. Top managers focus on their aims and performance objectives to meet requirements via a closed-­‐loop approach while monitoring uncertainty areas and gathering decision data in an open-­‐loop way. This union of feedback and feedforward control enables dynamic interaction among the various elements of the system all of which are informed by performance measure data. Effective use is moderated by management’s focus of attention. The research has implications for information processing and management control literature; it extends existing theory to incorporate the use of semi-­‐structures within the framework of the strategic performance measurement system as a means of overcoming the challenges of uncertainty. Further, the research contradicts both extant literature and practice convention that claims strategic performance measurement frameworks need to be balanced to be effective. Practitioners are provided with a strategic performance measurement framework for use in turbulent environments. The framework would benefit from further examination in a variety of different, equally turbulent, contexts.

Purpose of the article: In the past, annual reports only included financial measures. More recently, this shareholder value approach has been criticized of leading to a strategic short-term orientation. Consequently, the use of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMSs), namely the Balanced Scorecard (BSC), is proposed to communicate non-financial measures to investors and stakeholders. Besides the distribution of critical information, the disclosure of non-financial measures should strengthen the employees' commitment to the long-term strategy. The purpose of the article is thus to reveal whether Austrian companies disclose their strategic performance measures in their annual reports. Methodology/methods: Two observation points, 2002 and 2012, were chosen to analyse the annual reports of companies listed on the ATX. This period of time allows to observe changes as well as new trends. The annual reports have been downloaded from the companies' homepages or received via email or post. A document and content analysis, followed by a frequency analysis, has been applied to identify several non-financial measures with regard to the following BSC-derived perspectives: Customer perspective, internal business perspective and innovation and learning perspective. Scientific aim: The scientific aim of the following study is to examine the extent to which non-financial performance measures are displayed in annual reports. Findings: The analysis of the annual reports showed a tremendous increase in non-financial measures in the time period between 2002 and 2012, which solely arose from the augmented disclosure activities of the innovation and learning perspective. On the other hand, the customer and internal perspectives decreased in importance. Moreover, the top ten measures in 2002 have changed and are dominated by diversity and environmental issues in the year 2012. Conclusions: Similar findings in the literature as well as the influence of legal disclosure requirements are discussed. Possible limitations are the sole use of the Balanced Scorecard as a SPMS or the chosen time period of ten years.

Submitted by Rosangela Silva (rosangela.silva3@unioeste.br) on 2018-05-21T13:35:41Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Lidiane Fernanda Rocha Daradda.pdf: 4319434 bytes, checksum: 941e59df4f8f1ed7079f44a659d00a80 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-21T13:35:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Lidiane Fernanda Rocha Daradda.pdf: 4319434 bytes, checksum: 941e59df4f8f1ed7079f44a659d00a80 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-19 / The theme of this study refers to the use of the Strategic Performance Measurement System (SPMS) in organizations of the third sector, which have required performance mechanisms that apply to the management. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate how the Strategic Performance Measurement System can contribute to strategic planning in the third sector by means of performance indicators, justifying the application of SPMS in this segment that is differentiated and poorly explored. The theoretical reference was based on the Third Sector, Strategic Planning, Strategic Performance Measurement System and Previous Studies. For this purpose, a unique case study and action research with a qualitative focus were performed at AMIC. Data collection consisted of a focus group, questionnaires, documents, organizational records and participant observation, using the case study´s protocol and triangulation of research sources. The results confirmed the research propositions and the findings of the literature, and it was verified that the strategic planning allows the use of the measurement system in the organizations of the third sector through the elaboration of the SWOT Analysis and action plan; the evaluation of strategy implementation contributes to the performance of third sector organizations through the control, monitoring, identified gaps and positive influence on performance; and the elaboration of the own measurement model uses financial and non-financial indicators for the management in the third sector based on strategic direction. Thus, as result of the intervention, the management of the strategic actions was achieved, the implementation of the strategy generated benefits to the performance and the composition of a coherent set of performance measures were obtained. The main contributions show that the SPMS can be used in nonprofit organizations, in addition to those that aim for profit and make use of it, as well as contribute to the theoretical gap on appropriated performance measures to the third sector. / O tema desta pesquisa refere-se ao uso do Sistema de Mensuração de Desempenho Estratégico (Strategic Performance Measurement System - SPMS) em organizações do terceiro setor, as quais têm requerido mecanismos de desempenho que se apliquem a gestão. Dessa forma, este estudo teve por objetivo investigar como o Sistema de Mensuração de Desempenho Estratégico pode contribuir ao planejamento estratégico no terceiro setor por meio de indicadores de desempenho, justificando-se pela aplicação do SPMS nesse segmento diferenciado e pouco explorado. O referencial teórico embasou-se no Terceiro Setor, Planejamento Estratégico, Sistema de Mensuração do Desempenho Estratégico e Estudos Anteriores. Para tanto, um estudo de caso único e pesquisa-ação com enfoque qualitativo foi realizado na AMIC - Associação de Microempresas e Empresas de Pequeno Porte do Oeste do Paraná. A coleta de dados valeu-se de grupo focal, questionários, documentos, registros organizacionais e observação participante, com utilização do protocolo do estudo de caso e triangulação das fontes de pesquisa. Os resultados confirmaram as proposições de pesquisa e os achados da literatura, verificando-se que o planejamento estratégico possibilita a utilização do sistema de mensuração nas organizações do terceiro setor por meio da elaboração da Análise SWOT e plano de ação; a avaliação da implementação da estratégia contribui ao desempenho das organizações do terceiro setor mediante o controle, monitoramento, lacunas identificadas e influência positiva sobre o desempenho; e a elaboração do modelo próprio de mensuração utiliza indicadores financeiros e não financeiros para a gestão no terceiro setor pautados no direcionamento da estratégia. Portanto, como resultado da intervenção obteve-se o gerenciamento das ações estratégicas, benefícios gerados ao desempenho pela implementação da estratégia e composição de um conjunto coerente de medidas de desempenho. As principais contribuições apontam que o SPMS pode ser utilizado nas entidades sem fins lucrativos, além daquelas que visam lucro e fazem uso do mesmo, bem como contribui a lacuna teórica sobre as medidas de desempenho adequadas ao terceiro setor.

Technology is accepted as one of the key aspects that influence society and business in an unmistakable manner. Current literature is however not singular in its views and methods of technology strategy, its interface with business strategy, and how technology strategy is executed and assessed internally. The text adopts a 3-tiered domain approach at the outset, focusing on the integration of (i) strategy, (ii) measurement and (iii) architecture. The literature assessment was carried out on the hand of the three domains and ultimately resulted in the proposed internal technology strategy assessment framework for the services sector. At the heart of the framework is the merging of the disciplines and current models of (i) technology management (MOT), (ii) business architecture, (iii) strategic performance measurement and (iv) total quality management. The model aims to indicate that specific modelling techniques coupled with an excellence scorecard, can facilitate the mathematical assessment of strategic contribution of individual technology artefacts to a specific business strategy. The proposed model is represented in the text in flowchart form and is supplemented by the derivation of the required research approach, namely case study protocol. Three case studies were conducted, each of which is resident in the services sector, and the tabulated results are presented in the text and its appendixes. The results obtained indicate that strategic artefact differentiation on a procedural level can indeed be obtained. These results are consistent throughout the three case studies and valuable future benefit could be extrapolated for (i) continuing investigation on the hand of the model, as well as (ii) cross-pollination to the disciplines of (a) enterprise modelling and design and (b) project management. / Dissertation (MEng (Technology Management))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Graduate School of Technology Management (GSTM) / unrestricted