LLB
Learner Name:
Article Title: The performance measurement revolution: why now and what next?
Provide a summary in your own words on the article you requested to read and analyze in the following space.
The article attempts to answer some questions regarding the business performance measurement, especially two questions. 1. What is the relevance of this question now? 2. What research is required for the advancement of the business performance measurement? The article do not stop with questioning, it gives elaborate answer to the questions. For the first question i.e. what is the need for business performance measurement, seven reasons are provided by the researcher (Andy Neely); changing nature of work; surge in competition; aspiration to improve operations, race for national and international awards, Change in organizational roles, changing market demands; and the dependence on information technology. The second question is answered in nine points, starting from determinants of business performance to long term measurement of business performance.
Identify the key learning points in the read and analyze assigned activity.
There are many key learning from this article. The changing market scenario, the mode of doing business and the emergence of stakeholder recognition has instilled the need for measuring business performance. It is wonderful to note, how a concept develops. The present chaos regarding the definition and scope of business performance shall some day evolve into a standard practice. For each organization the business metric differs, hence it is difficult to come to a conclusion what components make up business performance measures. It is good to note that instituting prestigious awards such as Deming Award, promotes healthy practices of performance in many organization. The article has give an elaborate dimensions of organization, based on which the international organizations (contenders of Deming award) will be evaluated.
While you reading, identify the relevant statements to the session and insert them in order in the following space.
“ Further evidence that a revolution in business performance measurement is taking place is provided by the language used in annual reports. Ten years ago little mention of non-financial performance would have been made in the Chairman and Chief Executive’s statements.”
“It appears then, that the language of business performance measurement is taking hold.”
“ many organizations now seek actively to differentiate themselves from their competitors in terms of quality of service, flexibility, customization, innovation and rapid response. They have been forced to do so because they now find themselves competing in markets where value rather
than cost is the primary driver.”
“One of the first things organizations realise, when they begin to re-engineer their processes, is that once they have done so they will have to re-engineer their measurement systems.”
“One of the fundamental challenges facing the field today is how to achieve this? How can a common language and shared research agenda be developed?”
This is the most important section in your analysis. To complete it sucessfully, learner is to consider the following guiding steps:
- Present arguments coherently, supported by evidence and facts to substantiate on why you may take a particular stance and/ or position towards a particular approach whether against or in support of it;
- Capable of bridging the gap between the theory and conceptual work with the application under consideration.
Business Performance Measurement systems are growing though not formally or rigorously. The sporadic attempts to measure business performance is becoming more organized now and very soon it likely become popular among industrial set ups. As the article suggested the performance assessments are done for various reasons, it appears that most organizations do performance measurement due to pressure from third party otr for compliance reasons. Some companies have realized the value of assessments and are doing it to improve their strategy. Many methods and processes are available for BPM, mostly recommended by the consultants. As the article pointed out that no clear case study is available to highlight the importance of BPM. Lean management, Balnced Scorecard, Six Sigma, etc are some of the modern day initiatives that has inbuilt measurement tools. Customer need satisfaction is the key element of any business, but many of the annual reports of the smaller organizations do not publish the Business Performance Measurement (BPM), hence there is plenty of scope for the managers to carry out business assessments and share the result with the like-minded organizations.
How could you apply the subject matter from the article in a real business case?
What have you learnt? Critical thinking is about lessons learnt to be drawn from the analysis.
The article enumerates the reasons for the significance of the performance measurement and the determinants of performance measurement. First of all a conference of academicians, practitioners and managers around the world should sit in a common platform to decide the key elements of business performance. The consensus arrived during the joint session should be the basis for propagating business assessment dimensions. Once the dimensions are agreed by the forum, the methods of implementing the assessment in every organization should be attempted. It is likely that many organizations may take the assessment project to be futile HR initiative. A casual research indicates that most of the organizations keep Quality as the goal of the organizations, and customer need is not given any prominence. The primary measure of business performance must contain the evaluation of customer need satisfaction.
