System dynamics applications in performance measurement research: A systematic literature review
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management
ISSN: 1741-0401
Article publication date: 20 April 2020
Issue publication date: 6 August 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This study investigates system dynamics (SD) applications in performance measurement (PM) research and practice. A bibliometric analysis was conducted to investigate the maturity of this research area and identify opportunities for development.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted to provide a comprehensive and rigorous review of the existing literature. The search was conducted on 10 platforms identifying 97 publications, which were evaluated using bibliometric analysis.
Findings
The analysis revealed that applications of SD are most commonly used in the PM system design phase to model organisational performance. In addition, the bibliometric results showed a highly dispersed author set, with most studies using exploratory methods, suggesting that the research is in a relatively early stage of development. The results also showed that over 50 per cent of the causal models were not validated, emphasizing an important methodological gap in this research area.
Research limitations/implications
This SLR is limited to indexed publications on 10 platforms, the search strategy was relatively precise and only available papers in English language were used for the literature review.
Practical implications
PM systems supported by SD can help managers understand and improve organisational behaviours by addressing dynamic complexities and relationship between variables. This study evaluates the maturity of this research area including information about the current development of this area and opportunities to build on existing knowledge.
Originality/value
This study identifies how SD approaches are applied to PM and highlights areas that require further research consideration. This paper is the first of two publications to result from this study and focuses on evaluating the current state of this research area.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Erratum. It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article, Oladimeji, O.O., Keathley-Herring, H. and Cross, J.A. (2020), “System dynamics applications in performance measurement research: A systematic literature review” published in International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, contained an error in the pagination for this article in Vol. 69 No. 7. The correct pagination for this article is pp. 1541-1578. These errors were introduced in the production process and have now been corrected in the online version. The publisher sincerely apologises for these errors and for any inconvenience caused. We would like to thank the reviewers and the editorial board for the insightful comments that helped improve our work. We would also like to thank Texas Tech University and the University of Central Florida for making this research possible through their support.
Citation
Oladimeji, O.O., Keathley-Herring, H. and Cross, J.A. (2020), "System dynamics applications in performance measurement research: A systematic literature review", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 69 No. 7, pp. 1541-1578. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPPM-12-2018-0453
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited