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I am pleased to be invited to contribute some reminiscences and observations of the last 50 years in aviation, for AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING'S Golden Jubilee edition, even though 1 cannot quite match its record, having only started in aviation in 1931. However, my father had been in aviation before me since 1908, and we lived just outside Brooklands, said by some to be the cradle of British aviation, all the days of my youth. I was keenly interested in aviation from as early as I can remember, so hope I may claim indulgence for those three “missing” years.

This article is written by Mr. Major at the invitation of the publishers of AIRCRAFT ENGINEERING as an introduction to the series that is being published during 1980, (as was said in the Comment in the January issue), on the important subject of Airworthiness. Mr. Major says “My comments are not intended to be an official expression of views of the Society of which I am President, and they are based on experience in civil air transport covering technical development, aircraft maintenance and ground operations and, in the aircraft manufacturing industry, covering structural and detail design, production and after‐sales liaison with military users. This fairly diverse experience and some of the events which have occurred in the course of acquiring it, have led me to the view that many (perhaps most) of the airworthiness shortcomings that occur are due to the ‘gulfs’ which develop between specializations, or to the lack of communication (in the widest sense — and both ways) between the elements contributing to ‘total’ airworthiness.”

In my introductory article, “Airworthiness — A Systems Approach”, last March, I expressed the hope that eminent engineers from all the disciplines and activities on which “total airworthiness” (my phrase) depends, would be persuaded by Aircraft Engineering to contribute articles on their own specialisations.

This paper aims to propose an integrated use of balanced scorecard (BSC), data envelopment analysis (DEA) and game theory approach as an enhanced performance measurement technique to determine and rank the importance of manufacturing indicators of a steel company as a real case study.

An efficiency change ratio is defined to examine the characteristic function of each coalition which is super-additive. Then, the Shapley value index is used as the solution of the cooperative game to determine the importance of the BSC indicators of the company and rank order them.

The results reveal that “profitability rate” is the most important BSC indicator, whereas “customer satisfaction” is the least significant one. The ranking order of the importance of all BSC indicators makes it possible for the senior managers of the organization to realize the importance of each index separately and to improve the profitability and the number of customers by presenting programs according to the budget and time constraints.

The main contribution of this paper lies in the adoption of a game theory approach to performance measurement in the industrial sector that determines and ranks the importance of manufacturing indicators.

Purpose – This paper seeks to construct a dynamic model/framework inspired by a case study based on an international company. As described by the theory, one of the main difficulties of balanced scorecard (BSC) is to foresee the time lag dimension of different types of indicators and their combined dynamic effects. Design/methodology/approach – A case study model is used to develop time or dynamic dimensions by using a system dynamics modelling approach. The model includes five perspectives and a number of financial and non‐financial measures. All indicators are defined and related to a coherent number of different cause‐and‐effect relationships based on knowledge and experience. Through three different scenarios we demonstrate the effects of different drivers on the profit and on Return on Capital Employed are demonstrated. Findings – The results show that a minimal change in one of the base variables (skills, customer base or work in process) may have a major influence on other indicators and profit and may be impossible to predict without using a dynamic model. Practical implications – The model may be used as the first step in quantifying the cause‐and‐effect relationships of an integrated BSC model. Using the system dynamics model provides added insight in the BSC and may also serve as a teaching exercise of BSC. Originality/value – Work on dynamic aspects of BSCs is just in an early state, so the aim of any work is to contribute to both scholars' and practitioners' basic understanding of how such delayed dynamics propagate through systems and time.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a quantitative methodology for setting targets in the framework of Balanced Scorecard (BSC) in order to achieve vision and goals.

Response Surface Methodology is proposed to find the significant relationships that should be included in the strategy map and the optimal values of performance measures are assessed by using the desirability function-based approach of RSM. The proposed method was created by reviewing the existing literature, modeling the problem, and applying it in an oil company. In fact, RSM is used to execute the design matrix, analyze the collected data, extract models, analyze the results, and optimize the procedures that generate multiple responses.

By applying this methodological design, a clearer picture of the relationships between strategic objectives is obtained and the influence of strategic objectives on one another is determined. Afterward, optimal values for performance measures are determined.

This paper proposes a framework for constructing a strategy map and setting quantitative targets to translate the goals and strategies into corresponding performance measures and targets. Also, this paper presents a case study to demonstrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed approach. However, RSM-based techniques require a greater amount of data to generate more accurate results. Although the advent of the Information Age has forced organizations’ decision makers to provide sufficient information and data for business analysis, the data requirements of RSM-based techniques are met.

In practice, the process of setting targets for performance measures can be challenging in terms of reaching a consensus between managers and decision makers. The findings of this paper can offer a new approach for performance evaluation based on the BSC which allows the organization’s decision makers to reach a more accurate picture of the relationship model between organization goals and those objectives within the BSC. It also demonstrates how decision makers can be guided in the process of defining performance target values in the BSC method.

Reviewing the literature on setting quantitative targets within the framework of the BSC showed no prior study in which RSM is used. This approach has two main contributions: the associations among strategic objectives are investigated and obtained in an effective way which analytically identifies the direction and degree of the relations among the performance measures. Considering the performance evaluation structure based on the BSC, quantitative targets have been determined to help in achieving the long-term goals of the organization. The application of the proposed method in a company showed that the contributions of this research are not only theoretical, but practical as well.

This paper empirically examined the role of the balanced scorecard (BSC) measures usage as a potential moderator of the business strategy and performance relationship. Samples were taken from 120 manufacturing firms. Results of this study provide evidence that partially support the moderating effects of the BSC measures usage on the strength of the relationship between business strategy and firm performance.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

This study uses the balanced scorecard(BSC) framework to assess the business performance of information technology (IT) expenditures in the Korean banking industry. The relationship between IT expenditures and bank’s financial performance or market share was significantly different depending upon the level of IT. For banks that maintain high IT level, IT expenditures appear to have (1) increased labor productivity, (2) decreased payroll expenses and increased operating and total administrative expenses, (3) increased market share, and (4) increased revenue and profit. The evidence suggests two important practical implications. First, if banks effectively use IT strategy to improve competitive advantage, they are likely to reduce payroll expenses and increase market share as well as profitability. Second, this study posits that bank managers should consider using a balanced scorecard approach to measure business performance of both IT and management strategies. Thus, evidence of this study provides guidance for achieving competitive advantage in the banking industry.

Examines the fourteenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.