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1 – 10 of over 22000The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of the use of performance management metrics by UK theatre companies, the levels of importance attached to various types of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of the use of performance management metrics by UK theatre companies, the levels of importance attached to various types of measures, and possible determinants of managerial perceptions of the importance of each category.
Design/methodology/approach
A model was constructed which hypothesised that the types of metrics regarded as most important by theatre managements depended on organisational identity, financial situation, environmental volatility, production diversity and visitor orientation. This was tested via a survey of 195 UK theatres.
Findings
A theatre's financial situation greatly influenced the categories of metrics that its management deemed to be important, exerting both a direct effect and indirect impacts. An organisation's “artistic identity” also affected the dimensions of the operations that its management sought to measure.
Research limitations/implications
The data were self‐reported; less than a majority of the sampling frame participated in the study; and managers in theatres that used few or no metrics may have been less likely to respond to the invitation to take part in the study. It was not possible within the confines of an already crowded questionnaire to explore the influences of various stakeholders on a theatre management's choice of metrics.
Practical implications
Environmental circumstances and managerial inclinations seemingly determined the metrics that were considered important, but the metrics involved were not necessarily those that should have been applied.
Originality/value
This is the first empirical study to determine the factors that cause theatre managements to prioritise the use of specific types of performance metrics and to explain variations in organisational behaviour in this regard.
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Boban Melović, Marina Dabić, Milica Vukčević, Dragana Ćirović and Tamara Backović
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perception of marketing managers in a transition country Montenegro with regards to marketing metrics. The paper examines the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perception of marketing managers in a transition country Montenegro with regards to marketing metrics. The paper examines the degree in which managers are familiar with the way marketing metrics are applied and how important they are in the process of making business decisions in a company operating in a Montenegro.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected during 2020 through a survey of 171 randomly selected companies and was analyzed using structural equation model and the statistical method of analysis of variance tests.
Findings
The obtained results show that managers are quite familiar with financial and non-financial metrics. Both groups are applied to a significant degree, as managers believe that these indicators provide valuable information needed during the decision-making process. Still, more emphasis is placed on the knowledge, implementation and importance of non-financial metrics compared to financial metrics. This is probably due to the specificities of the economic activities of the companies operating in Montenegro, as most of them are service companies, which is why non-financial metrics (such as consumer metrics) are the most important indicators when it comes to ascertaining the market position of the company. Additionally, in recent years the primary focus in Montenegro, as country that is still in the process of transformation from planned economy to a free-market form, has been placed on strengthening of competitiveness and advancing the market orientation of companies. This led to an increase in the importance that managers in transition countries attach to non-financial metrics.
Research limitations/implications
The fact that the survey only covers companies from one country is its limitation.
Practical implications
The obtained results will have a significant empirical contribution, which is reflected in providing guidelines for managers on how to improve the system of measuring and controlling marketing performance, all that to strengthen the competitiveness of the company, and can serve managers of hierarchy levels in a company as guidelines for making decisions on the implementation of marketing strategy and marketing metrics, to improve business performance, multi-context customer interaction, cost-saving and strengthen competitiveness.
Social implications
Obtaining necessary knowledge management and implementing marketing metrics are important conditions for consideration when it comes to the continuous monitoring and improvement of business results, increasing competitiveness and advancing the market position of the company.
Originality/value
The originality stems from the analysis of the interconnection that exists between marketing metrics and strategic decision-making, which is expected to be positively reflected in the development of society, i.e. strengthening the competitiveness of companies based on knowledge management achieved through the assessment of the degree of knowledge, the implementation and the significance of each of the metrics covered within this research in business decision-making processes. The paper provides insights into the extent to which managers understand the meaning of these indicators and are able to combine different marketing metrics to obtain more complex indicators, serving as necessary inputs when making strategic business decisions.
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This paper aims to focus on the use of qualitative research methods to gain a better understanding of the performance management system (PMS) of one of the largest retailers in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on the use of qualitative research methods to gain a better understanding of the performance management system (PMS) of one of the largest retailers in North America. The motivation for the research was to assess whether the PMS at one of the world’s largest retail companies was congruent with the most recent thinking and research in the management accounting literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Using open-ended interviews, the paper seeks to develop relevant hypotheses emerging from the dimensions of the Strauss and Corbin’s qualitative research methodology (1998). A qualitative methodology was used because it provides a structured approach and analytical techniques that can build upon existing theory and literature.
Findings
The qualitative evidence collected during the course of the research indicates that financial measures were predominantly used by the company in its PMS, and that this reliance on financial measures may be an artifact of the industry in which the company operates. The retail industry is highly competitive, and it is very sensitive to changes in customer tastes and behavior, as well as shareholder and financial market pressures. In addition to financial measures, it was found that operational management developed certain non-financial performance measures and that this development may have been a response by operational managers to wider stakeholder pressures and external influences. However, these performance measures appear to be not fully integrated in the PMS and are therefore de-coupled and relatively unimportant in, or entirely absent from, top-level decision-making.
Research limitations and implications
The conclusions of the paper provide support for the concepts of isomorphism and de-coupling as found in the literature of new institutional theory.
Originality/value
The case study approach has enabled to explore and gain further understanding of management accounting practices, particularly performance measurement and management, in their natural setting. Strauss and Corbin’s (1998) grounded theory methodology was adopted because it provides a structured set of analytical steps and systematic analytical techniques for handling and interpreting data and theory building.
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Rajasshrie Pillai and Brijesh Sivathanu
To understand human resource (HR) practices outcomes on HR decision making, strategic human resource management (HRM) and organizational performance by exploring the HR data…
Abstract
Purpose
To understand human resource (HR) practices outcomes on HR decision making, strategic human resource management (HRM) and organizational performance by exploring the HR data quality along with descriptive and predictive financial and non-financial metrics.
Design/methodology/approach
This work utilizes the grounded theory method. After the literature was reviewed, 113 HR managers of multinational and national companies in India were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire. The collected interview data was analyzed with NVivo 8.0 software.
Findings
It is interesting to uncover the descriptive and predictive non-financial and financial metrics of HR practices and their influence on organizational performance. It was found that HR data quality moderates the relationship between the HR practices outcome and HR metrics. This study found that HR metrics help in HR decision-making for strategic HRM and subsequently affect organizational performance.
Originality/value
This study has uniquely provided the descriptive and predictive non-financial and financial metrics of HR practices and their impact on HR decision making, strategic HRM and organizational performance. This study highlights the importance of data quality. This research offers insights to the HR managers, HR analysts, chief HR officers and HR practitioners to achieve organizational performance considering the various metrics of HRM. It provides key insights to the top management to understand the HR metrics' effect on strategic HRM and organizational performance.
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While metrics are becoming increasingly important for marketing’s relevance, there is also a need to understand how they, as enablers of learning, affect marketing’s adaptive…
Abstract
Purpose
While metrics are becoming increasingly important for marketing’s relevance, there is also a need to understand how they, as enablers of learning, affect marketing’s adaptive capabilities that ensure its long-term success. Therefore, this study aims to test the association of marketing and financial metrics use and the metric-based orientations of training and compensation, with two key marketing routines – exploitation, i.e. the perfecting of existing activities while allowing for incremental adaptations and exploration or experimentation accompanied by radical adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach
The study gathers data from 205 managers and uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the hypothesized relationships.
Findings
Marketing metrics encourage both forms of marketing adaptation. Financial metrics use discourages exploration. Market orientation and long-term orientation strengthen (weaken) the positive (negative) relationship between marketing (financial) metrics use and marketing exploration. Metric-based training is more positively associated with both adaptive capabilities than a metric-based compensation orientation, albeit weakly.
Research limitations/implications
The study’s central proposition – that different metrics or metric orientations are associated with distinct types of knowledge, interpretations, mindsets, motivations and cultural contexts – provides a deeper theoretical understanding of the pathways by which a metric emphasis affects marketing adaptation.
Practical implications
Marketing managers should emphasize marketing metrics and training more than compensation, to promote marketing exploitation/exploration, while exercising caution in overstressing financial metrics given their negative association with exploration. This latter negative relationship can be weakened (as can the positive one between marketing metrics and exploration be strengthened) with increased market orientation and long-term orientation.
Originality/value
This study addresses the research gap regarding the relationship between metrics as a configurational element of marketing organization and marketing adaptation.
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Ravi Kathuria and Lorenzo Lucianetti
This study examines whether different strategy archetypes deploy specific performance metrics to support their strategic goals and priorities. If so, does alignment of strategy…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines whether different strategy archetypes deploy specific performance metrics to support their strategic goals and priorities. If so, does alignment of strategy and metrics positively impact organisational performance?
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework and hypotheses are couched in Contingency Theory. The role of business strategy as a moderating variable is tested using MANOVA, followed by post hoc pairwise comparisons. The results are based on cross-sectional survey data from 372 manufacturing and service organisations in Italy.
Findings
The overall contingency effect of business strategy in selecting and deploying performance metrics and their effect on organisational performance is supported. However, the group-wise post hoc analyses show support only for Prospectors but not for Defenders and Analysers.
Research limitations/implications
This research lends further support in favour of the Contingency Theory from a new geographic context (Italy) that there are no universally best performance metrics that drive organisational performance. However, more research is needed to understand why the theory only holds for certain strategic archetypes and not across all archetypes.
Practical implications
Managers can direct resources and effort towards designing and deploying the “right” type of performance metrics suitable for their strategic orientation and thus optimise organisational performance.
Originality/value
This is a rare study that tests the moderating role of business strategy using all four strategic archetypes of the Miles and Snow typology. It deploys both financial and non-financial measures and uses a very large sample of both manufacturing and service organisations from a relatively unexplored region of the world. The study provides additional evidence in favour of the Contingency Theory whilst advocating for more research to refine our understanding of why the contingency perspective is not so important for firms that are not the first-in.
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Ofer Mintz and Imran S. Currim
This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework, in an effort toward building a contingent theory of drivers and consequences of managerial metric use in marketing mix…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework, in an effort toward building a contingent theory of drivers and consequences of managerial metric use in marketing mix decisions, this paper develops a conceptual framework to test whether the relationship between metric use and marketing mix performance is moderated by firm and managerial characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on reviews of the marketing, finance, management and accounting literatures, and homophily, firm resource- and decision-maker-based theories and 22 managerial interviews, a conceptual model is proposed. It is tested via generalized least squares – seemingly unrelated regression estimation of 1,287 managerial decisions.
Findings
Results suggest that the impact of metric use on marketing mix performance is lower in firms which are more market oriented, larger and with worse recent business performance and for marketing and higher-level managers, while organizational involvement has a lesser nuanced effect.
Research limitations/implications
While much is written on the importance of metric use to improve performance, this work is a first step toward understanding which settings are more difficult than others to accomplish this.
Practical implications
Results allow identification of several conditional managerial strategies to improve marketing mix performance based on metric use.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the metric literature, as prior research has generally focused on the development of metrics or the linking of marketing efforts with performance metrics, but paid little attention to understanding the relationship between managerial metric use and performance of the marketing mix decision and has not considered how the relationship is moderated by firm and managerial characteristics.
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Vanessa Goldoni and Mírian Oliveira
The main goal of this research is to analyze knowledge management (KM) evaluation metrics in software development companies in Brazil through the perception of managers and users.
Abstract
Purpose
The main goal of this research is to analyze knowledge management (KM) evaluation metrics in software development companies in Brazil through the perception of managers and users.
Design/methodology/approach
The method applied was a multiple case study in two information technology companies in Brazil.
Findings
According to the KM objectives and motivations, each company selects an implementation approach that results in specific challenges. The results show that the differences in Company A and Company B can be related to the KM process adopted. Based on the perception of the interviewees, it is possible to affirm that the relevance of a metric depends on the organization's context and the existence of a structured KM process.
Research limitations/implications
The conclusions are based on two case studies of Brazilian IT companies. There could be industry‐specific issues as well as national cultural and behavioral values that might affect the findings and conclusions.
Practical implications
According to the interviewees, the set of process metrics can be linked to the KM process phases and the organizations should contemplate both quantitative and qualitative metrics. The entire set of metrics and its observations in this work can be used as a starting‐point for the selection of the most adequate metrics for each organization.
Originality/value
The research associated the identified metrics in the literature with the knowledge management process phases of creation, storage, dissemination, utilization, and measurement.
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Maria Rey‐Marston and Andy Neely
This paper seeks to measure in a quantitative way the degree of alignment among a set of performance measures between two organizations.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to measure in a quantitative way the degree of alignment among a set of performance measures between two organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper extends Venkatraman's test of coalignment to assess the alignment of a set of performance measures governing a contractual inter‐organizational relationship. The authors applied the test and present coefficients of misalignment across three sets of measures: those used by a service provider involved in the research, those used by customers contracting the services, and those documented in 11 contracts studied.
Findings
Results confirmed a high degree of alignment between target and actual operational performance in the contracts. The alignment of customers' financial objectives and contracts' operational metrics was low. Calculations show poor alignment between the objectives of the provider and the contribution received from the contracts.
Research limitations/implications
Some limitations of the conclusions include the small sample of contracts used in the calculations. Further research should include not only actual contracts, but also failed ones.
Practical implications
It is possible that misaligned goals, represented in misaligned performance measures, lead to tensions in intra‐firm relationships. If these tensions are not addressed properly the relationship could be unstable or terminated prematurely. This method of measuring alignment could detect early potential dangers in intra‐firm relationships.
Originality/value
This paper extends Venkatraman's test of coalignment to assess the alignment of a set of performance measures governing a contractual inter‐organizational relationship. Management researchers and business professionals may use this methodology when exploring degrees of alignment of performance measures in intra‐functional and inter‐firm relationships.
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Dagne Birhanu, Lanka Krishnanand and A. Neelakanteswara Rao
The purpose of this paper is to set the benchmark for finished goods consumer supply chain companies in terms of financial metrics driven from best performing supply chains in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to set the benchmark for finished goods consumer supply chain companies in terms of financial metrics driven from best performing supply chains in the world.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used a financial data collected from 25 large industries in Ethiopia and 25 companies from the best performing supply chains in the world as ranked by Gartner® to identify the gaps in financial metrics. This method helps in setting benchmarks for the case companies.
Findings
The result shows that the Ethiopian supply chains are performing well under revenue growth and insufficient under revenue per employee metrics. The result shows us these supply chains are accumulating inventories and are also seen inefficient and ineffective in their performances.
Research limitations/implications
Even though the research is only one of the few on case considered, it is not without limitation. The strategies to narrow the performance gaps for the respective case companies are not articulated.
Practical implications
It is an ideal for the managers in the case companies to look into their performance gaps and take the necessary actions to stay alive in this fierce competition era. Hence, the paper shows insights to the improvement of the supply chain performances.
Originality/value
The research can be considered the only one of the few in a case country. It is also the first of the type in covering large fast moving consumer goods companies’ metrics at large aligning with the best practicing supply chains in the world within the same industry vertical.
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