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The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the academic literature on sustainability performance measurement for sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) published over the past 20 years. The development and current state of instruments, concepts and systems to measure and manage sustainability performance are examined and research gaps are identified.

A systematic literature review is conducted spanning two decades of publications in peer-reviewed academic journals. The publications are analyzed with regard to frequency and bibliometrical metrics and research content.

The research examines the development of the field over 20 years, which has witnessed a steep rise in related publications only for the past five years, indicating a late interest in the area compared to other sustainability topics. Social performance measures entered the discussion particularly late, whereas economic and environmental measurement almost exclusively dominated the field for the first few years.

The authors identify research gaps and discuss future directions for research. The analysis shows how the research area develops from a topic dealt with by a small group of interested researchers into a broader research field acknowledged in the scientific community.

Findings underline the importance of measuring performance for sustainability management of supply chains. The review identifies what measurement and management tools are discussed in the literature over time.

This is the first literature review on sustainability performance measurement for SSCM summarizing the development over the time span of 20 years.

The purpose of this paper is to compare the characteristics of performance measurement in cross-functional and supplier-oriented purchasing and supply management (PSM) practices. It clarifies the purposes and content of performance measurement in three PSM practices.

A multiple case study approach is utilized in this study. Each of the cases is related to a contemporary performance measurement development project during the period 2015–2016. Interviews are conducted to obtain a pre-understanding of the research questions at hand. The case studies continue as an action research including measurement development workshops.

Identification of causalities between measurement objects and the measurement value benefits are contemporary issues of performance measurement development in the PSM context. The findings indicate that the measurement of outputs and outcomes instead of inputs and measurement supporting supplier relationship management is increasingly important in the service context. Measurement purpose affects the characteristics of PSM performance measurement. This study identifies that more informal control and non-standard measures are needed in interactive PSM practices such as cross-functional integration.

The study provides practical examples of performance measurement in service purchasing, classifies the characteristics of performance measurement and highlights the need to extend the scope of measurement in the PSM context. The findings of the case studies reported support practitioners in developing performance measurement that satisfies contemporary managerial needs.

Earlier studies are often not explicit with the purpose of performance measurement. This study contributes to the existing literature by linking performance measurement characteristics to the understanding of PSM practices and providing a wider overview of the varying characteristics of performance measurement supporting strategic purchasing of services.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the concept of early warning signs in projects and explain how a performance measurement system can be utilized as a source of data for an early warning approach signaling that a project is about to experience problems at some stage in the future.

Combination of action research and semi‐structured interviews and document analysis supplemented by a post‐mortem analysis after project close‐out.

Detection of early warning signals in projects can be better enabled through the application of a performance measurement system with properly defined key performance indicators. Utilization of this tool can positively affect the overall success of the project.

The case study involved only one project from the oil and gas industry.

The empirical case study was developed to illustrate the usefulness of exploiting a performance measurement system in a project. A procedure was demonstrated for developing and implementing an early warning system based on performance measurement, and specific performance indicators have been described for other projects to copy.

This paper highlights the gap in the literature concerning the link between early warning and project management and the link between early warning and performance measurement. It offers a new idea on how performance measurement can be used as an effective early warning system and is intended to be primarily of use to project management practitioners and practically‐oriented academics who are interested in developing fresh insights into new approaches for better management of projects.

Current literature recognised big data as a digital revolution affecting all organisational processes. To obtain a competitive advantage from the use of big data, an efficient integration in a performance measurement system (PMS) is needed, but it is still a “great challenge” in performance measurement research. This paper aims to review the big data and performance measurement studies to identify the publications’ trends and future research opportunities.

The authors reviewed 873 documents on big data and performance carrying out an extensive bibliometric analysis using two main techniques, i.e. performance analysis and science mapping.

Results point to a significant increase in the number of publications on big data and performance, highlighting a shortage of studies on business, management and accounting areas, and on how big data can improve performance measurement. Future research opportunities are identified. They regard the development of further research to explain how performance measurement field can effectively integrate big data into a PMS and describe the main themes related to big data in performance measurement literature.

This paper gives a holistic view of big data and performance measurement research through the inclusion of numerous contributions on different research streams. It also encourages further study for developing concrete tools.

The literature highlights the relevance of performance measurement and management system in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to face the current competitive environment. However, a number of studies investigate how performance measurement and management system is effective for evolving and how contingency factors could influence this change. Newer experiences are sporadic and rarely investigated by researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this study is to identify the feasible evolutionary path of performance measurement and management system in leading SMEs to respond to current business challenges. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to the understanding of the role of key contingency factors influencing this evolution.

A longitudinal case study, based on retrospective and real-time investigations, is performed to investigate the primary evolutions of the performance measurement and management system and its key determinants.

The findings highlight two evolution paths, increasing the maturity of performance measurement. The first path highlights a strong command and control of performance management; the second path shows a democratic and participative of performance management. Moreover, management information system, organizational culture and management style are highlighted as key contingency factors in the change of performance management.

The authors contribute to knowledge in performance measurement field, showing how the efforts for developing performance measurement and management system in a leading SME could determine two different evolutionary paths. Furthermore, the paper describes the increasing role of organizational culture, management style and management information system in performance management evolution, as well as the relevance of online chats and social media in performance management activities.

Multidisciplinary business process management (BPM) research can reap significant impact. We can particularly benefit from incorporating accounting concepts to address some of the key BPM challenges, such as value-creation and return on investment of BPM activities. However, research which addresses a relationship between BPM and accounting is scarce. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed synthesis of the current literature that has integrated accounting aspects with BPM. The authors profile and thematically describe existing research, and derive evidence-based directions to guide future research.

A multi-staged structured literature review approach to search for the two broad themes, accounting and BPM, supported by NVivo (to manage the papers and the coding and analysis processes) was designed and followed.

The paper confirms the dearth of work that ties the two disciplines, despite the synergetic multidisciplinary results that can be attained. Available literature is mostly from the management accounting perspective and relates to describing how performance management, in particular performance measurement, can be applicable to process improvement initiatives together with tools such as activity-based costing and the balanced scorecard. There is a lack of research that examines BPM in relation to any financial accounting perspectives (such as external reporting). Future research directions are proposed together with implications for practitioners with the findings of this structured literature review.

The paper provides a detailed synthesis of the existing literature on the nexus between accounting and BPM. It summarizes the implications for practitioners and provides directions for future research by identifying key gaps and opportunities with a sound contextual basis for extension and new work.

Effective literature reviews create strong foundations for future research and accumulate the otherwise scattered knowledge into a single place. This is the first structured literature review that provides a detailed synthesis of the research that ties together the accounting and BPM disciplines, providing a basis for future research directions together with implications for practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an action research intervention in the outpatient department of a National Health Service (NHS) Hospital. It investigates the perceived and actual problems of measuring capacity at a UK hospital.

An action research methodology was adopted: relevant literature on capacity measurement and performance was reviewed; the motivation behind its usage explored. Systems requiring improvement were identified and the adoption and implementation of new working methods initiated and explored. In addition to considering capacity measurement and performance issues, the authors examined the effects this may have on the long‐term potential of the organisation.

The research identified gaps in the capacity and activity measures used and in the dissemination of performance information. To address these problems and meet the changing needs of the department a new performance measurement and reporting tool was implemented.

The methodology applied was appropriate, generating data to facilitate discussion and draw specific conclusions from. A perceived limitation is the single case approach, however, Remenyi argues this can be enough to add to the body of knowledge.

The paper gives details about the introduction of new performance measures and the development of a performance measurement tool for the Outpatient Department of the Hospital. The conclusions drawn add substantially to previous commentaries, and develop interesting questions for future research.

Specific recommendations for the implementation of a new performance tool for healthcare organisations are made.

Performance measurement in higher education has attracted substantial attention, often focussing on the applicability and value of performance measurement concepts to the sector. The purpose of this paper is to use components of a seven-element maturity model to examine the development of performance measurement maturity in New Zealand universities in the period 2008-2013.

Documentary analysis was the primary approach. A total of 48 annual reports were examined. The focus was the statement of service performance, but all surrounding material was also examined. Each annual report was subjected to a range of quantitative and semi-quantitative analyses.

Universities have shown strengths in aligning measures to strategic direction, the quality of commentary, and improvement in the use of outcomes frameworks. More variable results have been seen in the breadth and quality of measures, and most importantly, in the use of performance information to guide institutional decision-making. This lack of evolution is likely to be linked to the particular accountability relationships surrounding the universities, which while part of the public sector are semi-autonomous. It is also likely to be linked to academic organisational culture.

There have been few examinations of the use of performance measurement by universities, with most studies focussing less on operational practice than on broader theoretical issues. This study provides useful information about the actual use of performance measurement.

The purpose of this study is to contribute to the knowledge base on how performance measurement drives improvements in healthcare practice.

The study is based on a single in-depth case study. The critical incident technique (CIT) has been applied in order to identify significant occurrences of performance measurement in terms of events, incidents, processes, and issues identified by respondents from the case organization. These critical incidents have been analysed and interpreted using a theoretical framework suggesting that performance measurement may be applied for exploratory or regulatory purposes as well as ad hoc or continuously in healthcare practice.

The study suggests that performance measurement may be a versatile method for driving improvement in healthcare organizations. Six types of activities directly or indirectly drive improvement in the clinical department: continuous follow-up in formal arenas and meetings; improvement work; professional efforts; goal deployment; reporting based on external demands; and creating awareness in everyday clinical work. Healthcare organizations that strive to practice performance measurement as a driver for improvement need to find infrastructures in which it is being integrated into the daily life of organizational healthcare practice.

The study provides an original account of the prerequisites and actions for driving improvement through performance measurement in a healthcare setting. Since the operations management perspective in healthcare is significantly lacking, the study offers a unique perspective which may be the basis for both practice development and further scholarly inquiry and theory development.

Sustainable competitiveness can only come through building robustness into processes and their effective management and control. Through a culture of continuous improvement and using the Deming Cycle of plan‐do‐check‐act, complacency can be prevented and value optimized for the end customer. Measurement is the trigger for process improvement and the achievement of superior competitive standards. In the first of three articles, following a review of the literature, studies the applications of total quality‐based performance measurement through two case studies. The type of practices highlighted suggest that performance measurement forms a broad, integrated concept in organizations which have implemented TQM. Few organizations have developed a separate “performance measurement system”; performance measurement instead forms an integral part of the management processes and systems within the organization. In the second article, develops a comparison of 15 case studies. From this analysis, introduces and tests a model of total quality‐based performance measurement in the third article of the series.