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Presidents have constitutional powers and are incentivized to use performance information that is essential to economic leadership practices. However, presidents have not previously been studied in this context. The purpose of this paper is to examine how two sitting presidents use numerical performance information in their speeches. A speech is a formal talk given to a large number of individuals at a particular instance.

Empirical data were obtained from 85 presidential speeches given by the president of Estonia and 35 by the president of Lithuania. The speeches were analyzed using qualitative and quantitative content analysis. Inductive inference, descriptive statistics and statistical tests were used to propose new theoretical ideas for future research.

Studied presidents used extensively numerical performance information, primarily outcome information. Also, the presidents used performance information differently, even though both presidents operated in a similar political context and had similar individual characteristics. The differences were in part explained by speech length but not speech context. Older age, doctoral degree, and longer administrative and political career were associated with lower use.

The study provides preliminary results on how presidents use performance information and what type of performance information is most useful in presidential speeches that address the nation and conduct economic leadership.

New analytical models are presented that can be used to study the intensity of performance information use in rhetoric. Conceptual definitions of the various levels of intensity in performance information use are also introduced. In general, presidential performance information use adds a new dimension to existing research.

This paper aims to understand performance management as a social phenomenon by investigating the challenges of performance dialogue, a phenomenon where participants jointly interpret performance information and discuss it while identifying the actions needed to manage the performance according to this information.

The research aim is achieved by conducting an interview study. Empirical data were collected by interviewing 30 public managers in three Finnish municipalities and subjecting it to content analysis using inductive category development.

The research provides empirical evidence from challenges in engaging in performance dialogue. It moreover derives a comprehensive conceptual model categorizing factors inhibiting performance dialogue.

Difficulties in conducting organizational performance dialogues are better explained. The findings support the management of performance dialogue by helping practitioners to identify challenges associated to these dialogues.

This study contributes to current conversations on performance management by showing that performance dialogues are no miracle cure for problems in performance information use. Moreover, the authors demonstrate that complications in performance information use are intertwined in many ways.

Job analysis is the common basis for designing a training course or programme, preparing performance tests, writing position (job) descriptions, identifying performance appraisal criteria, and job restructuring. Its other applications in human resource development include career counselling and wage and salary administration. Job analysis answers the questions of what tasks, performed in what manner, make up a job. Outputs of this analytical study include: (a) a list of the job tasks; (b) details of how each task is performed; (c) statements describing the responsibility, job knowledge, mental application, and dexterity, as well as accuracy required; and (d) a list of the equipment, materials, and supplies used to perform the job. Various techniques for conducting a job analysis have been used. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. As a result, different techniques or combinations of techniques are appropriate to different situations. The combined on‐site observation and individual interview techniques are recommended for industrial, trade, craft, clerical, and technical jobs because they generate the most thorough and probably the most valid information. A job analysis schedule is used to report the job information obtained through observations and individual interviews. The schedule provides a framework of 12 items in which to arrange and describe important job analysis information. These 12 items are organised into four sections. Section one consists of items one through four. These items identify the job within the establishment in which it occurs. The second section presents item five, the work performed. It provides a thorough and complete description of the tasks of the job. The Work Performed section describes what the job incumbent does, how it is done, and why it is done. Section three presents items six through nine. These are the requirements placed on the job incumbent for successful performance. It is a detailed interpretation of the basic minimum (a) responsibility, (b) job knowledge, (c) mental application, and (d) dexterity and accuracy required of the job incumbent. The fourth section includes three items which provide background information on the job. These items are: (a) equipment, materials and supplies; (b) definitions of terms; and (c) general comments. Appendix A is a glossary of terms associated with job analysis. It is provided to facilitate more exacting communication. A job analysis schedule for a complex and a relatively simple job are included in Appendices B and C. These examples illustrate how important job analysis information is arranged and described. Appendix D provides a list of action verbs which are helpful when describing the manipulative tasks of a job.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the importance of different components of strategic performance measurement systems (SPMS) and their deployment influence the use of performance information from the SPMS in making strategic decisions.

Data were collected through a survey of 143 managers of Canadian public organizations.

The findings indicate that two SPMS components, namely, the importance of non-financial performance measures and the use of operational efficiency measures, have significant positive associations with performance information use for strategy implementation and strategy assessment decisions. The extent to which SPMS models were used is found to be positively associated with performance information use for strategy implementation, but not for strategy assessment, decisions. Furthermore, the relationships between SPMS variables and strategic decision making are moderated by information systems/data limitations and management’s commitment to attaining strategic goals. Managerial skills acquired through training or experience with SPMS also contribute positively to such relationships.

The results are affected by limitations associated with the survey method used.

The findings could be useful for supporting public policy, strategic decision making, public service improvement, operational efficiency, and effectiveness.

The study contributes to public management and performance measurement literature by investigating multiple determinants of performance information use in a cross-section of Canadian public organizations.

Find out how the employees’ performance on the implementation of the hotel reservation information system. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the effect of the task-technology fit (TTF) on the use of information systems, as well as its effect on user performance and satisfaction.

This research type is explanatory research. In explanatory research, the aim is to provide an explanation related to the causal relationship between variables and hypothesis testing. The unit of analysis adopted in this study is the individual of the front office employees who use the star hotel reservation information system in South Kalimantan Province (the population is 239, and the taken are 150 samples, based on the number of indicators multiplied 5).

The higher the TTF, the higher the level of using information systems. The higher the use level of information systems, the higher the information systems user performance and vice versa in which the higher the user’s performance, the more increase the use of information systems. On the other hand, this study found that the use of information systems and user performance has no significant effect on user satisfaction.

The novelty in this study is shown in the influence between performance variables on the usage and the usage variables on the users’ performance. This study examines the importance of reciprocal usage and user performance relationships based on previous research studies that examine the relationship and that information technology (IT) usage will affect user performance. In addition, the users’ performance will affect the users’ behavior in using IT.

This paper explores the nuanced relationship between individual and firm performance through the lens of market information use, in the specific context of small businesses, shedding light on the specificity of information use and impact of information use on both types of performance.

A mixture of subjective and objective data from a sample of small food producers engaged in an action research project with a major UK supermarket was used to test hypotheses developed from the information management, marketing and small business literature.

The results suggest that the effective use of market information has a significant impact on the performance of both the individual and the organization but independently of each other. The result provides evidence of the potential “disconnection” between individual and organizational levels of performance and the tension that exists in small businesses between operational and strategic decision-making and the use of market information therein.

While the author's study benefits from access to individual decision-makers and objective organizational performance data, the study is not without its limitations. Chief among these is the small sample size. Moreover, while there are clear benefits to working with a homogeneous sample of small food producers supplying the same key customer in the same market, generalizing to small food businesses operating in other distributions channels and small businesses in other sectors is also difficult.

When analyzing the performance of marketing managers, owner-managers should pay attention to the incentives for them to invest time and effort in the effective use of market information as the disconnection between individual and firm performance can have negative implications for their personal development and the overall firm performance.

This study explores a missing link in the extant body of small business literature, i.e., the role played by key individuals with responsibility for the marketing function within small businesses and the relationship between small businesses' approach to the use of market information and performance at a functional level and the overall firm performance.

Despite the increasing demand for socially responsible investments (SRIs) and the importance of information intermediaries in providing corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance information through SRI screens, relatively little is known about the relationship between nonprofessional investors’ views regarding SRI, their use of SRI screens and their actual SRI behavior. This study aims to distinguish between investor views about the importance of corporate environmental responsibility (environmental performance importance views) and whether they view environmentally responsible firms as yielding higher returns (environmental performance return views). It examines the association between these views, SRI screen use and reported SRI holdings.

Nonprofessional investor participants completed an online survey about their SRI investment views, screen use and investment behavior. The survey yielded 201 usable responses.

The strength of participants’ environmental performance importance and environmental performance return views is positively associated with their use of SRI screens and the proportion of their portfolios held in SRIs. SRI screen use only partially mediates the association between investors’ environmental performance importance and return views and their SRI holdings.

The study does not precisely address what types of SRI screens nonprofessional investors may be using. It does not control for investors’ specific experience with SRIs, nor does it examine how or why investors come to believe that environmental responsibility may improve a company’s return potential.

The fact that SRI screen use only partially mediates the association between investors’ views and their SRI holdings suggests that either reliable, unfiltered CSR information is important for nonprofessional investors or some investors are choosing SRIs without obtaining adequate relevant information.

The study’s findings confirm earlier research findings which show an association between investors’ pro-environmental views and their decision to invest in SRIs (Williams, 2007; Nilsson, 2008) and suggest that nonprofessional investors are becoming aware of the positive relation between environmental performance and firm value (Dhaliwal et al., 2011; Clarkson et al., 2013; Hawn et al., 2014; Matsumura et al., 2014).

This study simultaneously examines the influence of environmental performance importance (an “alternative” investment perspective) and environmental performance return (a “traditional” investment perspective) on investors’ SRI behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how different network members utilize and use network‐level performance measurement information. This is an important approach when discussing the management and development of a network by utilizing a performance measurement system.

The study is a single‐case study, where a collaborative network forms the case. The data of the study have been gathered from an action research process of network performance measurement system design and its implementation phase in 2009, interviews in 2010, and discussions with the interviewees in 2012 to re‐evaluate the results.

The results of the study reveal that the use of the network‐level performance measurement system increased communication, trust, and commitment in the whole network, as well as in a single reselling unit. The performance measurement information also helped the companies create better alignment with their network partners.

The paper presents the main uses, utilizations and benefits of network‐level performance measurement and management from the perspectives of the different network members.

The case study contributes to the literature of performance measurement and management in a network environment. It presents the main uses and utilization of network‐level performance management and measurement.

Lack of knowledge and performance information sharing between actors is one manifestation of fragmentation in public performance management. This study aims to understand what managerial means are used for connecting performance dialogues and how these means affect fragmentation in performance management.

In this cross-sectional research design, the authors reviewed documents, interviewed public managers, observed workshops and held thematic discussions with public managers in one Finnish municipality. To analyze the empirical data, the authors used thematic analysis and both inductive and deductive research approaches.

The analysis revealed nine managerial means that public managers use for connecting performance dialogues to decrease fragmentation. These were (1) defining the division of labor between different dialogues, (2) assigning resources for performance dialogues, (3) generating convincing narratives for promoting collaboration, (4) providing the same performance information to collaborators, (5) building joint information systems, (6) establishing integrative performance dialogue hubs, (7) naming the gatekeepers, (8) offering training for dialogues and (9) synchronizing performance dialogues. Based on our findings, most of these means can preserve, increase or decrease fragmentation depending on their design.

The results of the study are valuable because the performance management literature has not investigated what managerial means are used to connect performance dialogues and how these means can preserve, increase or decrease fragmentation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how middle managers utilize performance measurement information in their work. More specifically, the study gives understanding on the impact of performance measurement, policies and procedures (formal controls), and individual intuition and experiential knowledge (informal controls) on strategy implementation and decision making. The study also identifies hindrances to the use of measurement information.

The study is carried out as a semi-structured interview study in Finnish companies representing five industries and 29 interviewees. Empirical data were analyzed deductively according to the research framework combining informal and formal management controls with two managerial processes.

The work of middle managers is clearly affected by informal controls. Much of the managerial work relies on individual intuition and judgment based on experience instead of performance information or formal instructions. The study also unveiled that top management sees the status of utilizing performance measurement information in a more positive light than do middle managers. This is the case especially in strategy implementation. Deficiency of measurement information was found to be a key factor hindering the use of measurement information but improper analysis of results is also a challenge.

This study examined the work of middle managers widely in different positions and industries which means that the findings are rather explorative. Simplification was required in order to operationalize the complex tasks of strategy implementation and decision making. Further, more contextually focused research is required in order to understand better the contextual causes of the findings and to provide more understanding on the appropriate ways of improving the utilization of performance measurement information.

The practical contribution of this study lies in the detailed description of strategy implementation and decision-making processes based on observations in several large companies representing different industries. The study also suggests areas to which development efforts should be concentrated on in order to improve the use of performance information among middle managers.

This study contributes to the earlier literature by highlighting the usage of performance measurement information as opposed to developing new measures. In addition, the novelty value of the paper relates to the focus in the work of middle managers which has gained less attention in the previous research.