Search results

Dashboards and scorecards are widely‐deployed performance management tools, but are often ineffectively used. Properly designed, developed, and deployed strategic dashboards can cut through clutter, provide incisive strategic insight, improve decision‐making, and enhance both alignment and implementation performance. This article seeks to identify common pitfalls in strategic dashboard design and use, and then recommend guidelines for improving dashboard design, scope, use and impact.

The paper is based on hands‐on development of dashboards and strategy implementation programs for hundreds of clients across multiple sectors; complemented by operating experience managing strategic implementation and dashboard/measurement systems for high‐growth, complex organizations.

Key steps include developing a process that prioritizes indicators, includes key stakeholders, incorporates management analysis and judgment, favors rich data display using a common visual and quantitative language, and systematizes consistent dashboard use and dissemination.

Careful attention to dashboard content, form, process, and politics will help leaders strategically manage performance. Properly designed, dashboards can effectively focus senior teams on strategic issues, and catalyze strategic action.

This perspective from a practitioner identifies pitfalls and guidelines for maximizing the value and reach of dashboards, gleaned from experience across multiple industries and sectors.

Risk management is an essential cornerstone of any effective unit. The maternity dashboard has been found to be an efficient governance tool, but there is no such scorecard in gynaecology. The paper aims to conceptualise and implement an acute gynaecology dashboard in a teaching hospital over a period of two years and review the changes brought in practice as a result of the dashboard.

This acute gynaecology dashboard was designed in line with the existing maternity dashboard. Goals and benchmarks were determined on the basis of available national guidelines, expert opinions and local policies. The dashboard was prospectively implemented, updated monthly and presented in the relevant forums. A retrospective overview of the changes brought in the practice is presented in this paper.

Through the use of the dashboard significant problems related to workforce, training and clinical activity were identified. A number of changes were subsequently executed to improve patient management, service provision and training. This paper provides empirical insights about how positive changes in clinical practice could be brought in by the implementation of the acute gynaecology dashboard. The acute gynaecology dashboard was found to be a valuable governance tool to monitor performance and improve training and patient care.

The acute gynaecology dashboard can be used as an effective clinical governance tool to monitor performance and leads to improvement in clinical practice in other acute gynaecology units.

Though the maternity dashboard is widely in use, there has been no previous description of an acute gynaecology dashboard and this is the first paper in this area. With the increasing demand of acute gynaecology services, the dashboard becomes an essential tool for clinical governance.

This study aims to focus on providing a computerized classification testing (CCT) system that can easily be embedded as a self-assessment feature into the existing legacy environment of a higher education institution, empowering students with self-assessments to monitor their learning progress and following strict data protection regulations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of two different versions (without dashboard vs with dashboard) of the CCT system during the course of a semester; to examine changes in the intended use and perceived usefulness of two different versions (without dashboard vs with dashboard) of the CCT system; and to compare the self-reported confidence levels of two different versions (without dashboard vs with dashboard) of the CCT system.

A total of N = 194 students from a higher education institution in the area of economic and business education participated in the study. The participants were provided access to the CCT system as an opportunity to self-assess their domain knowledge in five areas throughout the semester. An algorithm was implemented to classify learners into master and nonmaster. A total of nine metrics were implemented for classifying the performance of learners. Instruments for collecting co-variates included the study interest questionnaire (Cronbach’s a = 0. 90), the achievement motivation inventory (Cronbach’s a = 0. 94), measures focusing on perceived usefulness and demographic data.

The findings indicate that the students used the CCT system intensively throughout the semester. Students in a cohort with a dashboard available interacted more with the CCT system than students in a cohort without a dashboard. Further, findings showed that students with a dashboard available reported significantly higher confidence levels in the CCT system than participants without a dashboard.

The design of digitally supported learning environments requires valid formative (self-)assessment data to better support the current needs of the learner. While the findings of the current study are limited concerning one study cohort and a limited number of self-assessment areas, the CCT system is being further developed for seamless integration of self-assessment and related feedback to further reveal unforeseen opportunities for future student cohorts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the complexities in dashboard design process.

The authors chose case study research, following Benbasat et al. (2002) who argued that it is suitable for information system research, as researchers could perform the study in the organisation as a natural setting. As a result, the authors could learn and generate insights from practice. Another reason was mainly as the phenomenon being studied cannot be taken away from its context (Yin, 2003). In addition, through case study, the authors aim to achieve a deeper understanding and richer descriptions on the subject of research in a “real-world context” (Yin, 2012). In addition, it aims to understand the intricacy of the processes going on in the organisation by focusing more towards organisational rather than the technological issues (Benbasat et al., 1987).

Through research, the authors highlighted that it is important to align the dashboard design with the organisation’s visions and goals. This creates a more persuasive rationale for adoption amongst the users, as they could use the dashboard as a means to assist them in achieving the vision and goals of the organisation. More importantly, the analysis clearly indicates the need to consider the creation of a dashboard as a holistic exercise. The intricate processes of designing a dashboard are often underestimated. Instead of focusing into a specific aspect (such as user interface or functionality) of designing dashboards, the authors should look into the multi-faceted aspects in designing an effective dashboard.

This paper articulates the findings from a single case study. However, arguably, the results of this study are transferable to other entities responsible for designing business intelligence (BI) and business analytics dashboards. Research on dashboard design and the use of design thinking across different type organisations is currently ongoing to allow for cross-case analyses.

The study has determined that interdisciplinary and cross-functional group communications play a significant role in designing a dashboard. The ability to collaborate with “data owners”, would be dashboard users, managers of the technical infrastructure, and process owners leads to a workable and effective dashboard. In this sense, design thinking could be used and/or regarded as a holistic, creative and solutions-oriented framework.

With an increasing interest on BI and business analytics, dashboards have an increasingly pivotal role in providing a summary of data for business users. The literature review shows in designing a dashboard; there is much emphasis on the graphical user interface and in providing features and functionalities for the dashboards. This paper presents a case study outlining the key considerations of a team in charge of business analytics and dashboard creations for a university. Through the case study analysis, the authors explore the key aspects that influence a dashboard design and analyse the design processes using the concept of design thinking as the theoretical framework.

This paper aims to focus on the value of marketing dashboards, a key area of interest for scholars and practitioners. This study examines two critical outcomes of marketing dashboards: marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Additionally, the research analyzes the impact of the firm’s internal structure on the relationship between marketing dashboards and the outcomes.

A conceptual model grounded in the knowledge-based view of the firm is tested. The research uses survey data collected from marketing professionals employed within business-to-business firms. Data from the key informants are analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results demonstrate that marketing dashboards are significantly related to marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability. Centralization exhibits a negative moderating effect, and formalization exhibits a positive moderating effect on the relationship between marketing dashboards and marketing strategy implementation speed. Marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are related to market performance.

Through the examination of main and moderating relationships, this paper demonstrates that marketing strategy implementation speed and market information management capability are key integration mechanisms that leverage the marketing dashboard resources.

The purpose of this paper is to take a student-centred perspective to understanding the range of ways that students respond to receiving information about their learning behaviours presented on a dashboard. It identifies four principles to inform the design of dashboards which support learner agency and empowerment, features which Prinsloo and Slade (2016) suggest are central to ethical adoption of learning analytics.

The study involved semi-structured interviews with 24 final-year undergraduates to explore the students’ response to receiving dashboards that showed the students’ achievement and other learning behaviours.

The paper identifies four principles that should be used when designing and adopting learner dashboards to support student agency and empowerment.

The study was based on a small sample of undergraduate students from the final year from one academic school. The data are based on students’ self-reporting.

The paper suggests that these four principles are guiding tenets for the design and implementation of learner dashboards in higher education. The four principles are: designs that are customisable by students; foregrounds students sense making; enables students to identify actionable insights; and dashboards are embedded into educational processes.

The paper’s originality is that it illuminates student-centred principles of learner dashboard design and adoption.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse hospital dashboards’ visibility of information at different management levels to improve quality and performance in an acute general hospital.

Data were generated via 21 semi-structured interviews across different management levels.

All management levels had greater visibility of information, could make informed decisions, and registered performance improvement. Specifically, waiting time improved, however since introduction of hospital dashboards was work-in-progress at time of study, managers could not record improvement in terms of cost reductions, clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient satisfaction. Different managerial levels had different visibility with top management having the greatest.

In single case studies, where only one context is used, the findings cannot be reproduced in different contexts; even though most of the results could be matched with the current literature.

The need to have balanced key performance indicators that take into account other facets of improvements, apart from time, has been emphasised. Furthermore, if middle and departmental managers have greater visibility, this would allow them to work towards a strategic fit between the departments that they manage with the rest of the hospital.

There is scant literature regarding performance dashboards’ enhancement of visibility of information at different management levels. Furthermore, according to the authors’ knowledge, no other paper has tried to identify and discuss the different levels of information, which should be visible from bedside to board namely to management, clinicians and public.

The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive and updated analysis of the available literature on hospital dashboards.

A search of the current literature was performed by searching electronic databases, including Google Scholar, EBSCO and Medline, as well as books.

In all, 48 manuscripts consisting of peer reviewed articles, conference proceedings, case reports and text books were included in this review.

Despite the numerous advantages of performance dashboards, several authors have mentioned a number of challenges. It was evident from the literature that any setting requires significant effort, especially to ensure the quality of data being collected. In fact, significant investment, both in terms of financial and human resources, is required to achieve an effective dashboard. Furthermore, most of the studies available in the literature were individual case reports or anecdotal accounts rather than empirical studies. Thus, further research is required to ascertain the effectiveness of performance dashboards. In view of these findings, each organisation should make its own decisions whether or not to adopt performance dashboards.

Most of the literature is fragmented as it reports the use of different types of dashboards, namely strategic, tactical and operational, as separate tools. This literature review contributes to knowledge as it brings together the different types of dashboards and the cascading effect of one dashboard onto another in order to achieve and retain organisational alignment with the overall strategic goals.

Students studying exclusively online face the challenge of gauging their progress in relation to that of their disparate peers. The purpose of this paper is to describe the creation of a student progress “dashboard” in an online Masters programme, and the perceived effectiveness of the tool for engaging students.

Tableau® visualisation software was used to create a dashboard displaying cohort comparison data comprising metrics relating to the continuous assessment components of the Masters programme. An anonymous questionnaire gauged students’ perceptions of the dashboard.

Feedback from students (n=137) suggests the dashboard improved their motivation, incentivising change in study behaviours, and sense of belonging to an online community of learners. It also acted as a conversation catalyst between staff and students, whereby students more readily engaged in dialogue with their personal tutor.

Distance learners are more likely to feel isolated and can become demotivated, which contributes to typically higher levels of withdrawal from online programmes vs those delivered on-campus. Tutors may consider communicating progress data as dashboards to enable online students to monitor their academic progress alongside that of their peers, as a motivational tool in an otherwise disparate group of learners, and to reduce feelings of isolation by reminding distance learners that they are part of a larger online community.

This paper shares student and tutor perspectives on the use of dashboards to increase online students’ motivation, and examines whether the benefits of a peer-comparison dashboard are reserved for high-achieving students.

This paper aims to provides a brief review of the dashboard literature, an account of the development of performance dashboards for field data collection at Westat, and more specifically for the first cycle of the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). A brief concluding section offers suggestions for improvements in survey dashboards for PIAAC’s next cycle.

To manage field work at Westat, the authors create views into various paradata databases and present them in a dashboard, showing key performance indicators at a glance. Users can drill down from the dashboard into underlying databases to investigate potential problems. The US PIAAC dashboard is a monitoring system that supports daily review of many activities. For example, it provides overnight alerts to the field supervisor when global positioning system (GPS) data from an interviewer’s smartphone shows the interview occurred far from the respondent’s home.

Performance dashboards may represent best practice for monitoring field activities. Paradata sources and systems vary greatly across the PIAAC countries, but a multitude of process data exists in every country and can be used to create quality indicators and a monitoring system. PIAAC can establish standards/guidelines to improve visualization of quality metrics and management data, regardless of the local survey infrastructure.

The core of the paper is a case study of the experiences on the US PIAAC implementation of dashboards to monitor survey quality, production and costs, with special attention to the issue of fabrication.