Summary

Focused measurement of performance in the right areas plays a big role in successful performance management. However, issues like data overload, a misguided focus on routine variation, and the lack of an overarching framework that connects people, departments and operating units undermine performance measurement and performance management.

This resource, a case study, describes how the Automobile Association of the UK successfully tackled many of these issues and went on to set a new industry benchmark and provides its customers with the highest level of satisfaction of any major provider, according to the JD Power’s UK Roadside Assistance Study in 1999, involving 25,000 drivers.

Summary

One of the world’s leading creative organizations, Saatchi & Saatchi provides solutions to leading clients like Carlsberg, General Mills, Lexus, Procter & Gamble, Sony Ericsson and Visa International.

In 1997, Saatchi & Saatchi was close to bankruptcy. A new senior management team was appointed to engineer a turnaround. The senior team presented to stakeholders a new vision and a detailed strategic blueprint for recovery, with very ambitious targets for a 3-year timeframe. With survival at stake, the group had only one chance to make the plan work.

Summary

In this interview, with Bernard Marr, CEO and Director of Research at the Advanced Performance Institute, discusses his new book, Strategic Performance Management: Leveraging and measuring your intangible value drivers, published by Butterworth-Heinemman.

Bernard Marr’s book is gaining recognition as a significant contribution to the field of strategic performance management and introduces an innovative and powerful performance management called the Value Creation Map, which is a visual representation of the organization strategy that includes the most important components that exist within the strategy (namely stakeholder value proposition, core competencies and key resources) and places them in relationship with each other.

Summary

The ultimate goal of enterprise performance management is to create a high performance culture. This brings into sharp focus the way companies actually manage people. Even today, however, HR managers are unable to prove the contributions they make to their companies and are hence, not a part of management teams. In this context, the article argues that a new role needs to be defined for the HR function.

The article traces the origins and development of personnel administration. Frederick Taylor’s principles of scientific management dictated the way jobs and work were defined and managed. Later, companies began to believe that a concern for employee welfare would translate into increased worker efficiency. The quality management movement carried forward this philosophy, by recognizing the importance of frontline workers in quality and consumer service.

Summary

In 2006, the Christchurch City Council was the only organization awarded Business Excellence New Zealand’s Performance Excellence Study Award (PESA). Sponsored by the New Zealand Government and businesses, the Award uses the internationally recognized Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Criteria.

Summary

In the 1990s, BKK, a Norwegian producer of electrical power, became a vertically integrated provider and also diversified to capitalize on emerging market opportunities such as broadband services. As a result, BKK faced a challenge in aligning managerial principles and approaches across the group. In response, BKK successfully implemented a bottom-up, group-wide process improvement program, driven by the identification of Critical Success Factors (CSFs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

Summary

In this article, the authors – experts in the field of strategic analysis, strategic planning and strategic initiatives – examine the relevance of the Balanced Scorecard methodology for undertaking a strategic assessment of higher education.

The authors begin by pointing out that accountability in higher education has become a challenging issue since the 1990s. Increasingly, institutions of higher learning have been required to provide performance indicators – empirical evidence of their value – to state, alumni, prospective student, and other external stakeholders. State commissions of higher education have developed “report cards” that grade colleges and universities according to their level of performance in a variety of categories. Surveys in the popular press and on the Internet rank institutions according to criteria such as retention and graduation rates, resources, and academic reputation. However, such efforts have not dramatically changed the operational performance of most major universities.

Summary

Bilprovningen is the Swedish Vehicle Inspection Company. With a mission to improve road safety and to contribute to a better environment, the company completes about 5.4 million inspections per year. Bilprovningen’s 2,100 employees work in 16 districts, 180 stations and two mobile units.