The university's role in creating radically new products (original) (raw)
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Proceedings of the 31st International Conference of the System Dynamics Society
The role of Performance Management (PM) systems has become crucial for steering Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to successfully compete during the ongoing critical economic transition. To improve decision-maker strategic learning processes, traditional PM frameworks need to be combined with System Dynamics (SD) modeling. This paper shows how to design and use a Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) approach to assess and support SMEs competitiveness. The emerging framework is applied to a real case of a small business to analyze the empirical effectiveness of the approach hereby suggested.
Do Romanian Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Use Performance Management? An Empirical Study
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2014
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a source of entrepreneurial skills, innovation, and new jobs creation. Despite the recognition of the importance of human factor in obtaining performances as the organizational level (especially during crises) relatively few managers from SMEs pay attention to implementation and utilization of a performance management system. This paper aims to evaluate the level the Romanian small and medium-sized enterprises use performance management tools and techniques in their activities.
A dynamic performance management approach to support local strategic planning
In spite of efforts devoted in the last decades to local strategic planning, such field of research and practice has been frequently characterized by a lack of implementation. We argue here that this phenomenon is due to the limitations of the static and linear approach to local strategic planning in fostering the development of common shared view among policy makers on the relevant system's structure and behavior. By means of a case-study, we illustrate how an approach based on system dynamics modeling applied to Performance Management can be useful to overcome such weaknesses. The proposed approach enhances a better understanding of the causes and effects related to adopted policies, undertaken actions and targeted results. This helps key-players in an area to overcome possible barriers to collaboration, and therefore to adopt a combined " institutional and inter-institutional " perspective of performance.
In the past two decades the Italian academic system has been affected by a number of law reforms, aiming at fostering an improvement of University performance, through the introduction of a set of parameters, based on which public funds are allocated. Such policy has only partially achieved successful results. In fact, several problems have arisen because of the introduction of performance standards by the Italian Ministry of Research. Among such problems, there are: a “means-ends inversion” and a bounded attention of policy-makers in both time and space. Improving performance management and accountability in academic institutions implies the understanding of a more complex system than a simplistic set of parameters used for the allocation of Ministerial funds. Such system should, rather, embody the organizational structure and processes, and encompass the interactions of the University actors with several stakeholders in the external environment. Namely, key-performance indicators and corresponding drivers, as well as strategic resources affecting them must be properly tracked and managed by decision-makers. Furthermore, delays and non-linearities often significantly affect the accumulation and depletion of strategic resources, and the associated performance drivers and end-results. Such dynamic complex context requires that proper “lenses” are adopted to manage performance and foster accountability from inside the institution, first of all. The emphasis on a performance management approach, focused on the characteristics of the organizational system, requires that controllers and organization designers in Academic institutions produce an effort to understand problems/issues and opportunities that mostly characterize their own organization, rather than only applying external schemas designed by a Ministerial institution. Based on the described conceptual framework, the aim of this paper is to illustrate how to design and implement performance measurement/management systems in universities by identifying and modeling those factors impacting on academic performance through a dynamic performance management view. Namely, combining performance management with System Dynamics modeling allows academic decision-makers to better identify key-performance drivers for pursuing a sustainable performance improvement in universities. The second section of the paper is devoted to discuss a number of examples based on empirical findings from a field project aimed at designing a dynamic performance management model for the University of Palermo.
Dynamic Performance Management: An Approach for Managing the Common Goods
Sustainability, 2019
Public organizations need innovative approaches for managing common goods and to explain the dynamics linking the (re)generation of common goods and organizational performance. Although system dynamics is recognised as a useful approach for managing common goods, public organizations rarely adopt the system dynamics for this goal. The paper aims to review the literature on the system dynamics and its recent application, known as dynamic performance management, to highlight the state of the art and future opportunities on the management of common goods. The authors analyzed 144 documents using a systematic literature review. The results obtained outline a fair number of documents, countries and journals involving the study of system dynamics, but do not cover sufficient research on the linking between the (re)generation of common goods and organizational performance. This paper outlines academic and practical contributions. Firstly, it contributes to the theory of common goods. It provides insight for linking the management of common goods and organizational performance through the use of dynamic performance management approach. Furthermore, it shows scholars the main research opportunities. Secondly, it indicates to practitioners the documents providing useful ideas on the adoption of system dynamics for managing common goods.
Journal of Competitiveness, 2021
Business performance management (BPM) is an instrument that allows the fulfillment of business objectives and the improvement of competitiveness in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). When BPM is implemented and measured, it can improve the sustainability and competitiveness of the enterprise. Despite its potential benefits, the possibilities of BPM in SMEs are often underestimated due to the lack of resources (mainly personal or financial). The goal of this paper is to introduce a framework for the implementation of BPM in Slovak SMEs based on research on transportation SMEs. To this end, certain steps that support the efficient introduction and use of BPM in these SMEs will be proposed. Our proposal regarding the performance of BPM is based on the findings of previous research studies along with the results of own questionnaire surveys and personal meetings/interviews with owners/managers of transportation SMEs. The results of this research shows that SMEs are generally not...
EMAN 2019 – Economics & Management: How to Cope With Disrupted Times SELECTED PAPERS, 2019
Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to propose an integrated model to implement a business performance management system in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Styria (Austria) and the region of Zilina (Slovakia) taking into account the implementation hurdles encountered in these regions. Design/Methodology/approach-To answer the research question, a multi-stage research design was chosen: After a literature research on implementation hurdles, a qualitative survey among small enterprises in Styria was carried out to get the current status. On the basis of a literature review and the results of the qualitative survey a standardized questionnaire was developed and sent to randomly selected SMEs in Styria (Austria) and Žilina (Slovakia). The results serve to develop an implementation and ongoing improvement model that takes into account the characteristic implementation hurdles. Findings-The empirical results from the qualitative and quantitative surveys show that many hurdles arise in the implementation process of a BPM system in Styria and Zilina. It turns out that especially companies without a BPM-system, which want to introduce one, underestimate certain problem areas. Research limitations-The survey on the collection of implementation hurdles was limited to the regions of Styria in Austria and Zilina in Slovakia. Referring to the sample size required for the descriptive research design, the number of responses could have been higher (probability of error). The implementation model has to be tested in practice. Practical implications-Almost half of the Austrian companies surveyed do not have a PM-system. That means that they will sooner or later have to reckon with the implementation. It turns out that some problem with the implementation is underestimated by these companies. The model takes these problems into account and can sensitize managers for them. A practical problem will be that the implementation requires a lot of knowhow in different management systems and resources.
Purpose – The purpose of this qualitative research is to explore the characteristics and issues related to the transition of a UAE-based fast-growth small-to-medium enterprise (FGSMEs) from the traditional performance management system (PMS) to a modern PMS through a design of a potential balanced scorecard (BSC) and strategy map for the company. Design/methodology/approach – The study was conducted in one of the FGSMEs that serves more than 16,000 farmers across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A qualitative case study methodology was used in this study. The focus was on “how” questions and exploratory analysis of primary and secondary data supported by in-depth interviews with senior managers. Findings – This research highlights the adoption of a new, more proactive performance management accounting – the BSC. It was found that the BSC initiatives already exist in the company but not clearly linked together and directed toward the effective implementation of BSC system. It was found that these initiatives were initiated by the interests of different work units but not properly integrated as one whole company system. Such initiatives if integrated together and aligned with the overall objectives and strategies of the company can facilitate the comprehensive adoption of the BSC system and maximize the possibility of achieving better measurement and management of organizational performance. Research limitations/implications – The study was limited to the UAE and it focussed exclusively on a single fast-growing enterprise. The results presented may not suitable to be generalized or extended to other contexts. Practical implications – Our study highlights the need for better understanding of the use of non-traditional-measurement mechanisms like the BSC, that may substitute for the roles of financial-based performance measurements and lead to superior performance to our case company. This study suggested that many of the roles played by traditional performance management can be substituted by, or supported by other mechanisms at the corporate level like the BSC system and the detailed design of a potential BSC and strategy map for the company will act as a guide to help in bringing the modern performance management techniques and tools into the other Eastern FGSMEs also. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the literature by being one of the first to study contemporary PMS within a middle-eastern context.