Performance Measurement Practices Research Articles

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Information Security Governance Practices in Developing Nations

The purpose of this empirical study is to evaluate the extent to which information security governance domain practices: strategic alignment, value delivery, resource management, risk management, and performance measurement relate to information security governance effectiveness. Random sampling technique was employed and data were collected via web survey from Ghanaian organizations. Employing three multiple regression models, the results showed there were statistically significant positive linear relationship between information security governance domain practices and information security governance effectiveness. Overall, the model produced R2 = .505, indicating that 50.5% of the variance in information security governance effectiveness was explained by information security governance domain practices. The results highlighted resource management, performance measurement and risk management practices as the predictors of organizational information security governance effectiveness while strategic alignment contributed only marginally to the models. Therefore, to attain higher information security governance effectiveness, organizations should focus on strategic alignment between the business and information security attributes.

Abstract 107: Home Electronic Blood Pressure Cuff Improved Compliance with Disease-Specific as well as General Blood Pressure Goals in an Underserved High-Risk Ambulatory Population

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of home electronic blood pressure cuffs to improve compliance with both disease-specific and the general Practice Performance Measures (PCPI) blood pressure goals in the high risk underserved population in a safety-net urban medical center. Background: Achieving recommended blood pressure goals in an underserved patient population with a high cardiac disease burden is challenging. Intensive, clinician-led health maintenance programs have shown promise but are difficult to implement on a wide scale. The decreasing cost of electronic blood pressure cuffs offers an opportunity to provide patient-focused treatment. Methods: Twenty-two consecutive patients who were not at either their disease-specific or PCPI goal of <140/90mmHg received an electronic blood pressure cuff for home use as part of their optimal medical treatment. This was a prospective, before-after study. Patients were relatively young (mean 59 years), had a high prevalence of coronary disease (32%), heart failure (37%) , valvular disease(37%) and preserved left ventricular ejection fraction (49%). In-clinic blood pressure measurements were collected. The time to the cross-over from medical therapy to medical therapy with a blood pressure cuff was an average 184.4 days (3.2 encounters with clinicians for medication changes) and average of 75.8 days (1.1 encounters) after the cross-over to follow-up. A paired student T-test was used for statistical comparison between the two groups. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the systolic blood pressures after the medical treatment period compared to the cross-over arm 143.3mmHg (CI 135.3-151 p-value=0.1) vs.134.6mmHg and diastolic pressure 81.09mmHg (CI 75.4-86,75 p-value=0.05) vs. 72.24mmHg. Overall compliance with the PCPI recommendation was higher in the cross-over arm (45% vs. 55%) as well as with the disease specific recommendations (18% vs. 25%). Conclusion: There was a statistically significant improvement in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures in the underserved ambulatory patient with a home blood pressure cuff. There was also an improvement in compliance both with the PCPI and disease-specific goals guidelines.

Deregulation, competition, and performance measurement of an African airport: The case of Kotoka international airport of Ghana

AbstractThis article reports on the results of a case study that explores the performance measurement practice in one of the growing airports in Africa‐the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) of Ghana. The article also assesses the performance of the airport from the perspectives of three groups of stakeholders ‐the airlines, passengers, and the community. KIA, like other airports around the world, is facing unprecedented challenges in terms of traffic growth, deregulation and increased commercial focus, the globalization of airline and airport activity, and the need to be environmentally aware. To manage these challenges, there is the need for the airport authorities to be proactive and innovative in their approach to performance measurement. This requires focusing not only on financial performance but also on other measures such as quality of service and environmental performance. Though the airport measures financial and quality of service performance, it does not pay much attention to environmental performance, and this was reflected in the ratings provided by the community. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reconceptualising e‐business performance measurement using an innovation adoption framework

PurposePrevious empirical research into the performance measurement of exemplary e‐businesses has pointed to a lack of progress in developing distinctive performance metrics for e‐business and a failure to adopt best practice in performance management. The objective of this paper is to reconsider the evidence from that study by drawing on innovation adoption theories.Design/methodology/approachThe paper re‐examines the findings from case study‐based research that investigated leading e‐business performance measurement practices. The study suggests that there are limitations in analysing the findings using normative best practice, the dominant paradigm within performance management. Given that e‐business innovation relies on the adoption of multiple technologies this paper reconsiders the findings using the conceptual perspective of the innovation adoption literature.FindingsThe study highlights the importance of individual, cognitive, social and cultural influences in an organisation's operating environment on its willingness to adapt performance measurement metrics for online business activities. The findings point to the benefits available from incorporating new theoretic perspectives in performance measurement research.Research limitations/implicationsThe work points to a need to adopt a more context‐specific approach to the development of e‐business performance measurement. Furthermore, it indicates ways in which both the understanding and practice of performance measurement in e‐business can be advanced.Originality/valueThis paper highlights the limitations of current performance management literature as monopolised by normative best practice thinking, and argues for the need to incorporate other theoretical perspectives into performance management research.

High-stakes reform: the politics of educational accountability

1. Scrutinizing Educational Performance 2. Performance-Based Accountability 3. Evolution of Educational Accountability 4. Education Standards and Performance Accountability, 1970-2001 5. Educational Performance Accountability in Three States 6. Education Finance and Accountability in Massachusetts: The Grand Bargain 7. Accountability and Equity in New Jersey: Where Home Rule Hasn't Worked, the Legislature Must Do What Home Rule Has Not Done 8. Incrementalism and Local Control in Connecticut: I'm Not Out Looking for Your Keys 9. Assessing Performance Accountability in Education 10. Lessons for Performance Measurement Research and Practice References Index

Measuring improvements in sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa

Recent studies on development aid from European donors revealed that their funding of the health sector in sub-Saharan Africa rarely includes performance measures suitable for tracking operational progress in improving sexual and reproductive health and rights. Analysis of health sector agreements verifies this. Particularly lacking are metrics related to four critically important areas: 1) reducing mortality and morbidity from unsafe abortion, 2) preventing and treating gender-based violence, 3) reducing unwanted pregnancies among the poorest women, and 4) reducing unwanted pregnancies among adolescents. During 2011 and the first half of 2012, the authors interviewed 85 experts in health service delivery, ministries of health, human rights, development economics and social science from sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and the United States. We asked them to identify measures to assess progress in these areas, and built on their responses to propose up to four practical performance measures for each of the areas, for inclusion in health sector support agreements. These measures are meant to supplement, not replace, current population-based measures such as changes in maternal mortality ratios. The feasibility of using these performance measures requires political commitment from donors and governments, investment in baseline data, and expanding the role of sexual and reproductive health and rights civil society in determining priorities.

Governance, Accountability and Performance Measurement: An Analysis of the Systems and Practices in the Malaysian Public Sector

Accountability is one of the elements of good governance in the public sector. Various countries, including Malaysia, have used performance measurement, especially the system of key performance indicators, as one of the ways to improve performance and subsequently show accountability to their citizens. As such, in this paper, an analysis of the performance measurement initiatives and practices of the Malaysian public sector are discussed with specific emphasis on the Government Transformation Program (GTP) which was introduced in 2009. As compared to the previous systems implemented in the Malaysian public sector, the GTP uses a more integrated performance measurement system. However, there are various issues pertaining to the new GTP program, which are also discussed and elaborated in this paper.

Performance Measurement System: Towards an Institutional Theory

In recent years, interest in no financial performance measures has grown, as evidenced by the large number of literature investigating balanced scorecard, value based management, total quality. The increased attention to no financial measurement reflects increased requirement of information for managing and decision making processes because of strong competition, constantly changing environment of organization. Those processes are based on organizations' relations with an environment. The dimensions that lead to the deeper analysis of relations between performance measurement system and environment of organization are very important for today organizations. According to this aspect, it could be stated that performance measurement system (PMS) which covers financial and no financial measurement and fits with environment of organization should be critical for today's organizations and need deeper and continue researches.It is important to contribute to a better understanding of the factors that affect the features and content of PMS in organizations and the relationship between these factors, performance measurement practices and environment of organization (Alas, Sharifi & Sun, 2009; Ginevicius & Podvezko, 2009; Gudas, 2009). The dimensions that lead to the deeper analysis of such factors and relations were disclosed in this article according to different theoretical assumptions - institutional, contingency and complexity theories. Institutional theory will answer the question - what factors form and influence internal and external environment of organizations and herewith the features and content of PMS. Contingency theory will answer the question - what external environment is surrounding the organization and influencing its internal environment. Complexity theory will answer the question - how organization reacts to its external environment.Combining the main presumptions of institutional, complexity and contingency theories it could be maintained that the level of environmental uncertainty and organizations reactions to it could be dimensions according to which features and content of PMS in different organizations could be researched. Those two dimensions form four types of organization's environment peculiarities of which performance measurement system should be reflected.In order to point out the features and content of performance measurement according to the environment of the organization, quantitative research (survey) was performed. Survey was performed in Lithuanian organizations, which were chosen by a handily selection method. The purpose of the research is to analyze the internal and external environment of Lithuanian organizations, features and content of performance measurement system: transparency of the strategy, homogeneity of the goals and correctness of the processes.http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.22.4.709

A LONGITUDINAL STUDY OF CHANGE IN THE ENGLISH NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE

This paper reports the findings of a longitudinal comparative case study of three National Health Service (NHS) hospital Trusts in England, investigating the perceptions of clinical, managerial and accounting professionals towards changing cost accounting and performance measurement practices. It incorporates both qualitative and quantitative data analysis, and is based on a contextualist understanding of change management, utilising the content-process-context approach (Pettigrew and Lapsley, 1994) to investigate the influence of receptive versus non-receptive contexts on change. The analysis reveals limited success in improving performance measurement practices (the content of change) in Trusts. Nevertheless the specific context within which change was operationalised was found to be very important, with central mangers playing a key role in influencing change. The process of change indicated slow shifts in clinical-accountant-managerial relations, partly driven by changes in financial flows within the organisations.

DEVELOPMENTS IN PUBLIC SECTOR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT: A PROJECT ON PRODUCING RETURN ON INVESTMENT METRICS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT

Research on public sector performance measurement highlights its problematicnature (Cavalluzzo and Ittner, 2004; and Lee, 2008). An over-reliance onfinancial measures and excessive non-financial metrics are just some of theproblems identified (Modell, 2004). Concerns have also been raised withinthe field of practice. Notwithstanding the multiple purposes that outcomemeasurement can fulfil in the public sector (Behn, 2003), the utility of outcomeand output frameworks has been widely criticised. In Australia, for example, ithas been claimed that ‘reporting on outcomes is inadequate and some outcomesare so broad and general as to be virtually meaningless for budget accountingpurposes’ (Tanner, 2008, p.3). These criticisms have been such that, at theCommonwealth Government level, there has been a shift from outcome-outputreporting frameworks to the measurement of programs, with the jury still out onwhether these changes have enhanced transparency and accountability. Overall,there is consensus that deficiencies exist in performance measurement practiceswithin the public sector.The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project concerned withthe development and testing of what was labelled ‘a return on investment (ROI)performance measurement framework’ by an Australian public sector agency.The authors were provided unique access to an Australian law enforcementagency, which was challenged and influenced by new public management (NPM)pressures (Hood, 1991). In pursuing its objective, the paper acknowledges theimportant critical literature on public sector reform and NPM (for example,Broadbent and Guthrie, 1992; and Carnegie and West, 2005) but does notseek to add to it. Rather, the paper reports on developments in a case studyorganisation through ‘being involved’ and thereby initiates debate on what theauthors view as influences on contemporary performance measurement practice

Tracing performance in the pharmaceutical industry: Ambivalence, opacity and the performativity of flawed measures

In this paper we explore performance measurement practices in the pharmaceutical industry with particular focus on the inscribing (or ‘tracing’) of pharmaceutical representatives (‘drug reps’) responsible for the promotion of prescription medications to general practitioners and other healthcare professionals. We draw upon Latour’s sociology of translation to explore performance measures in the organizational field of pharmaceutical companies operating in France. Access to sales data is heavily circumscribed by government regulation of the health sector: doctors’ prescriptions that generate sales remain hidden from pharmaceutical companies. We explore how organizational actors build control and address problems of ‘circulating reference’ ( Latour, 1999) in this setting. We show how ambivalence, opacity, bricolage, and practical actions enabled by inscription devices strengthen networks of performance measurement. In so doing, we contribute to the sociology of translation by highlighting how weak references can perform and circulate without reversibility in the chains of transformation between matters and forms. We also seek to add to and to depart from the literature on performance measurement focusing on transparency and certainty as key features for ‘successful’ implementation of performance measures.

Performance measurement patterns in service companies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of the usage of performance measurement (PM) methods and indicators, and this usage's influencing factors in service companies.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on the contingency theory framework and focuses on PM patterns. The sector, company size, and market environment dynamics, which are these patterns' primary determinants, are analysed. The study uses empirical survey data gathered from the 61 largest companies in Estonia. The study has a dynamic focus, explaining the changes in PM practices as in 2004 and 2007.FindingsThe research shows the increasing use of more balanced PM tools combining financial and non‐financial, market‐related and internal process dimensions. Nevertheless, the findings demonstrate that the companies predominantly used traditional cost accounting and reporting methods, as well as financial indicators for their PM. The findings highlight the similarities and differences between the PM patterns in service companies and manufacturing companies.Research limitations/implicationsThe general limitations of survey‐based research have to be considered. The findings on the PM indicators and methods explain the usage's intensity, but not the effects of this usage on the performance. The study also analyses only a limited number of drivers that influence PM practices.Originality/valueThe research findings have two main implications. First, the paper contributes to the scarce knowledge about PM practices in service companies. Second, the paper considers the changes in PM patterns, concentrating on the dynamics of PM practices.

Performance Management in NGOs: Evidence from Kenya

Performance management (PM) is a complex concept that has received much attention in management accounting literature with much discussion devoted to performance measurement aspect. There seems to be a gap between performance management theory and actual practice as highlighted by several researchers and practitioners. Regardless of recent growth and importance of Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) as part of the voluntary sector, particularly in developing countries such as Kenya, research focusing on performance management practices in these organisations lags behind. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore performance PM practices relevant to NGOs performance in Kenya utilising a performance management and control framework (proposed by Ferreira and Otley, 2009). This study utilised a qualitative research approach involving triangulation of data sources and data collection methods to increase the validity and reliability of the study. Data collection included semi structured interviews, and a focus group discussion. The researchers followed Framework analysis (Ritchie and Spencer, 1994) to analyse the qualitative data using NVIVO software. The process involved five key stages namely: ‘familiarisation, identifying a thematic framework, indexing, charting, mapping and interpretation’. A summary of key preliminary findings reveals that the NGOs in Kenya comprise of community based organisations (CBOs), socio enterprises and Voluntary and charitable organisations (VCOs). The definition and scope of the NGOs in Kenya has widened with implications for performance management systems used in the sector. Although NGOs in Kenya view performance as a multidimensional construct, they emphasise measurement of achievement of objectives. This emphasis is further reflected in the subsequent performance measurement practices. Performance management practices are complex and multifaceted encompassing diversity in performance planning, performance measurement and performance context among the NGOs. In addition to the vision and mission, the NGOs have core values and key success factors included in formal strategic planning process. Although a number of private sector performance measurement frameworks are utilised, The Kenyan NGOs mostly logical framework with emphasis on output and financial measures and team based targets. The findings have implications for both PM researchers and practitioners. The study also demonstrated that the performance management and control framework (Ferreira and Otley, 2009) is an important tool for researchers to use to explore PM practices among several NGOs.

Duelin' Registries

Duelin' Registries

The relationship between cost, quality, and outcomes among women with breast cancer in SEER–Medicare.

6001 Background: Breast cancer (BrCa) is responsible for the largest share of cancer-related spending in the US. While the cost of cancer care is substantial and increasing yearly, little is known about the relationship between cost and quality or outcomes. Methods: For women 65-70 years old diagnosed 7/97-12/05 with stage 0-III BrCa who were continuously enrolled in fee-for-service Medicare, we evaluated performance relative to 27 surgical, radiation and chemotherapy quality measures: 20 recommending for proven therapies and 7 recommending against unnecessary therapies. Using health care service area (HSA) as the unit of analysis, we derived aggregate measures of practice performance, calculated the median per-patient cost in the year after diagnosis (part A and B expenditures in 2010 inflation adjusted $US) and described 5-year overall survival (OS) rates. After stratifying the population into quintiles based the median per-patient cost per HSA, we looked for variation in measure concordance and OS by quintile (using the Kruskal-Wallis and log-rank tests, respectively). Results: We identified 15,357 women with stage 0-III BrCa and compiled quality, cost and outcomes data for 99 HSAs. The median number of patients per HSA was 85 (IQR 47-162), and the proportion of patients alive at 5 years was 87.5%. Significant relationships between cost and measure concordance/OS appear in the table (p<.01). When stratified into quintiles by measure concordance rather than cost, there was no difference in 5-year OS by quality performance quintile (p=0.14). Conclusions: There is wide variation in the cost of initial BrCa care, but only marginal difference in the quality or outcomes experienced by patients representing different cost quintiles. Additional efforts to evaluate factors that impact the relationship between cost and quality/outcomes are needed. Cost quintile Lowest Highest Number of patients 3052 3180 3022 3721 2382 Median expenditure per patient ($US) 17,319 19,719 22,217 24,574 27,233 Median proportion concordant All measures (27) 81% 80% 80% 81% 81% Measures assessing overuse (7) 90% 85% 86% 83% 85% Measures assessing underuse (20) 80% 80% 80% 81% 80% Proportion alive at 5 years 85.5% 88.3% 87.2% 89.5% 85.8%

Impact of Cardiac Rehabilitation on Mortality and Cardiovascular Events After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in the Community

Although numerous studies have reported that cardiac rehabilitation (CR) is associated with reduced mortality after myocardial infarction, less is known about its association with mortality after percutaneous coronary intervention. We performed a retrospective analysis of data from a prospectively collected registry of 2395 consecutive patients who underwent percutaneous coronary intervention in Olmsted County, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2008. The association of CR with all-cause mortality, cardiac mortality, myocardial infarction, or revascularization was assessed with 3 statistical techniques: propensity score--matched analysis (n=1438), propensity score stratification (n=2351), and regression adjustment with propensity score in a 3-month landmark analysis (n=2009). During a median follow-up of 6.3 years, 503 deaths (199 cardiac), 394 myocardial infarctions, and 755 revascularization procedures occurred in the study subjects. Participation in CR, noted in 40% (964 of 2395) of the cohort, was associated with a significant decrease in all-cause mortality by all 3 statistical techniques (hazard ratio, 0.53 to 0.55; P<0.001). A trend toward decreased cardiac mortality was also observed in CR participants; however, no effect was observed for subsequent myocardial infarction or revascularization. The association between CR participation and reduced mortality rates was similar for men and women, for older and younger patients, and for patients undergoing elective or nonelective percutaneous coronary intervention. We found that CR participation after percutaneous coronary intervention was associated with a significant reduction in mortality rates. These findings add support to published clinical practice guidelines, performance measures, and insurance coverage policies that recommend CR for patients after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Performance measurement practices in manufacturing firms revisited

PurposeGiven the increasing emphasis on performance measurement and improvement, the purpose of this paper is to examine the current views of manufacturing executives on key aspects of performance measures. Specifically, this research focuses on current practices related to extent of use, predictive value and availability of information for 63 performance measures.Design/methodology/approachThis study was survey based. The research instrument used to collect the data was constructed based on the literature. Several statistical analysis procedures including regression analysis, cluster analysis and gap analysis are utilized to accomplish the objective of this study.FindingsThe results are compared to findings obtained from a previous study, conducted five years ago, to assess any potential changes with regard to the issues studied. The comparison of the findings from both studies revealed some similarities and significant differences attributed to the changing environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe focus of this study was Portuguese manufacturing organizations. It is quite possible that the findings may or may not hold in a global context. Since this study was survey based, it had all the limitations of survey‐based research.Practical implicationsDespite some limitations, this study provides practicing managers with useful information regarding performance measures and measurement practices. It has significant and direct implications to organizational performance information systems.Originality/valueThis paper represents an important step toward refining the theory and practice of performance measurement in manufacturing organizational operational context.

Error Control for Performance Improvement of Brain-Computer Interface: Reliability-Based Automatic Repeat Request

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) are systems that translate one's thoughts into commands to restore control and communication to severely paralyzed people, and they are also appealing to healthy people. One of the challenges is to improve the performance of BCIs, often measured by the accuracy and the trial duration, or the information transfer rate (ITR), i.e., the mutual information per unit time. Since BCIs are communications between a user and a system, error control schemes such as forward error correction and automatic repeat request (ARQ) can be applied to BCIs to improve the accuracy. This paper presents reliability-based ARQ (RB-ARQ), a variation of ARQ designed for BCIs, which employs the maximum posterior probability for the repeat decision. The current results show that RB-ARQ is more effective than the conventional methods, i.e., better accuracy when trial duration was the same, and shorter trial duration when the accuracy was the same. This resulted in a greater information transfer rate and a greater utility, which is a more practical performance measure in the P300 speller task. The results also show that such users who achieve a poor accuracy for some reason can benefit the most from RB-ARQ, which could make BCIs more universal.

Internal Performance Measurement Systems: Problems and Solutions

This article pursues two aims: to identify problems and dangers related to the operational use of internal performance measurement systems of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) type and to provide some guidance on how performance measurement systems may be designed to overcome these problems. The analysis uses and extends Nørreklit's (2000) critique of the BSC by applying the concepts developed therein to contemporary research on the BSC and to the development of practice in performance measurement. The analysis is of relevance for many companies in the Asia-Pacific area as an increasing numbers of them are implementing the BSC.

The Role of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine in the Development of Guidelines and Performance Measures

Measurement of adherence to clinical standards has become increasingly important to the practice of emergency medicine (EM). In recent years, along with a proliferation of evidence-based practice guidelines and performance measures, there has been a movement to incorporate measurement into reimbursement strategies, many of which affect EM practice. On behalf of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Guidelines Committee 2009-2010, the purposes of this document are to: 1) differentiate the processes of guideline and performance measure development, 2) describe how performance measures are currently and will be used in pay-for-performance initiatives, and 3) discuss opportunities for SAEM to affect future guideline and performance measurement development for emergency care. Specific recommendations include that SAEM should: 1) develop programs to sponsor guideline and quality measurement research; 2) increase participation in the process of guideline and quality measure development, endorsement, and maintenance; 3) increase collaboration with other EM organizations to review performance measures proposed by organizations outside of EM that affect emergency medical care; and 4) answer calls for participation in the selection and implementation of performance measures through The Joint Commission and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).