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This thesis explores Knowledge Management (KM) as a strategy to enhance the Performance in Stock Exchange with the focus on the critical analysis of Nigerian Stockbrokers. Towards the end of the last century, KM has begun to gain recognition as a valuable tool to enhance performance of an organisation. In addition to these, it is also a key differentiating factor to improve performances in business organisation. In the other hand, the performances of Nigerian Stock exchange have been a concern recently because of poor decision-making process, primitive approach to internal operation, poor customer relationship management and ineffective competitive strategy. The uses of KM in the sector have only been considered as a mere introducing technology to operations, thereby neglecting the core importance of KM and the relevance of its strategic tools for performance improvements. This study evaluates KM and its strategic tools to enhance the internal operations, innovation, and competitive advantage, for improving the performance of Stockbrokers in Nigeria and critically reviews existing theoretical systems and models of KM as a strategy for improving organizational performance of Stockbrokers in Nigeria. In addition, it examines the relevance of Expert system (ES) and Case Base Reasoning (CBR) as strategic KM tools. The study also assessed the challenges and impacts of adopting Expert system (ES) and Case Base Reasoning (CBR) as strategic KM tools to enhance the internal operations, innovation, and competitive advantage for improving the performance of Stockbrokers in Nigeria. In order to achieve these objectives, a case study strategy was employed with the application of convenience sampling method to select 16 firms through convenience sampling techniques from the list of 175 registered and active Stockbrokers in Nigeria. With data collected through questionnaire and semi-structured interview.

This research aimed to understand how the significant factors that lead to performance challenges across Nigeria's state-owned refineries operationalise to drive their sub-optimal performance. As such, unlike previous studies, this thesis proposed to develop a decision-support model to inform policy intervention measures that will address the refining problems from a holistic viewpoint. Using a literature search, the study identified several challenging factors, which it initially categorised within a political, economic, social, technical, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) framework. A mixed methods approach incorporating the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), validated through interviews, was applied using a multi-case study research strategy to prioritise and rank the factors according to their significance. These factors were used to develop a causal loop model based on systems thinking, in order to identify potential leverage points that informed a policy intervention framework capable of addressing the performance challenges of the refineries. The result of the study showed that the most significant factors limiting the performance of the refineries lie within the political, economic, social, and technical (PEST) issues. The leverage points for fixing these issues rests mainly within the political, social, and technical factors. As such, the adoption of management efficiency was proposed to address the political issues through full deregulation and the introduction of private sector partnership with the refineries. Secondly, stakeholder satisfaction through a coherent and successful implementation of the recently passed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) was proposed as a social approach to quell communal agitations and safeguard oil infrastructure located within the Niger Delta areas. Lastly, the adoption of maintenance best practices through a change in the operating philosophy of the refineries was proposed as a technical approach to address recurring equipment breakdowns associated with poor maintenance culture within the organisation. The study argued that the implementation of this framework will lead to marginal incremental gains over time that will close the performance gaps across the refineries. The causal loop model developed in this study alongside the policy intervention framework provide a new approach for understanding and resolving the performance implications arising from the interdependencies of the causal factors.

The use of performance indicators in British higher education is now well-established. The relationship between the state and universities began to change as the state started looking to universities to play a more significant role in the economy in return for taxpayers' funding. Pressure grew to measure the performance of universities in order to increase accountability and subject the sector to a market-oriented performative culture similar to those introduced in the public sector. Accordingly, this study examines the performative culture present in UK higher education with a specific focus on exploring the impact of institutional and cohort level factors on universities performance indicators. Centrally collected data about the UK higher education sector provided a rich ground for quantitative analysis using modern statistical techniques such as multilevel modelling. A mixed-methods research approach was adopted in this study in order to gain a deeper undersetting of the quantitative results and explore how performance indicators impacted institutional policy in practice. Performative culture in higher education was examined through the lenses of measurement theory, managerialism, neoliberalism and new public management theory. The resulting literature review represented a purposive narrative for the research. The study quantitatively analysed a comprehensive data set focusing on performance indicators similar to those used in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). This was followed by a qualitative analysis of the responses of selected senior leaders from the sector. The participants were interviewed and asked to reflect on the findings of the quantitative analysis with their views on how performance indicators impacted on institutional policy then explored. The study found that performance indicators are not only impacted by the variations of many factors but also by the way each factor varies within the institution. These factors represent integral characteristics of institutions (e.g., their size) and cohorts specifics (e.g., ethnicity and gender). Using the multilevel modelling statistical technique, the study examined university and cohort characteristics to identify those with significant effects on performance indicators. The study found that different factors aligned to cohort and university characteristics have significant effects on performance indictors' outcomes. However, the non-continuation outcome was predominantly impacted by cohort characteristics. Participants also indicated that other external factors, beyond their control influenced these outcomes, such as societal gender and ethnic bias as well as employers' practice. The study also highlighted that the current informal hierarchy of the sector does not serve policy aims and the variability in outcomes occurs largely between universities which is an indication of a highly differentiated sector. The study concluded that linear performance indicators as they stand are unsuitable for the UK sector as there are large variations between universities. It also concluded that variations within a university are relatively stable over time. The study found that the context within which institutions operate is important and should be considered when evaluating performance. Based on the finding, a conceptual framework is proposed to aid future policy and practice development.

Performance management involves formulating a common vision of the organisation's aims and purposes, supporting employees in understanding how they contribute to the vision and purposes, and helping employees align their performance accordingly. This sequential mixed methods single case study was conducted at a large publicly traded agribusiness in Saudi Arabia ("Organisation A") with the aim of conducting a formative evaluation of its performance management system. The aim was to identify needed design and delivery features, oversight and accountability features, and impacts of the system. Using a sample of 311 survey respondents from across the professional roles in the organisation, 18 employees distributed across two employee focus group interviews, and 24 managers distributed across two manager focus group interviews, data were gathered regarding participants' evaluations of and suggestions for optimizing the organisation's performance management system. Survey data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis, while open-ended survey and interview data were examined using thematic analysis. The present study offers a framework to support Organisation A in implementing a more effective performance management system characterized by (a) design and delivery features of clarifying and improving policies and procedures; improving alignment with organisational structures and staff; clarifying and enforcing roles and responsibilities; and incorporating effective, user-friendly software and tools; (b) oversight and accountability features of increased executive sponsorship; monitoring guidance, and oversight by human resources; use by employees and managers; employee commitment and engagement to the process; and training for managers and employees to use the process; and (c) impacts such as informing promotion and compensation decisions, career planning and development, training opportunities, and employee-valued outcomes. This framework constitutes a substantial contribution to research and practice by filling gaps and adding to previous frameworks related to performance management in Saudi Arabia. Implementation and use of the framework should lead to improved assessment and understanding of the firm's human capital and yield strategic benefits such as improved staffing decisions, training and development, productivity, and employee satisfaction. These results, in turn, should improve the company's financial bottom line. The findings may additionally have some transferability to other organisations in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East and other regions of the world.

The purpose of this PhD thesis was to investigate whether National Sport Organisations (NSOs) in Botswana were implementing performance management (PM) practices and if they did, how and why they did so. In this thesis, three published articles present empirical evidence, and structure a position regarding the influence of external and internal environments on the implementation of PM practices among NSOs. The study used qualitative methods in which thirty-one semi-structured interviews and five focus groups were conducted among 14 NSOs in Botswana and 10 of their stakeholder categories. In addition, NSO documents and websites were reviewed and analysed to corroborate the data collected from interviews and focus groups. The results indicate that Botswana NSOs implemented PM practices that include goal and objective setting, processes and activities, performance measurement, feedback, and feedforward. PESTEL factors and stakeholders externally influenced the implementation of PM among NSOs. On the other hand, resources available, structural design characteristics and the roles played by board members and operational staff, internally influenced the implementation of PM. In addition, the external and internal environments of Botswana NSOs were linked in that changes in the external environment prompted internal responses by individuals within these organisations. They performed creation and maintenance work that led to the adoption and implementation of PM practices. This study contributes to the body of knowledge around PM and can benefit sport managers, policy makers and stakeholders. Moreover, this study proposes avenues for further research on the PM of NSOs.

In this thesis I explore performance management, its impact on heads of not-for-profit international schools and possible links to tenure (length of service). In this study, international schools are those offering a curriculum that is not of the host country (Hayden and Thompson, 2013) and that have an international outlook or international values (Bunnell, Fertig and James, 2016). These schools are generally governed by boards responsible for employing a head of school and for managing his or her performance. There is a paucity of research on performance management of heads in not-for-profit international schools though two notable studies exist on tenure. In the first of these, Hawley (1994:1995) reports that, in US accredited schools overseas, the average (median) tenure of heads is 2.8 years. In the second, Benson (2011) reports the average (median), for those in schools who are members of the European Council of International schools (ECIS) and/or the Council of International Schools (CIS), to be 3.7 years. My research aimed to provide further insights by asking four questions: 1. How are heads of not-for-profit international schools prepared for their work? 2. How is performance management of heads of not-for-profit international schools conceived, structured and organized? 3. How do heads of not-for-profit international schools perceive their performance management processes? 4. Does performance management of heads of not-for-profit international schools appear to be linked to tenure? Using a mixed methods approach that comprised semi-structured interviews with 10 heads of school and a questionnaire yielding data from a further 63 heads of school, I investigated the perspectives of heads in schools where a national system of performance management is not employed. My research revealed that formal regular performance management is not ubiquitous in these schools. Where performance management is found, it varies in terms of structure, regularity and effectiveness. Among the findings it was seen that formal and regular processes were more likely to lead to comprehensive feedback. Where the relationship between the board and the head was one of partnership, processes were considered more effective and when expectations and the setting of criteria were shared, tenure was longer. The average (median) tenure of heads was found to be 5 years with a mean average of 6.9 years. However, the data suggest that performance management was effective in only about half the cases and did not seem to have any bearing on decisions relating to the tenure of heads. It was for other reasons, often personal, that heads left. In particular, the relationship with the board and the board chair appears to have been an important factor for those interviewed. This research offers some insights into the value of performance management and raises questions about its impact on tenure in the light of relationships with the board.

Background: Teamwork effectiveness studies illustrate that multi-disciplinary teams working in highly pressured environments can produce sub-optimal outcomes from their work without due consideration of their team’s structure and processes. In professional football, multi-disciplinary performance and healthcare teams (PHCTs) are increasingly being employed to risk-manage football squads in a highly challenging, fast paced and competitive environment. To date, the teamwork effectiveness of PHCTs remains unknown. Aim: Using the framework of an adapted Integrated Team Effectiveness Model (ITEM), this study sought to determine whether the structures and processes adopted by a PHCT in the English Championship football league, predicted an outcome of their work, namely, the number of players available (PA) for competition during varying match frequencies. Design: A sequential explanatory mixed method case study. Method: A team process, followed by team structure questionnaire and focus group discussion, were administered during and after the season respectively, to full-time practitioners involved in the delivery of performance and health support services. Match frequency and the number of players available for each match were also recorded, where ≤3 days recovery between matches was considered to represent “match congestion”. The reported data were analysed using Pearson correlation and content or framework analysis where, the qualitative data was used to further inform the quantitative findings. Results: Player availability (PA) over the course of 39 matches averaged 80.6±4.9% (range 75-89%) during which the PHCT had an average of five days (SD=4, range 2-14) between matches to apply their work. However, for 16 of 28 weeks investigated, preparation took place during match congested periods. During match congestion, 78.1±3.2% of the squad were available for selection compared with 84.2±4.7 outside of these periods, supported by a strong positive correlation between match frequency and PA [r= - 0.68; 95% BCa (.324, .929) p = 0.008]. Interdisciplinary as opposed to multidisciplinary teamwork processes in meetings were associated with more players being available for competition where the PHCT’s ‘teamwork approach’ had a moderately strong correlation with PA [r= 0.53; BCa 95% (.087, .888) p = 0.035]. The higher the number of meetings [r= 0.46; BCa 95% (.219, .821) p = 0.048] and the more satisfaction that PHCT members had with those meetings [r= - 0.41; BCa 95% (.042, .714) p = 0.043] were both associated with higher numbers of players being available for competition. Similarly, the more PHCT staff evaluated of their work and provided feedback for innovation and change, there was a tendency for more of the squad members to be ready for match selection [r= - 0.44; BCa 95% (.374, .878) p = 0.009]. PHCT members interacting negatively towards one another through communicated behaviour, opinions and suggestions during meetings was associated with lower PA [r= - 0.57; BCa 95% (-.087, -.097) p = 0.03]. PHCT working relationships were conceptualised as a ‘structured interdependency’ to reflect important structural aspects of their team which were associated with shared practices focused on optimising PA and winning the next game. A certain degree of disruption to ‘interdependent working’ because of human resource and team premises challenges were evident during match congested periods. This resulted in multidisciplinary rather than interdisciplinary processes being adopted in meetings, contributing to the relationships between PHCT processes and PA. Conclusion: This study is the first to illustrate that the structure and processes adopted by a PHCT in professional football during varied match frequencies are related to the number of players available for competition. The PHCT’s structure further informed an understanding of these relationships where match frequency was strongly associated with the availability of players for competition. This research provided a unique perspective of the teamwork factors, using the framework of an ITEM, to reveal important aspects of performance and health management in a professional football club.

Sustainability issues (including economy, environment and society) are increasingly a growing concern for road freight transportation (RFT) companies. These companies face manifold challenges for example reducing their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions for environmental sustainability, promoting employee's health and safety for societal sustainability and ensuring the profitability by operating on low margins for economic sustainability. However, balancing these three dimensions of sustainability is extremely challenging given their different performance objectives. This research aims to provide a decision support system to help RFT companies to effectively manage three dimensions of sustainability and its performance. A rigorous mixed-methods case study research is employed with abductive approach to address this problem. First, a list of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and a broad set of good practices are identified through semi-structured interviews, analysis of literature and sustainability reports of RFT companies. Secondly, a three-staged survey is used to collect data from experts in the UK. A novel multi-attribute decision making (MADM) method (Intuitionistic Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (IF-AHP)) integrated with data mining technique (K-means and K nearest neighbour (KNN)) are used to determine KPIs weights, evaluating sustainability performance and prioritise collaborative processes for the RFT companies. There are four main theoretical contributions of this research. First, a novel sustainability performance measurement framework of KPIs along with utilising advanced method i.e. IFAHP to calculate weights of KPIs is proposed. Second, a novel integrated data mining technique based on K means, K nearest neighbour (KNN) and case-based reasoning is applied to develop a sustainability maturity model for evaluating and improving sustainability performance of RFT companies. Third, a novel integrated decision support framework based on IF-AHP and Intuitionistic Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (IF-TOPSIS) is proposed and validated through unique application of prioritising collaborative processes for sustainability in RFT. Fourth, the research draws on theory of sustainability, decision theory, contingency theory and relational view theory and extends their scope of applications in the context of sustainable road freight transportation. The research provides practical implications to the managers of RFT companies by developing a decision support system (DSS) to manage their sustainability performance. This enables managers to identify the right set of KPIs, their prioritisation and evaluation of sustainability performance. This research provides a practical and user-friendly tool by recommending good practices based on the KPIs needing improvement and organisational needs. This research also provides a decision support framework (DSF) for RFT companies to prioritise their collaborative processes with their partners in horizontal collaboration to achieving sustainable collaborative advantage. Last, the limitations of this research along with the direction for future research are outlined for the area of sustainable freight transportation.

Recent changes in higher education sector have resulted in an increasingly marketised and competitive environment. Fee changes have heightened student expectations, whilst neo-liberal approaches, such as the removal of the student number cap have intensified focus on the recruitment and retention of students. Consequently performance in a variety of league tables has become a primary area of concern for universities, both as a means of student attraction and also as a response to pressure from a range of stakeholders. It is against this backdrop, that this research considers the impact of performance management within the sector. It is through such mechanisms that institutions attempt to leverage improved efficiency, raise performance standards, and evidence achievement against a variety of benchmarks. Despite the more taxonomical environment within higher education, the issue of performance management remains under researched. The aim of this research is therefore to illuminate the challenges and complexities faced by the three institutions in addressing and managing academic performance. Taking a case-study approach, the research rests on a conceptual framework that highlights the prominence of power, status, authority and ambiguity. The thesis argues that these concepts are undervalued within existing performance management debates, and contributes to the knowledge base within this area, The research makes a number of key recommendations for policy and practice. It calls for greater recognition of the role of status within performance discussions, highlighting the potential for this to obfuscate performance management discussions. It challenges assumptions around the authority of line managers, and the extent to which this leads to managerial reluctance, and argues that existing literature has not adequately addressed issues of nuanced managerial responsibility within flatter organisational structures. It also challenges the view that academics lament the notion of performance management and provides evidence that many academics want an increased focus on performance as a means of achieving a greater sense of fairness and parity within their working environment.

Extant literature has called for contextual studies on performance management to maximise its effectiveness. Following this call is a study of performance management that considers the practice, its system and context. Scholar also presents that performance management researches conducted in less developed countries’ context loosely align their studies with a theoretical framework or use none within the study. This exploratory research study built upon Ferreira and Otley's (2009) framework as the theoretical underpinning to guide the research to address these problems and achieve its aim. This research aims to investigate performance management within the Nigerian public health sector. An interpretivist philosophy and abductive reasoning were the methodological choices employed while using a case study strategy. Data collected for this research include 40 semi-structured interviews and a document review across two Federal Hospitals in Nigeria. Thematic analysis was adopted to examine the data collected for this study using NVivo 11. The findings identified issues (such as union, godfather, organisational needs) that affect performance management. These issues elaborate the third level (contextual factors and culture) in Ferreira and Otley’s framework and pervade the organisational, sectoral and national level. Again, the findings also identified the informal activities (such as mentoring encouragement) used by managers in the study context. The findings further suggested that actors of performance management interpret the phenomenon as continuous and integrated and the practice within the context is at multi-level - departmental and organisational. The implication of the findings reinforces the significance of including the performance management practice, its system and context to fully again in-depth or insight into the contextual understanding of PM across different context. The originality of this study is the conceptualisation of performance management within the Nigeran Public Health Sector building upon Ferreira and Otley (2009). The contribution to knowledge includes the elaboration of the outer level in Ferreira and Otley’s framework with the identification of the v contextual factors challenging performance management within the Nigerian public health sector. The development of knowledge on performance management within the Nigerian public health sector is another contribution as there is a dearth in research studies. Again, the study contributes to the on-going debate by scholars on the relevance of understanding performance management within its context in order to maximise its effectiveness. The practical implication for hospitals managers is the awareness of the factors affecting performance management, which consequently will maximise its effectiveness within the Nigerian public health sector. Further studies on performance management should investigate and identify contextual factors and how these would affect its effectiveness within the different contexts.

Purpose - This thesis addresses the lack of research on Performance Management (PM) in Hidden Champions (HCs) due to development and implementation of a HC tailored PM system (PMS) in Action Research Design (AR). A HC tailored strategy map and PMS framework were elaborated to improve the financial and non-financial performance of the HC. Design/methodology/approach - A longitudinal case study with two AR cycles were performed to develop the HC tailored strategy map and framework for the PMS including their implementation using mixed methods data collection. A validated HC tailored strategy map and framework for the PMS implementation are presented. Findings - Findings show significantly increased financial and non-financial performance of the HC. The revenue of the case company increased by 11.6%, the return on revenue increased 3% up to 17%, customer satisfaction grew, throughput times shortened and leadership competencies improved. Findings further show that AR is an effective procedure for HC tailored PMS design and implementation. Research limitations and practical implications - The findings are based on one case study and needs to be tested in other HCs. Findings should be of interest to scholars in the field of PM, as well as practitioners improving financial and non-financial performance. Originality/value -This thesis contributes to knowledge of PM in HCs, and AR, as it provides a validated HC strategy map and framework for HC tailored PMS implementation in a HC. It provides an approach for practitioners to improve financial and non-financial performance in HCs.

Governments around the world have been increasingly adopting an ‘outcomes-focus’ in the design of policy and the management of public services, the implications of which have been subjected to increasing scrutiny within public administration (Boyne and Law 2005; Elvidge 2012; Heinrich 2002; Housden 2016; Lowe 2013; Lowe 2017; Wimbush 2011). Yet wherever an outcomes-based approach has been applied, be it within performance management (Bevan and Hood 2006; Lowe 2013; van Thiel and Leeuw 2002), budgeting (Perrin 2006; Ryan 2003), or commissioning, its achievements have fallen short of expectation (Wimbush 2011). Outcomes have predominantly been conceptualised and operationalised within what this thesis calls a ‘Rationalist’ approach, linked to the New Public Management context within which an outcomes-focus was popularised. This approach assumes we can understand the factors which drive outcomes, plan appropriate service interventions, harness the resources and commitment needed to put such interventions into practice, and manage such interventions towards their expected end points. Outcomes however are inherently complex phenomena – they are always transboundary, always co-produced by the individuals who experience them, and always impacted by a large number of unpredictable and uncontrollable factors in their external environment. Public management theory and practice finds itself at a crossroads: an imperative to improve outcomes, and a paradigmatic inability to do so – a challenge which scholarship is just beginning to respond to (Housden 2016; Lowe et al. 2016). This thesis contributes an alternative ‘Complex Systems’ theoretical framework which responds to (rather than simplifies or externalises) the inherent complexity which outcomes present. This theoretical framework draws on complex adaptive systems theory to enable a ‘Complex Systems’ approach to the management of outcomes. The framework is based on the conception of outcomes as emergent products of complex systems, and integrates three defining components of complex adaptive systems (self-organisation, distributed agentic learning, and attractor states) to enable an endogenous process of service transformation in conditions of uncertainty. This theoretical framework provides public management with more solid footing for understanding, analysing and designing outcomes-focussed interventions, with distinct advantages relative to existing outcomes-based approaches, in pursuing complex public service outcomes. The thesis applies this framework through a multiple embedded case study analysis (Yin 2009) of the Early Years Collaborative, a large-scale multi-agency Quality Improvement Collaborative operating across Scottish local authorities, as it seeks to improve a set of population-level child development outcomes.

When Tony Blair's New Labour administration took control in 1997, it sought to establish a programme of organizational, performance, and democratic reform. Initially badged as the modernizing government programme, it was later developed in the Best Value regime for local government, which imposed a centrally-controlled performance regime on all local authorities. This was characterized by a managerialist regime of external inspections, league tables, and reliance on extensive performance management, overseen by the Audit Commission. One of the first acts of the 2010 Coalition government was to dismantle this regime, along with announcing the abolition of the Audit Commission. This research sought to examine the legacy of the 1997-2010 performance regime on six English local authority case studies, identified via a deviant case analysis. An examination of the literature developed a conceptual model of seven dimensions of reform, and the research used an exploratory approach to examine the legacy of the performance regimes through a range of qualitative interviews and focus groups. The inductive analysis of interview data found that financial austerity dominated the local government environment, and the impacts of these cuts were felt across the entire group of case studies. These savings requirements had effectively broken the expectation of continuous improvement explicit in the Best Value duty what we refer to here as the death of improvement . Authorities were reducing staffing, which resulted in the loss of expertise and skills. They were also scaling back many universal services through managed decline , and deregulation of performance regimes was stimulating divergent responses to performance management arrangements, as well as influencing the relationship between politicians and performance management, and central performance staff and departmental staff. There were challenges raised around the residual inspections, largely restricted to social care and education, and how these interacted with central performance team models. The discussion develops a three-part model of performance as a system of governance , which integrates three key areas of theoretical and empirical development: performance management frameworks, accountability, and value for money. This allows four main contributions to knowledge: The concept of public value for money , Further development of our understanding of multiple forms of accountability A new model of performance management zones that articulates different roles for performance management at points within the organization A categorisation of the main changes in reform paradigms It concludes that understanding the values underpinning public sector reforms through a range of interpretive lenses is essential to fully comprehending the impact of reforms at three levels: conceptualization, operationalization, and implementation. The legacy of Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Comprehensive Area Assessment can be seen in the increased capacity and capability of local authorities to engage with performance management, and data and evidence-driven policy making. Yet, these capabilities may not have prepared authorities sufficiently for the demands of significant budget cuts driven by the post-2010 political environment.

This thesis deepens our understanding of the institutional and organisational changes, which are taking place in the scientific and cultural public sector organisations, regarding their efforts to adopt performance management practices in the broader climate of increasing external demands of accountability and transparency. Using institutional theory as the main theoretical lens and an inductive approach, data is collected and analysed from an in-depth case study spanning four years in one scientific and cultural organisation and from a survey of the field such organisations are embedded in. At the field level, scientific and cultural organisations are embedded in multiple institutional logics (e.g. professional, governance/performance, managerial). Findings reveal the micro processes and dynamics of management accounting and institutional changes and how the power shift both results from and propel such changes. Apart from the emphasis on institutional multiplicity as key to understanding the change process, attention is paid to how institutional entrepreneurs use visual framing with accounting inscriptions to promote changes, how emotional factors and the role of specialist work groups contribute to institutional change. Thus, the thesis, as a whole, provides practical insights into this special type of organisations and their performance management practices. Theoretical contributions are made towards the micro foundations of institutional theory and interpretive accounting research with visual and emotional elements. Implications for practitioner and policy making are also explored.

The rise of the accountability movement has led to the proliferation of performance management where voluntary organisations are under increasing pressures to measure the outcomes of their social services, in an effort to maintain accountability and to facilitate learning and improvement. However, there is little empirical evidence on whether and how performance management works to achieve accountability and improvement in practice. The study undertakes a realist evaluation to examine how and why performance management works (or not) to achieve accountability and improvement among voluntary organisations, through the use of performance information within the context of the voluntary sector in Singapore. The National Council of Social Service has disseminated a national performance management framework, known as "Outcome Management" to the voluntary welfare organisations for measuring the outcomes of the social services they deliver. The theory of how and why Outcome Management works to achieve accountability and improvement, is often not explicitly stated but simply assumed by the actors involved its design and implementation. To unpack the "black box", initial programme theories of how and why Outcome Management is supposed to work are tested against the actual programme theories of how and why Outcome Management actually works in the seven identified case studies. Findings showed that the performance information generated has been largely used for meeting targets rather than for improving services. Outcome Management, in its current implementation, is not capable of testing the theory of change underlying the social services. And such testing forms the logical basis for learning and improvement. Also, Outcome Management is found to be more suitable for measuring the outcomes of "programmatic interventions" as compared to "single practitioner-driven interventions". Across most case studies, the emergence of poorly-defined outcomes, undefined or missing programme theory of change and the lack of standardisation in the use of measurement tools and administering procedures has undermined the success of Outcome Management. In light of the empirical findings, revisions are made to the initial programme theories, leading to refined programme theories of how and why Outcome Management could work better, for whom and under what conditions to achieve accountability and improvement.

Audit, inspection and quality assurance are aspects of a broader but rapidly evolving "performance measurement"; which is part of the performance management (PM) in public administration. The effectiveness of PM and its public reporting are not established in all contexts and applications. In some contexts, PM public reporting is used along with other measures such as inter-organisational networks to reform public service provision. In such contexts, how PM reporting help stakeholders in a network? There have been different conceptual frameworks and models explored in the literature that aim to explain how networked governance works. None of the available models, however, addresses the impact of an outside performance measurement tools. The review of literature, on the perspective of inter-organisational network, shows a need to explore more deeply what is going on within the network, and how the network interacts with its boundaries and outside context. Therefore, the overall objective for this research is to propose a conceptual model that can explain the impact of externally reported PM, an example of which is independent mandatory quality assurance (QA), on inter-organisational networks dynamics and outcomes. The research starts by building an ‘initial theoretical conceptual’ model based on theoretically derived influences of PM on the dynamics and outcomes of a network. The research uses qualitative case study strategy, using data from four cases, all linked with national education and training reform initiatives in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Participants representing the four cases were interviewed using semi-structured interview protocol. Data collected were analysed through two-order thematic analyses, and the results were used to revise the initial model and develop a novel conceptual model for this purpose. The results of the analyses contribute to existing theories by proposing four themes, covered by four propositions, in which QA public reporting impacts the network dynamics – namely on accountability, engagement and trust, power and control; and collaborations and cooperation. The impact on the network dynamics may lead to the achievement of some collaborative advantages, after going through the resistance of some collaborative inertias that may exist in the system and context in which network operates. In summary, QA reporting, in the case of this research, is an external variable to the network setting which activates members and offers a medium of change around members, within a network as well as outside it. The researcher introduces the term ‘network catalyst’ to describe the role of QA reporting in this context.

This thesis seeks to understand the role of audit in managing the performance of the NHS in Scotland and the impact which the relationship between performance and audit has upon key actors, including NHS organisations and national audit bodies. It is informed by Michael Power’s Audit Society (1999) and associated works, which present audit as a collection of ideas which shape how society defines control, accountability and transparency. The premise of this doctoral research is that the age of performance assessment in the NHS is evidence of Power’s Audit Society in action. A longitudinal analysis of annual Overview Reports produced by Audit Scotland, which symbolise the national audit body’s identity relative to the NHS, explores the impact which the performance assessment regime had upon the evolution of the national audit body and demonstrates the capacity of a national audit body to forge its own role in performance assessment and in doing so shift its identity from traditional external auditor to authoritative commentator on performance. A recent performance crisis in a Scottish NHS board is the subject of a case study which explores the role of audit when significant gaming is uncovered in a previously high-trust system. This case demonstrates how the ritual appeal of audit can be mobilised by the government to restore public confidence in reported improvements in performance across the whole NHS. The organisational impact of audit on performance management is explored through an observation-based case study set in a Scottish NHS board, which traces interactions between the main actors in audit and performance networks. These analyses show how audit can permeate the performance assessment of NHS bodies, at both the national and organisational level, even where it is not given a formal role in the assessment framework.

In simultaneously pursuing commercial and social goals, specialist microfinance organisations (MFOs) are leading examples of social enterprises working in development. Yet evidence of the feasibility of such ‘double bottom line’ management is limited. The thesis takes a comparative case study approach to investigating the dynamics of a social enterprise model of microfinance, with particular emphasis on its role in promoting employment related goals. Case study material consists primarily of the experience of two Central Asian MFOs that participated in an action research project ‘Microfinance for Decent Work’ implemented by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). Data was obtained through participant observation, staff interviews, client level surveys, and it also includes reflective practice arising from my participation in the ILO project as a consultant to both MFOs between 2008 and 2012. The findings are mixed. One of the MFOs was more strongly internally motivated to achieve social goals, and was more successful in implementing social performance management initiatives. The other was motivated more by the goal to demonstrate social performance to external stakeholders, and was less responsive to the evidence generated. The thesis also illustrates both path dependence in the evolution of social performance management, and the limited capacity of external agencies such as the ILO to influence the institutionalisation of development management within MFOs.

Performance management research in the private and public sector has received much attention in management accounting research; however, empirical studies on performance management in the non-profit sector remain scarce. This study proposes and validates a model that explains the relationships between contingency variables, performance management practices, and organisational effectiveness in the non-profit sector. The study employed a mixed methods research approach, which entailed a field study and a cross-sectional survey in the Kenyan non-profit sector. The field study was undertaken to understand the perceptions of NPO leaders on non-profit sector characteristics, organisational effectiveness, determinants, challenges, and benefits of implementation of performance management systems in the Kenyan non-profit sector. Thereafter, a cross-sectional survey (using mailed questionnaires and an online survey) was used to collect quantitative primary data. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the quantitative data. The structural equation modelling approach was adopted to test the hypothesised relationships among the contingency factors, performance management practices and organisational effectiveness. The findings indicate that performance management in NPOs can be categorised into three groups: performance planning, performance measurement and performance context. The NPOs emphasise mission statements and core values within the formal PM system. Although a number of private sector measurement frameworks are utilised, the NPOs mostly use logical framework, with emphasis on output and financial measures and team based targets with no clear rewards. The PM systems are resource intensive and they lead to goal displacement and narrow definition and measurement of organisational effectiveness. The results further reveal that among the contingency variables, strategic orientation significantly predicted performance management practices and organisational effectiveness in non-profits. Among the performance management variables, performance planning, performance targets, and performance rewards significantly predict organisational effectiveness domains. Furthermore, performance management practices mediate the relationship between strategic orientations, technology, information technology, leadership and external environment and organisational effectiveness domains. However, organisational size was not significantly related to performance management practices or organisational effectiveness. To successfully implement and benefit from the PM system, non-profit organisations need to address the fit between contextual factors and the performance management system. By employing a pragmatic, embedded, mixed methods approach this study provides empirical evidence of performance management practices that influence organisational effectiveness beyond the rhetoric of performance management theory. At the practice level, the findings will benefit Kenya government, non-profit organisations, donor agencies and performance evaluation practitioners.

Increasingly Manufacturing Enterprises (MEs) need to perform competitively to survive in today s global markets. This thesis investigates the notion that competitive product realisation is not simply dependent on deploying state of the art operational and infrastructural support processes but also depends upon the adoption of management processes that ensure efficient and effective use of human and non human resources. Having an experience of more than two decades working in a public sector ME located in Pakistan the author has observed that improvements in timelines, quality and profit begins from measurement; followed by goal, problem & solution understanding, then planning and control of needed change. Therefore, a desire to enhance best practice qualitative and quantitative measurement of management processes triggered and focussed this research. Consequently the aim of this research has been to contribute to knowledge by using state of the art modelling techniques to structure and enable quantitative measurement of management processes within MEs. Subsequent research of the author has conceived, implemented and case tested a modelling methodology that is designed to measure the Level of Application of Management Process (LAMP) in pursuit of ME productivity improvement. In order to achieve the aim of this research, a semi generic model of management processes deployed in MEs was defined and explicitly modelled by using an ISO Enterprise Modelling technique. The definition of this semi-generic model was realised consequent upon (1) a literature review and (2) conducting semi-structured interviews with experts (n=42) in three public sector MEs located in Pakistan. Use of the Enterprise Modelling technique enabled decomposition and classification of management processes into so called Domain Processes, which subsequently were explicitly defined as Business Processes at a more detailed level of modelling abstraction. Then during subsequent research the author conceived and developed the use of a methodology to apply a LAMP scorecard the use of which was tested whilst conducting structured interviews with project managers (n=25) in three public sector MEs located in Pakistan that operate on project oriented management structures. The case study results partially validated the fitness for purpose of the model driven measurement methodology, identified opportunities for future methodological research and illustrated how LAMP identified and enabled measurements can help to define, quantify and direct potential opportunities for ME enhancement.

Principal-Agent Theory has been used by researchers to understand relationships among different professional groups and explain contractual arrangements and performance management between organisations. Use of principal-agent theory in research within primary care is limited. This study uses the principal-agent theoretical framework to attain a better understanding of performance management in primary care. The relationship between managers and primary care clinicians is explored. The study uses the main theoretical assumptions of information asymmetry and goal alignment to explain the findings. Case study methodology was used to explore the research question. Purposive sampling techniques using the following datasets were used to select participants: practice size; percentage South Asian population; levels of deprivation; and relative performance on selected national productivity performance indicators. Managers were selected based on their corporate responsibility for organisational performance or role in performance management within the organisation. Twenty six formal recorded interviews were carried out with various directors, managers and clinicians across NHS East Lancashire and NHS North West. Interviews were transcribed and organised using NVIVO 8 software and analysed using matrix analysis techniques. There is confusion between performance measurement and performance management. The terms are often used interchangeably. The NHS tends to focus on things that are easy to measure at the risk of omitting important aspects of care that are more difficult to capture. Soft performance intelligence such as: training, multidisciplinary teamwork, communication and shared vision are just as important as tangible metrics. Three primary care performance management systems emerged from the findings: The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), the Practice Development Framework (PDF) and the Better Care Better Value (BCBV) Productivity Performance Framework. Performance indicators do not always reflect quality outcomes. This can lead to poorer outcomes for patients especially if dependent on incentives. The study addresses the research question through analysis of the following themes: Understanding performance management; Use of performance management systems; and Barriers to performance management in primary care. A common understanding of performance management is required across all stakeholders. Clear, strategic direction and consistent interpretation of organisational objectives at all levels is essential to achieve goal alignment. Soft intelligence and qualitative measures need to be considered as well as tangible metrics. Clinical engagement and ownership are key factors to achieving goal alignment. Trust between principal and agent affects the degree to which information asymmetry is overcome. Appropriate use of incentives, good communication and strategies to overcome the problem of information asymmetry and address ‘professional superiority’ improves goal alignment. Achieving the right balance between accountability and clinical autonomy is important to ensure governance and financial balance without stifling innovation. Goal alignment depends on quality and accuracy of information and robust targets to avoid misunderstanding and misinterpretation of information and inadvertent use of incentives. Principal-agent theory suggests goal alignment is achieved by applying the underlying assumptions of the theoretical framework. In complex systems like the English NHS, it is likely that only partial goal alignment will be achieved. The degree of achievement depends on the number and level of alignment of individual factors.

The organization I work in has 13 subsidiary businesses operating in the branded footwear and apparel industry. The industry currently faces significant macroeconomic and industry challenges. One of our biggest challenges is how to avoid excessive and wasteful new product development whilst still building an attractive range of products for the customer. So the focus of my research is on the management control and governance of the New Product Development (NPD) process to solve a pressing business problem. However, there is a gap in the literature. Many authors have claimed that our knowledge of the governance of NPD processes is incomplete and there is a dearth of actual studies in this area. My literature review looked at management control and in particular at the enduring problem of the need to generate control without stifling creativity. The literature led me to focus on the use of feedforward controls to influence NPD management teams to improve portfolio value and strategic alignment whilst simultaneously encouraging NPD experimentation. During this research I developed the concept of Feedforward Anticipatory Control (FAC), which encompasses the combination of feedforward control and double-loop learning. From this start my research question became “How does the use of FAC influence NPD management teams to improve portfolio value and strategic alignment?” From theory and my initial case study research I developed, tested and refined a tool for ascertaining the level of FAC sophistication in use by NPD teams in their development process. The tool was then used in action research interventions to help the teams develop their sophistication in the use of FAC. The tool was found to be useable, useful and have value. The action research case studies were embedded in a case study protocol to ensure the rigour of my research. This involved developing a framework to investigate the consequences of my interventions, in terms of both hard performance metrics and softer team perceptions. The contribution is in the use of management controls in NPD. The findings show that different levels of FAC sophistication can be applied in NPD and that the use of higher levels of FAC influences NPD teams to improve portfolio value and strategic alignment. The contribution to practice is an intervention “toolkit” that can influence NPD teams to develop higher levels of FAC sophistication and generate improvements in NPD portfolio performance.

This thesis investigates how the Thai public sector, particularly at the provincial level, makes sense of the performance management system (PMS) aimed at driving forward the improvement in public service and enhancing the sustainability of service quality. The study explores the implications of the PMS implementation after the major civil service reform in 2002. The core aspects of this development include the nation-wide implementation of the PMS, the Provincial CEO scheme, as well as the incentive schemes put force to motivate and enhance such development and improvement. Although there is rich literature on performance management, there is limited in the Thai context, particularly at the provincial level. The empirical study relies on a qualitative approach through intensively exploring five provincial case studies. In-depth, semi-structure interviews have been conducted within the provinces, as well as with executives from central agencies, training and development institutes, and key resource persons who are directly involved in the PMS implementation. The data analysis reveals that a strong commitment of the government at policy level brought in support and coordination among central agencies and has altered attention and resources towards the system implementation. Additionally, the PMS implementation together with the promotion of the Provincial CEO scheme has created new challenges for the Provincial Governors and the provincial administration in which there is shown to be a shift from an administrative approach to a more managerial and participative one. The performance agreement (PA) has played a crucial role in improving and evaluating performance, driving public sector development, and linking performance with the monetary incentive schemes. However, the study also finds a limitation of the PA execution in relation to its linkages with incentive distribution to individuals. Furthermore, several incentive schemes are available for different groups of people and cause misunderstanding and demotivating affects which, in turn, has impacts on the PMS as a whole. The findings of this research provide new evidence on the PMS implications at the provincial level in the Thai public sector in which political policies are cascaded down into real practices and execution. Therefore, the result could be considered as extending the knowledge boundary in the context of public management. Crucially, the research highlights significant implications and specified factors enabling and inhibiting success in the PMS implementation.

This research aims to inform the relevance of Organisational Learning (OL) to policing management practice by investigating its impact and prevalence in UK policing. In the prescriptive literature, OL is propounded as an important aspect of effective organisations that needs to be leveraged. The field of OL is found to be diverse, lacking empirical work, and in need of suitable research techniques. To focus the research, a specific example of OL is proposed in performance management (PM) practice. The PM literature shows the theoretical foundations for practice are underdeveloped. This research addresses this by combining these two fields. As a result, practical data is made available to support an examination of OL and a theoretical basis for PM is developed. In the absence of a suitable model to structure data collection, a new OL model of PM is derived from the literature. A Critical Realist position is adopted which aims to identify the nature of the phenomena underlying OL. Three case studies with UK Police Forces, which involved fifty-two interviewees, were undertaken during 2008. A pilot case study was undertaken in Scotland, with the follow-up case studies in England and Northern Ireland. The data from interviews is analysed in NVivo using a range of coding techniques. Using the results from these case studies, the provisional OL Model of PM is tested and developed further. PM practice is found to involve the creation of knowledge and the creation of action and the relationship to organisational purpose is highlighted. Six elements of the OL process are defined as Attention, Analysis, Advising, Adjusting, Affecting and Achieving. Dimensions influencing PM practice in the cases are identified. The outcomes of the research indicate relevance to policing management practice, as well as to the wider fields of PM practice and OL theory.

The overall aim of this study is to investigate the phenomenon of performance measurement in independently owned hotels in Ireland in order to understand the role of measurement in the management of the largest component of the hotel sector. The primary objectives of this study are to investigate the extent to which Irish hotel operators are utilising performance measurement techniques, to establish the rationale for the use of selected performance measures in independent hotels and to understand approaches to performance measurement in the management of independent hotels. A comprehensive investigation of existing performance management and measurement activity is provided in this study. A mixed methods approach to the research was undertaken to gather data on the phenomenon of performance measurement, allowing for a triangulation of data through multiple sources. A survey questionnaire was carried out within the hotels in Ireland followed by focus groups and indepth interviews carried out in a number of small and medium-sized hotels in Ireland. A number of key' performance measurement issues were investigated and include the rationale for performance measurement, the benefits of performance measurement, those responsible for carrying out the function, critical success factors impacting on the business and performance dimensions and measures utilised by hotel operators in the study. The findings of this research have implications for a number of stakeholders, however, the greatest impact will be on the small and medium-sized hotel operator. The research shows there is a need for these hotel operators to adopt a more structured formal approach to performance measurement. A number of models of performance measurement for small, medium-size and large hotels are proposed. These models will contribute to the management of performance in the hotel sector in Ireland, leading to increased effectiveness which is especially important in the current economic climate that the hotel and tourism sector is facing and will face into the future.

Since the 1980s, New Public Management (NPM) has deeply influenced the public sector across the world, and thus measuring or managing performance has become a principal element of government reform. In terms of borrowing models and techniques from the private sector, performance measurement has been significantly extended into government, but differences between the two sectors have led to difficulties and criticism of this practice with a wide inconsistent variety of different theoretical explanations about it. In this context, this thesis investigates the effectiveness of performance measurement and theoretical explanations of conditions for its success in the public sector. It focuses through a comparative methodology on Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Joint Performance Assessment that have recently been introduced between the levels of government in England and Korea for the improvement of local government performance and accountability. Extensive analysis of literature and case studies have allowed the thesis to find firstly, that the introduction of such unique assessment systems, by which the centre assesses localities, was deeply affected by the environmental commonalities of both countries such as centralisation in inter-governmental relations and enthusiasm for NPM. Second, the empirical evaluation of both tools shows that they have in practice been valid for accurate assessment, and directly functional for improvement and indirectly for accountability to the public. Their high validity and functionality proved to be mainly attributable to two characteristics. One was institutionally that both frameworks were based on a balanced approach to performance and the disclosure of assessment results to the public for facilitating competition between localities. The other was that both had impacted on internal management of local government which led to change in organisational culture with more focus on performance. However, it identified a necessity for local authorities to participate in the development process of those tools to ensure legitimacy of central management of local performance since they enjoy their own electorally based political support. The research has also found the importance of assessors’ expertise for accurate assessment and a possibility that performance measurement can contribute to the resolution of political tension and cooperation between central and local government when it focuses more on outcomes than input and process. A deeper theoretical and practical understanding of these successful experiences and important policy elements in contemporary public management contributes significantly to knowledge in the three settings of evaluation of policy instruments, comparison between countries and central-local relations. Finally, the study assists each country and others to draw lessons from each other.

Purpose: To critically investigate the effect/impact the implementation of both team and individual based pay has when responses are measured in terms of teamworking, job satisfaction, culture and commitment in 2 Nigerian financial institutions. Design/methodology/approach: The study presents the first empirical case-study research carried out in Nigeria. The data are based on 2 Nigerian financial institutions surveys from 2002 to 2006. The analysis addresses the impact of the introduction of PRP within these institutions. Questionnaires were sent out to the 226 employees. Interviews and focus groups were also carried out with both managers and employees across both organisations. Findings: The findings indicate the importance of valence for monetary incentives, the instrumentality of performance for the monetary incentives and clear individual and group objectives for improving performance. On the basis of the analysis of the data from employees covered by the scheme, the results suggests that there are clear indications that it has raised motivational levels, though employees prefer working with individual performance related pay than in teams, but would not mind working in teams if it is linked to a reward, but the responses indicate that individual performance related pay has damaged the concept of team working. The results indicated a positive link of PRP having a positive effect with employees on higher grade levels; this result support other results from a number of earlier UK studies. The results also indicate that the introduction of PRP can enhance culture change and enhanced performance but may not ultimately lead to commitment from employees. The findings also indicate a positive link between PRP, improved individual and organisational performance, change in culture and job satisfaction. Though the research indicates positive outcomes from one organisation it also indicates negative outcomes from the other organisation. Why would that occur, as both organisations operate the same form of individual PRP? It leads the researcher to conclude that PRP must be modified to take into account the cultural (national & organisational) implications of the transference western management practices into non-western organisations. The research finishes by listing out implications for management and recommendations. Research limitations: As this study utilises data from Nigerian financial institutions only, its results cannot be generalised to other sectors and countries characterised by different cultures and contexts. However, what is critical though is that the approach used to finding these results can be applied in a wide variety of situations, thus enabling the examination of external validity. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – This study is one of the first to explore the effect/impact of the introduction of performance related pay in Nigerian financial institutions and reflecting on the historic cultural context of gift giving and culture within organisations and the impact this has on the success or failure of PRP schemes. It also provides a new empirical evidence on the use of performance related pay. The results also show a link between the introduction of performance related pay and a change in the psychological contract from a relational contract to a transactional psychological contract, where commitment (bought) and loyalty is based on the monetary aspects of the relationship. The results supports an interpretation of incentive pay as motivated by expectancy theory and provides new evidence on the relationship between the success of performance related and its use by employees as a bargaining tool for salary increases and new job roles. Its implications should be of interest to human resource managers when designing reward strategies for their organisations.

Increasing interest is being shown in performance measurement, in both the academic literature and by practitioners. When implementing innovative products, organisations are facing issues of how to measure and manage the performance of the products concerned and how to do so in a worthwhile way. Reviewing existing literature suggests that there has been limited research on the value of performance measurement and management processes and indeed little conceptual distinction has been made between performance measurement and performance management. A conceptual framework is developed, structured around concepts from the existing literature showing two ways of distinguishing performance measurement and performance management. Performance management processes are shown as broader than performance measurement processes and the influences of the processes on performance are also displayed, another way of differentiating between the two concepts. The framework provides a structure for a pattern matching analysis using empirical data. Empirical data collection involved four case studies, each focusing on a medical device being implemented in the UK public healthcare sector. Forty-six semi-structured interviews explored performance measurement and performance management processes in the implementation of the innovative products, as well as exploring the influences of those processes on performance of the innovative products. The findings from the thesis highlight key performance measurement and performance management processes that occur in the implementation of innovative products, finding that the two can best be distinguished by their influence, or lack of influence, on performance. Performance reporting is also highlighted as a key concept. The findings indicate that performance measurement and reporting processes alone cannot be expected to have an influence on performance, however if performance management processes occur too then they can.

Performance management, which is a core element of the New Public Management (NPM), has maintained its significance both in academic and practical perspectives for many scholars and governments, although enthusiasm for the NPM has waned since the late 1990s. There have been debates on the universality of the NPM, and the divergence argument regards the practices and trajectories of specific reforms as being shaped by the different characteristics of politico-administrative and cultural systems. Through the comparative study of performance management based on the case studies in the UK and South Korea, this thesis demonstrates that the processes of a NPM-type reform can be similar in spite of differences of politico-administrative and cultural characteristics. It examines performance management systems in the two countries in terms of the speed and nature of reform, resistance to reform, use of performance information and importance as a control mechanism. The comparison is also useful for lesson-drawing for the improvement of current systems. This research has been conducted by undertaking a wide literature review, including journal articles and government papers, and by conducting semi-structured interviews. To undertake analysis and comparison of performance management systems, the thesis looks at the Public Service Agreements (PSAs) in the UK and the Government Performance Evaluation (GPE), Financial Performance Management System (FPMS) and Performance Agreements in Korea. Case studies have been carried out with the Department of Health in the UK and the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs in Korea. The PSA system has problems generated by excessive central control and lack of participation of professionals and front-line staff. In Korea all three performance management systems are based on evaluation. Departments used evaluation as a tool of exercising control, which resulted in duplication of evaluation and excessive bureaucracy. Focus on the process-oriented evaluation has undermined the value of the systems for improving public services. Whilst the two countries display differences in the fundamental approach to performance management, there are similarities in the detailed practices and trajectories in the operation of the systems. The reason for these similarities may be attributed to the strong leadership of top politicians in both countries.

Information explosion, globalisation and the reduction of trade barriers have led to the emergence of global production markets and broader access to a range of products for customers. For manufacturers this has led to managing fragmented networks to deal with more polarised markets with wider variety of products at reduced costs and shorter lifecycles in an increasingly competitive environment. This coupled with the pressure to create shareholder value calls for a dynamic approach in the design and management of their supply chains. Market responsiveness is ability to anticipate and react purposefully within appropriate timescale to changes in the market place in order to maximise shareholder value and customer value. The aim of this research is to develop a model for market responsiveness that will enable organisations to deal with the changing needs of the market. To achieve this aim the research methodology was designed to primarily collect qualitative evidence from three distinct supply chains within different industrial contexts. Contrasting across these contexts has helped to determine if the model is generic enough to be applicable in other contexts. The findings were that value gaps exist between interfaces within organisations and their supply chains. At such gaps value is either created, maintained or lost. Value gaps are the primary reasons why organisational tensions exist as the entities involved are focused on conflicting strategic objectives that lead to behavioural misalignment and ultimately poor response. Therefore the research concludes within a market responsiveness model within which there are frameworks for business performance management and managing the value execution point of which maximum shareholder value and customer value can be created.

This dissertation focuses on the interactions between local public sector organisations and institutions in the development of performance measurement (PM) targets and indicators. The research is grounded in the performance measurement and management literature and adopts a joint new institutional and resource dependence perspective. Empirically, the research, which is qualitative and theory-building, consists of case studies undertaken in local public sector organisations in England. The iterative comparison of theory and data has enabled the investigation of a number of relevant themes. In the last decade, the British Government has placed great emphasis on the consistency of objectives, targets and indicators from national to local levels with the aim of enhancing performance, transparency and accountability, and of driving behavior. However, this research shows that the influence of several organizations and the co- existence of various PM initiatives generate confusion and overlaps locally. Moreover, in the cases considered the unmanageable number of indicators and the lack of clarity regarding the drivers and purposes of PM have led to confused massages and counter- productive approaches to the measurement and management of performance. From a theoretical view-point, the favourable comments expressed by interviewees regarding the current PM regime contrast with critics of New Public Management. Furthermore, legitimacy-seeking and efficiency-enhancing rationals have emerged as intertwined and loosely coupled. This is in opposition to what is maintained by early new institutional theorists. In line with resource dependence theory, PM systems were found to be significant components of power systems in organisations. Through the examination of the roles of PM and the investigation of relevant concepts such as 'golden thread' and performance culture, this research aims to make an impact on policy-making and to improve the ways in which targets and indicators are set and used, hence having a positive effect on the services delivered.

Employers have a vested interest in the health of employees, but employee wellness programs have not proven themselves an effective tactic for employers to motivate employees to live healthier lives. Employees who suffer from chronic disease are less productive than healthier peers, are more expensive to insure, have higher rates of absenteeism, and are more prone to suffer from performance-reducing levels of stress and burnout (Shuck et al., 2021; Jones et al., 2019; Mattke et al., 2013). The problem is that employee wellness programs are often not effective at improving the health of employee populations (Song & Baicker, 2019; Jones et al., 2019; Merrill et al., 2011) and an alternate approach to employee health improvement has not been widely explored (Shuck et al., 2022). This study applies the Self-Determination Theory and the Job-Resources Demands Theory in evaluating whether employee engagement levels relate to health-related lifestyle choices in the interest of progressing our understanding of the motivational construct of health-related behavior change in an employee population. This is a correlational, cross-sectional, non-experimental study reflecting a point-in-time experience of employees of a single healthcare employer using numerical data from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale and the Good Health Practices Scale. This strategy of inquiry is a correlational design as it uses a correlational statistic to measure the relationship between two variables (Creswell, 2014). The independent variable is employee engagement, and the dependent variable is the health-related lifestyle score, compared using simple linear regression. The study found that employee engagement and health-related lifestyle choice are related but not to a statistically significant degree.

College and university housing professionals served a role they were generally underprepared for as long-term crisis managers during the global COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted and shifted higher education operating structures on a grand scale, and housing staff were asked to continue operating on-campus housing facilities throughout the ever-changing response to COVID-19. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of housing professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the collective experiences of 21 participants three major threads emerged: comfort in the unknown, a need for connection and community, and relentless resilience. Each of these themes had a positive overtone, but there were difficulties articulated within each, which point to a darker underbelly of the experience that has yet to be reconciled. This study unintentionally highlighted the lack of intentional personal and/or professional processing for housing staff who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic. The shared themes across the experiences indicate a need for the campus housing profession to make time to remember and memorialize this experience, address self-destructive behaviors that occur at all professional levels, and examine the internalized expectations to be the solution to all things. Future areas of research should commit to collecting the experiences of the voices absent from this study to compare findings to provide insight on a broader experience of the pandemic and seek to understand the ways in which the pandemic may have impacted decision making related to departing the profession.

This thesis builds on the first configuration model developed and expanded in the IFS. The model considers the factors that impact on managers as they undertake performance management of their staff. This thesis transforms the original model through a second and into a third and final configuration. The questions that underpin this research are concerned with managers' experiences as they engage in managing performance and explore the triggers that enable managers to begin a process of, and sustain, managing underperformance within their team. The methodology and research approach adopted is that of social construction which allows managers' worlds to be co-constructed. In undertaking this study, researcher reflexivity was developed, by engaging with colleagues and other interested individuals. The research discourse was not a neutral process and emotioning in research was explicitly recognised. The research design and methods of data collection worked with senior managers across public and private sectors and also engaged with manager groups to provide situations where emerging constructions could be worked up. This continuing professional engagement gave a way of interacting with the emerging discourse to refine the constructions. The research findings identify the significance of contextual factors within any manager's world and the increasing importance of external conditions such as Best Value. The idea of potent and impotent organisations in sustaining a high performance culture is created and the characteristics of each identified. The concept of "other" emerged as managers described the individual who was underperforming and the level of fear and emotional impact on them as they engaged with the "other" in performance management. During the research managers described their feelings in different ways but there was a universal factor - managers do have feelings. Performance management is a Wicked Problem and the rhetoric belies the level of complexity that this research has identified namely - There is no definitive Problem, there is no definitive Solution. Finally the research recommends action for policy makers and managers in order to better develop the systems and processes needed to achieve super performance.

This study has quantitatively explored the relationships between investment, the use oftechnology and manufacturing perfonnance in UK manufacturing industry from 1979 to 1995. The exploration ofthe relationships is based on the review and the meta-analysis ofmanufacturing practice and performance relationships in the past along with the related theories and economic factors. The review of the operational management theory and the economic factors, which may influence manufacturing performance and practice relationship, helps to establish the wide context for this research and also contributes to the identified gaps. The meta-analysis ofthe relationships between practice and performance in the published studies has also contributed to the identified gaps in this research area. After the consideration ofthe discovered gaps and the availability of the database, the relationship between investment, the use oftechnology and manufacturing performance has been explored in this research. In order to quantitatively evaluate the relationships between investment, the use of technology, their interaction and manufacturing perfonnance, econometric modelling techniques have been used as methodological approaches. Two types ofmethods have been developed based on the review ofthe econometric techniques used in the past and the exploration of relevant econometric literature. The first method uses multiplicative interaction regression models combined with the centralisation method and ordinary least square estimation technique to investigate the relationship between investment, technology usage and their interaction and one dimensional perfonnance. The second method employs multiple-output models using the maximum correlation estimation technique to investigate the relationships between investment, technology usage and their interaction and two dimensional performance measures. A UK manufacturing database including two time periods, the 1980s and the early 1990s, covering seventeen years has been used to test the hypothesised relationships between investment in several forms, technology usage, their interaction and financial performance. The research discovers that it was difficult for investment to bring benefits for performance improvement at the year ofinvestment. The results support the hypotheses that a long-term planned investment brought benefits for manufacturing companies in the 1980s, however was not the case in the early 1990s. Technology usage was very important for performance improvement in the 1980s but the benefits brought by technology were diminishing as the mature stage ofsome key technologies was reached in the early 1990s. The analysis of the data suggests that the economic recession in the early 1990s was an important factor in explaining the phenomena and other economic factors might playa role as well. Investment and technology did interact with each other to contribute to performance improvement but it was not always the case. The results of the multiple-outputs model support the hypothesis that profitability and growth were two joint products of investment, the use oftechnology and their interaction in the immediate year or two after investment. This research also demonstrates the values of mUltiplicative interaction regression modelling and multiple-outputs modelling for manufacturing relationship studies.

Capital project owners face several challenges in extracting meaningful information from large and complex data sets generated throughout the life cycle of a construction project. Capital projects must strike a balance between intuition-driven and data-driven decision-making due to their sensitive and change-averse nature. The main objective of this study is to improve the structure, clarity, and interpretation of the construction data, and enhance the decision-making processes for federal capital projects. To achieve this goal, this study developed a hybrid dashboard tailored to the federal agencies’ requirements of performance assessment. This study is a sub-section of broader research – the Federal Facilities Data Analytics Research Application Program (FF-DARAP). The sub-objectives of this study focused on identifying essential performance metrics and the most effective visual aids that communicate the accurate value of the metrics. This study employed a roundtable discussion, survey questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews as methods of data collection. The collected data was analyzed using methods such as mean score calculation and thematic analysis. As a result, two iterations of a prototype dashboard were created using Microsoft PowerBI and tested for usability satisfaction. The usability assessment was conducted using the CSUQ survey instrument by IBM and the iteration with a better score was recommended to the federal agencies for final deployment. The results of this study indicate that a well-designed dashboard can be a powerful tool for performance assessment and benchmarking and human factors considerations play an important role in this process. This study discusses the detailed approach to dashboard development; however, the content of the dashboard is unique to the federal agencies, therefore its generalizability is limited. Furthermore, the scope of this study only focuses on creating a strategic and analytical dashboard, therefore the design considerations may not be applicable to operational dashboards.

Coaches have a significant impact on the sport performances and experiences of student-athletes. Further, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has continued to professionalize and grow into a multibillion-dollar business. Despite the coaches’ importance and the evolution of the NCAA, human resource practices, specifically performance management of coaches in NCAA athletic departments, is scarcely examined. This leaves a significant gap in the literature and potentially fuels the epidemic of mental health challenges among student-athletes as well as litigation within athletic departments. Therefore, this study sought to fill this gap in the literature and describe the performance management systems for coaches within NCAA, Division I athletic departments. This study employed a mixed-methods approach using surveys and document analysis. Participants were NCAA, Division I coaches (n=310) and NCAA, Division I athletic administrators with direct sport oversight responsibilities (n=208). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results describe the phenomenon of performance management within NCAA athletic departments through the lens of a four-component operationalization of performance management. Further, the results elicit coach and administrator perceptions relative to the four-components of performance management. Theoretical and practical implications as well as study limitations and future research are discussed.

Among the many trade partners the United States engages with, the Republic of Korea is the nation’s seventh largest trading partner – exchanging over $154.9 Billion in 2020 (USTR, 2021). Despite this strong economic relationship between these two nations, the cultural distance that these societies have is one of the largest within anthropological academia (Hofstede, 2017). This reality creates the need for a solid framework of a management-focused, cultural understanding between these two countries. In this study, academic literature will be collected and reviewed to lend insight into particular areas of culture that an American and Korean perspective would be most likely to conflict. To increase depth to this study, primary, qualitative research has been conducted within stakeholder populations.

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) comprise the backbone of civilization. Whether intended or not, governments fail to improve social situations, financial standings, and spirituality comprehensively. NGOs attempt to cover these areas. From Angola to Zambia, countless NGOs exist around the world; however, many fail due to a misplaced focus internally on the annual donations received rather than externally on the disenfranchised. Additionally, even if NGOs manage to stay afloat, they will need help procuring funds and then distributing those resources with the most effective impact for the impoverished. The honors thesis proposed will attempt to determine more effective impact measurements for NGOs, examining the context of varying financial obtainment strategies, resource allocation decisions, qualitative and quantitative evaluation mechanisms, and critical accountability metrics.

Higher education culture is steeped in institutional identity and ties to history. But what happens when that history is challenged, and an institution must change its name? While a merger was not initially intended for Kearney State College, merging into the University of Nebraska system was the only way to reflect the change and growth that emulated the type of institution it had become. By interviewing sixteen participants that lived the experience of the merge, a concise and collective history of the events that led to the creation of the University of Nebraska at Kearney was obtained and studied. Through phenomenological methodology, the important story of the institution gave way to the institution’s identity before, during and after the merge, solidifying not only who Kearney State was, but also who UNK is. Future research implicates the importance of studying the increasing commonality of higher education institutions merging, be it strategic or for survival, and opens higher education to be researched further not only into the importance of documented histories but also for studying the effect of change in identity, particularly on the human capital component. Advisor: Marilyn Grady

Organisations are increasingly relying on resilience to adapt to uncertain and evolving operational environments, whilst continuing to achieve their requirements, and addressing pathologies in their organisational design and operations. The challenge is exacerbated by the growing organisational complexity, competing priorities and unintended consequences from various system modifications and trade-off decisions. To address the organisational resilience challenges, a comprehensive approach to organisational resilience is required. Despite the proliferation of resilience research in the academic literature, organisational resilience practitioners do not have a holistic practical methodology on how to design and maintain resilience in continuously operating and mature organisations. The research reports its comprehensive approach to ensuring desired organisational performance and resilience characteristics. The key aspects of resilience and organisation are determined in the extensive literature review and key stakeholder engagements, followed by the establishment of the current ‘as is’ state of a Defence training organisation. It is characterised by a mature design, complexity, and the need for uninterrupted delivery of its functions in continuous operations. The research combines resilience conceptualisation and organisational design review outcomes to formulate its approach to the organisational transition from the current ‘as is’ to the future ‘to-be’ state to secure a long-term delivery of the required outputs under diverse stressors. The approach is based on an original resilience framework and architecture; new resilience measures introduced via the survey instrument; and non-traditional application of various system thinking and modelling and simulation methodologies to review and modify a mature and fully operational training organisation targeting resilience. The approach was applied in more than 20 Defence training establishments at different levels of aggregation over three years and reported indicative results and real benefits to the participating organisations, as well as research limitations, contributions, and continuous improvement strategies. Although a Defence training organisation context is used in this paper, the principles of the research approach may be applied to any organisation. Future research directions concern further quantification of organisational resilience aspects such as their interrelationships effect on organisational performance and organisational importance ratings; expanding the scope of organisational context from training to include other organisational types; and developing automation approaches for the resilience survey data analysis and reporting.

The effectiveness of performance appraisals concerning employee motivation and organizational outcomes has had a prominent presence in research over the years due to concerns about how failed appraisal processes hinder performance improvement, human resource functions, and corporate objectives. How employees perceive the review process plays a significant role in whether or not the method will deliver the intended motivators, such as feedback and job satisfaction. This study will focus on how perceptions of bias influence an employee’s drive to perform in the future among Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) within three Promedica skilled nursing facilities in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In resourced-constrained countries like India, ambitions for environmental protection are often limited by the paucity of funds, and limited capacity within governments to implement transformational programs. But an excessive focus on funding and government action fails to account for several ways in which motivated individuals and communities voluntarily come together to solve environmental problems. Such initiatives might be small and dispersed but can be scaled-up by understanding the underlying structure of incentives and motivations that drive people towards contributing labour and finding collective solutions. My dissertation is motivated by the desire to develop practical insights for fostering greater citizen participation and collective action. In particular, my research is focused on understanding how low-cost and non-monetary incentives motivate individuals towards pro-social and pro-environmental behaviours.The first project examines the factors that contribute to better performance on tasks that managers cannot easily observe. Here, I study frontline employees of an NGO in India who are responsible for improving social development outcomes for rural women. These employees perform two broad categories of tasks – some are observable by their managers and others are more difficult to observe or unobservable. Unobservable tasks like cajoling, convincing, dispute resolution, and emotional labour are critical for frontline work and meeting the NGO’s organizational mission. However they remain unrewarded because they are not observed. Why do frontline employees perform these tasks then? Through a survey of 15,000 rural women and 150 frontline employees, I find that pro-social motivation is associated with improved performance on all types of tasks. On the other hand, I find that monitoring is not associated with improved performance. I also find that understanding the broad principles for action are more important than knowing which specific tasks the management wants employees to execute. The results suggest that managers can improve performance at the frontlines by selecting motivated workers, and by allowing them autonomy to carry out their tasks by reducing the extent of monitoring and supervision. The second project explores incentives for performance improvement in a national ranking program for cities in India. The Swachh Survekshan is an initiative by the Indian national government for ranking cities on their performance on waste management and sanitation outcomes. Since 2016, the program has scored and ranked cities to motivate performance by inducing the spirit of competition. However, the national government has also frequently changed the metrics by which cities are scored. Utilising this natural experiment, I ask two questions: a) what motivates national governments to engage in target-shifting?, and b) how to cities respond to target-shifting? I develop an original dataset of performance scores and ranks for over 400 cities, supplemented by data on revenue generated by 243 cities and qualitative insights from interviews with government officials and consultants. I find that target-shifting occurs to inflate scores and enhance the reputation of the program, as compared to an alternative scenario in which target-shifting occurs as a result of policy-learning. I also find that cities distort their data in response to target-shifting. However, these distortions are caused less by a conscious effort to “game” the rankings but result from the lack of data management capacity. The results suggest that ranking programs in the public sector are highly prone to distortions by both national and sub-national governments. Instead of selecting winner and losers, alternative strategies for performance improvement that focus on self-assessment and capacity building might be more feasible for the public sector. The third project examines how just and democratic India’s solar energy policies are. Most commonly, decisions and policies for solar energy development are justified on the basis on mitigating climate change or cost-benefit analyses. Elements such as justice and democracy are relatively new considerations in the policy discourse. I presents a framework for analysis of these concepts grounded in the context of the Global South. With respect to this, I define the articulation of distributional and procedural goals in policy as two pillars of a just and democratic energy transition. Through an analysis of over 30 renewable energy policies, I find that in terms of distributional goals, most policies continue to exclude significant marginalized groups. Where groups are included, the focus is more on identifying them rather than recognizing their specific needs or the processes by which they can effectively transition to becoming full consumers of electricity. Further, distributional goals seeking to create equity beyond access are not substantiated by an allocation of policy-tools to foster the cross-sectoral collaboration required for their implementation. With respect to procedural goals, instruments that facilitate ownership and ease transactions were emphasized and elaborated on more than those that decentre legacy institutions or enhance just participation. Overall, the policies tend to keep the system in its current configuration and forego the opportunity solar provides to create transformative change beyond reducing emissions.

Organizations rely on feedback for performance management. Personality has long been considered a theoretically important predictor of positive feedback reactions but empirical findings remain mixed. The current paper examined whether the six-factor HEXACO model of personality predicted feedback reactions and use intentions and whether reactions and intentions predicted actual behavioral improvements. The results indicated that Agreeableness and Extraversion led to positive feedback reactions and, more tentatively, feedback reactions led to use intentions, although this latter relation should be interpreted more cautiously. Implications and future directions are discussed based on this pattern of findings.

The following study addresses research gaps concerning the impact of employee engagement and empowerment on performance management in non-profit and community theater organizations. Each concept of engagement, empowerment, and performance management addresses the need for communication, support, and encouragement in the organization to achieve the organizational goals. Three theaters in Columbus, Ohio, were chosen to examine the connection between standard business practices in the creative industry and the impact these concepts have on these organizationsThrough a series of 24 individual semi-structured interviews with a group of staff and volunteers from each of the theaters, the information was gathered to explore the impact of engagement and empowerment on the staff's performance through leaders' and employees' perspectives. The interviews revealed the requirement for staff and volunteers emotional needs to be met to gain the level of productivity and commitment required by the performance industry for a theater to be successful. This revelation led to the development of a potential new theory, the Emotional Fulfillment Performance Theory, influenced by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. The study attempts to understand better how common business concepts correlate to the creative industry, specifically performance theater, and provide more research to the performance management fields in an emotionally powered work environment. Future research indicates scholars should look more into professional theaters with the same concept connection, oversaturation of community theaters, and a quantitative study of the same concepts for further findings validation.

A study focused on performance measurement in public sector activity and its role as feedback for management control and policy accountability. The underlying proposition is that administrative practice in the field of Public Administration is moving toward management control that is becoming less hierarchical, centralized, and ex ante, and becoming more collaborative, decentralized, and ex post facto. This potentially leads to new forms of performance measurement and management that create tensions with policy accountability. Such tensions stem from the fact that resource and political accountability flow in a hierarchical fashion while much of performance flows laterally. In order to examine the validity of this proposition, the policy area of welfare to work activities at the local level in New York State (exclusive of New York City) was selected as the basis of investigation. In New York, county government has long played a major role in the administration of welfare programs and has shared non- federal costs with state government. The study incorporates a statewide mail survey (63.2% response rate) of social services administrators in the 57 social services districts, followed up by interviews of social services administrators and policy makers in selected counties. These inquiries focused on obtaining qualitative data about the current status, understandings, and future direction of performance measurement at the local level in welfare to work activity. The results from this study are mixed. While the survey data indicated that results-oriented performance measures were extensively used at the local level, this was not supported by field interviews. Clearly social services administrators possess knowledge about the theoretical value of results-oriented performance measures for control and evaluation purposes. These administrators also have a strong sense of apprehension about the possible misuses of results-oriented measurement concepts to assess organizational performance. Given the long-standing tenure of social services administrators and service providers at the local level and the resulting long-standing relationships and trust among these actors, informal methods of assessing performance based on trust relationships are preferred to formal measurement systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance demands made to employees by supervisors can be perceived as motivating or abusive depending on the "eye of the beholder" (Bies et al., 2016). One of the ways in which supervisors make high performance demands is by putting pressure on their employees to successfully complete their job tasks. However, the extant literature is inconsistent in terms of the outcomes of experiencing general performance pressure. Some studies show that it leads to functional outcomes (e.g., Eisenberger & Aselage, 2009), while others show that it leads to dysfunctional ones (e.g., Mitchell et al., 2018). Recent work integrates these findings, explaining that performance pressure is a dynamic phenomenon, fluctuating within-person on a daily level, leading to both positive outcomes as well as negative ones (Mitchell et al., 2019). Drawing on the Job Demands and Resources Model (Demerouti et al., 2001), supplemented by Basic Psychological Needs Theory (Deci & Ryan, 2000), I conduct an empirical study with an experience sampling methodology to assess the daily, within-person process of interpreting performance pressure from the supervisor and the impact of the process on individual wellbeing and workplace deviance behavior. I also investigate how recovery pressure from the supervisor interacts with daily performance pressure to play a moderating role. I discuss theoretical contributions and practical implications.