A Framework for SME Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluation is a key aspect for every manager of an enterprise. An analysis of the production system is necessary to guarantee a solid and robust growth, to cope with periods of crisis that may arise and to support decisions taken on future strategies. Not always the manager, who often coincides with the owner, of a micro or small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) has the knowledge and the appropriate tools to analyze, autonomously, the production system. Small enterprises are not always able to assign this assessment to qualified personnel or to an external company. Hence the need for an easy-to-use tool that can be understood and easily used by the manager. The proposed tool originates from a model of enterprise, which was developed in collaboration with business economists. Its interaction with the economic environment is simplified by focusing the analysis to those performance indicators that can be easily measured in a small production system and whose values can be easily read by the manager or owner.