1,721,037 research outputs found
The evolution of sustainability measurement research
Full text linkResearch in sustainability measurement has been growing at a very high pace over the past years, and it has explored a variety of issues, from sustainability disclosure to measurement in green supply chains, from the diffusion of environmental standards to the political use of sustainability metrics. This study is the first to report and discuss the results of a comprehensive review of the sustainability measurement literature. In particular, we adopt a wide conceptualization of the measurement process, and analyze data through a bibliometric method - bibliographic coupling. Our results show that the literature is divided into eight distinct areas of inquiry and 12 sub-fields, some of which have expanded significantly over recent years, and others appear to be waning. Furthermore, the lack of a comprehensive view of sustainability measurement has led to the development of many separate communities, resulting in duplications of effort, incomplete framing of the problem, and the proposal of partial solutions. However, findings drawn in sustainability measurement research could inform current debates in performance measurement and management in three main ways: by emphasizing stakeholders’ roles in the design, implementation and use of measures; by indicating ways to establish common measures and sharing data between organizations; and by adopting novel theoretical perspectives. Equally, future sustainability measurement studies could benefit from consideration of extant research on strategic performance measurement and on the behavioral effects of measurement practices
The Effects of Performance Measurement Uses on Organizational Ambidexterity and Company Performance
No full textThis study looks at how performance measurement can be used to drive simultaneously exploitative and explorative behaviors, and impact company performance. In doing so, this research considers performance measurement as an important, but neglected antecedent of organizational ambidexterity, and adds to existing evidence on the impact of organizational ambidexterity on firm financial and non-financial performance. The study draws on two main bodies of literature: organizational ambidexterity, and performance measurement and management. The results of our survey of 153 Italian companies suggest that: (1) organizational ambidexterity positively impacts company performance; (2) integrating diagnostic and interactive uses of measurement systems positively affects organizational performance; and (3) this relationship is mediated by a company’s ability to innovate its products or services, while exploiting existing assets and resources. Taken together, these findings suggest that organizational ambidexterity positively mediates the relationship between performance measurement uses and company performance
The effect of performance measurement systems use on contextual ambidexterity and company performance
No full textThis research looks at how performance measurement systems can be used to drive simultaneously exploitative and explorative behaviours in the context of a single business unit. The project draws on two main bodies of literature: organizational ambidexterity (exploration and exploitation), and performance measurement and management. The results of our survey of 153 Italian companies suggests that: (1) integrating diagnostic and interactive uses of measurement systems positively affects organizational performance (financial and non-financial); (2) this relationship is mediated by a company’s ability to innovate its products or services, while exploiting existing assets and resources in the same context
Executing strategy through comprehensive performance measurement systems
No full textPurpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of comprehensive performance measurement systems (PMS) – i.e. measurement systems that comprise financial and non-financial indicators, and which also consist of indicators related to different aspects of an organisation’s operations – in the relationship between strategy and company performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data of top managers of large European companies were collected and analysed by means of exploratory factor analyses and hierarchical regressions in order to validate the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
This research shows that different strategies lead to the use of different types of performance indicators. Also, it finds that the utilisation of a comprehensive PMS enables the implementation of both differentiation and cost-leadership strategies. Specifically, a comprehensive PMS positively mediates the effect of differentiation strategy on organisational and innovative performance, and of cost-leadership strategy on organisational performance.
Research limitations/implications
Further research could be undertaken in other contexts and consider additional factors, such as the structure, maturity and different uses of PMS, and the cost of measuring performance. Qualitative studies could examine the role of PMS in dynamic environments, as well as the evolution of PMS during strategic transitions.
Practical implications
Greater consideration should be given to the utilisation of different types of performance indicators when implementing and re-formulating strategy.
Originality/value
This study clarifies the links between strategy and performance measurement, and it is the first to identify the mediating effect of comprehensive PMS between strategy and company performance
New business models for public-sector innovation : successful technological innovation for government
No full textGovernments worldwide are under pressure to reduce spending, and yet the demand for public services is generally increasing. Despite growing emphasis on and investment in technological innovation, little is known about innovation in public services. Research has shown that resistance to change, risk aversion, and organizational structures are major barriers to public-sector innovation. How to overcome such barriers is less clear. Recently, researchers have increased their focus on the importance of specific business models in facilitating collaboration between public-sector organizations and private-sector partners. In this paper, we present an emerging business model-commercialization partnership-and discuss two examples of technological innovations in the U.K. public sector using this model. Our findings demonstrate that successful technological innovation may depend more on the models for collaboration than on the specific technology involved. We conclude with a checklist to assist technology managers introducing innovations into public-sector organizations
Measuring and managing sustainability. A literature review and research agenda
No full textOver the years sustainability practices have become extremely important for companies as well as for the society. Although most companies have developed sustainability programs, as they are reducing waste, cutting carbon emissions, and otherwise enhancing operational efficiency, we are witnessing a mishmash of sustainability tactics that does not add up to a sustainable strategy. To endure, a sustainable strategy has to cope with the competing – and apparently divergent – interests of all stakeholders: investors, employees, customers, governments, NGOs, and society (Eccles and Serafein, 2013; Epstein et al., 2015).
In this context Performance Measurement Systems play a key role as they help companies to formalize and implement their sustainable strategies as well as to proactively identify new trajectories that help companies to appropriately reconcile the trade-offs between different stakeholders’ wants and needs (Franco-Santos et al., 2007; Epstein and Roy, 2001). As a matter of fact, in the last fifteen years, various streams of research within the performance measurement and the management accounting domain, have examined the measurement and management of sustainability from various perspectives. An extensive body of research has examined environmental disclosure and reporting - see Berthelot, Cormier, and Magnan (2003) for a review. Other research has defined the concept of environmental management accounting (e.g., Bartolomeo et al., 2000; Burritt, 2004), other studies have examined the role of accounting/accountants in environmental management (e.g., Wilmshurst and Frost, 2001) and issues related to environmental cost accounting (e.g., Antheaume, 2004; Herbohn, 2005) or eco-control (Henry and Journeault, 2009, 2010).
Despite the growing number of studies that have discussed these issues, a consistent framework that explores and details this growing body of research is yet to be identified. For this reason the purpose of this paper is to develop a systematic literature review of the practices and methods that managers can adopt to plan and execute a proper measurement and management of sustainability. Specifically, this paper aims to analyse the literature on sustainability measurement and management, to identify its subfields, and to suggest avenues for future research on this topic
Commercialization partnerships as an enabler of UK public sector innovation : the perfect match?
No full textThis article examines the potential for private sector organizations to contribute to public sector innovation. Specifically, the study explores how partnering with the private sector can go beyond delivery and extend to development of new services and new markets. The term ‘commercialization partnership’ is coined for such partnerships and the article describes an exploratory investigation of this emerging form of innovation
A Mechanistic Model of NMDA and AMPA Receptor-Mediated Synaptic Transmission in Individual Hippocampal CA3-CA1 Synapses: A Computational Multiscale Approach
Full text linkInside hippocampal circuits, neuroplasticity events that individual cells may undergo during synaptic transmissions occur in the form of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) and Long-Term Depression (LTD). The high density of NMDA receptors expressed on the surface of the dendritic CA1 spines confers to hippocampal CA3-CA1 synapses the ability to easily undergo NMDA-mediated LTP and LTD, which is essential for some forms of explicit learning in mammals. Providing a comprehensive kinetic model that can be used for running computer simulations of the synaptic transmission process is currently a major challenge. Here, we propose a compartmentalized kinetic model for CA3-CA1 synaptic transmission. Our major goal was to tune our model in order to predict the functional impact caused by disease associated variants of NMDA receptors related to severe cognitive impairment. Indeed, for variants Glu413Gly and Cys461Phe, our model predicts negative shifts in the glutamate affinity and changes in the kinetic behavior, consistent with experimental data. These results point to the predictive power of this multiscale viewpoint, which aims to integrate the quantitative kinetic description of large interaction networks typical of system biology approaches with a focus on the quality of a few, key, molecular interactions typical of structural biology one
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