Critical success factors of medical technology supply chains

This paper investigates Critical Success Factors that affect the performance of organizations involved in Medical Technology supply chains (MTSCs) in Germany. The Medical Technology sector in Germany is considered an innovative, fast-growing and promising industry, being third behind the USA and China as the biggest market in the world, worth 29.9 billion euros in 2017. MTSCs in this country are under pressure from health service funding and cheaper imports, primarily from China. Consequently, supply chain success is of high importance and OEM operational improvements are critical. This exploratory study involved a multiple case study approach where 15 OEMs within German MTSCs were investigated. Following within-case and cross-case analysis, empirical results led to the development of testable propositions, which constitute a foundation for further research investigation. The findings show that there are six, prioritized Critical Success Factors for MTSCs that include sales and operations planning, product development process and quality and compliance. These findings challenge existing assumptions about Critical Success Factors within MTSCs, providing practitioners with strategies showing that re-prioritized CSFs should improve the operational performance of OEMs.     

Strategy mapping in the public sector

The Balanced Scorecard links strategic objectives and performance measures across a number of perspectives. A development of the Balanced Scorecard—strategy mapping—provides a powerful way of demonstrating the links between each of the perspectives. This paper explores the use of strategy mapping as a tool to develop strategy in a public sector agency and suggests a simplified version which can communicate that strategy effectively, both inside and outside the organisation.     

基于BSC和EVA整合战略管理的应用研究

战略管理是企业成功的关键所在。目前企业战略管理面临的一个最大问题是精心制定的战略无法得到有效的实施。本文引入平衡记分卡与经济增加值两个互补性很强的管理工具,运用层次分析法将其整合为公司全面的战略管理框架及其评价体系,以推动企业战略的成功实施。     

Implementing the Balanced Scorecard in Greece: A Software Firm’s Experience

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a relatively new approach to strategic management and performance measurement and control, which has generated substantial interest in the academic and industrial communities. This paper presents the experience from the implementation of a specific BSC model at a large software development company in Greece. The study illustrates and evaluates the main obstacles and shortcomings, as well as the critical success factors that characterise such BSC projects, while offering managerial insights and guidelines for similar implementations.     

基于经营绩效评价表的经营绩效评价体系

本文具体介绍了20世纪90年代在美国兴起,并迅速推广应用的企业经营绩效评估法——BSC(BalancedScorecard)法,并着重探讨了BSC法的核心与优势。BSC是建立在“综合平衡观”、“战略观”基础上的综合绩效评估体系,它除了传统的财务绩效衡量指标外,还融合了三类非财务绩效衡量指标,包括顾客导向、企业内部业务流程、学习创新与成长等长期性绩效指标。BSC突破了传统绩效评估的局限性,也超越了单纯的绩效评价功能,它把传统意义上的业绩评价还原于企业的竞争能力,把管理绩效和长远发展规律紧密联系起来,是对传统绩效评价观念与模式的一次重大改革。     

非营利组织市场导向与组织绩效的关系研究

通过分析来自223家非营利组织的问卷调查数据,开发并检验了中国本土化的非营利组织市场导向量表,包括顾客导向、信息收集、内部协调、行动反应和强调生存5个维度.同时借鉴平衡计分卡的思想,开发了非营利组织绩效评价问卷,为研究非营利组织市场导向与绩效间的关系提供了可信赖的测量工具.实证结果显示,非营利组织市场导向对绩效有正向的影响作用,并且市场导向的不同组成维度对绩效的影响存在差异性.     

Performance Effects of Using the Balanced Scorecard: A Note on the Dutch Experience

This article aims to contribute to understanding how to use the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) effectively. The BSC lends itself to various interpretations. This article explores how the way in which the BSC is used affects performance. Empirical evidence from Dutch firms suggests BSC use will not automatically improve company performance, but that the manner of its use matters: BSC use that complements corporate strategy positively influences company performance, while BSC use that is not related to the strategy may decrease it. We discuss the findings and offer managers guidance for optimal use of the BSC.     

Modelling critical success factors for sustainability initiatives in supply chains in Indian context using Grey-DEMATEL

Sustainability assists organisations to enhance ecological, financial and societal performances of their entire supply chains. The present paper uncovers the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) for effective adoption of sustainability initiatives in the supply chain in Indian context. Fifteen CSFs for the successful adoption of sustainability initiatives were identified and finalised firstly from the literature and followed by expert inputs. A methodology based on Grey-Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) was used to envisage the organisation of complex causal relationships between the recognised CSFs. ‘Government Legalisation’ has been found to be the most influential factor and ‘Community Welfare and Development’ is most easily influenced factor. A multiple case example of three automotive companies operating in India is conducted. To the end, some important policy measures and recommendations are proposed to help practicing managers and government bodies to adopt and effectively manage the concepts of sustainability oriented supply chains in India.     

Integrating the Data Envelopment Analysis and the Balanced Scorecard approaches for enhanced performance assessment

This article presents the development of a conceptual framework which aims to assess Decision Making Units (DMUs) from multiple perspectives. The proposed conceptual framework combines the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method with the non-parametric technique known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) by using various interconnected models which try to encapsulate four perspectives of performance (financial, customers, internal processes, learning and growth).The practical relevance of the conceptual model has been tested by using it to assess the performance of DMUs in a multinational company which operates in two business areas. Various models were developed with the collaboration of the directors of the company in order to conceive an appropriate and consensual framework, which may provide useful information for the company. The application of the conceptual framework provides structured information regarding the performance of each DMU (from multiple perspectives) and ways to improve it. By integrating the BSC and the DEA approaches this research helps to identify where there is room for improving organisational performance and points out opportunities for reciprocal learning between DMUs. In doing so, this article provides a set of recommendations relating to the successful application of DEA and its integration with the BSC, in order to promote a continuous learning process and to bring about improvements in performance.     

The development of strategic management in the non‐profit context: Intellectual capital in social service non‐profit organizations

Very little systematic research has examined the applicability of strategic management concepts including SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, industrial organization, resource‐based view and core competency, knowledge‐based view, Balanced Scorecard and intellectual capital (IC) through the lens of strategic management development in the non‐profit context. This paper aims to examine the above concepts in the light of the unique non‐profit environment and determine which one is most applicable to social service non‐profit organizations (SSNPOs) in the knowledge economy. Based on a review of the development of strategic management with a focus on the above concepts within the non‐profit context, this paper argues that the IC concept is more effective compared with the other concepts in the social service non‐profit sector. The paper is considered as a starting point and serves as a milestone in applying IC as a strategic management conceptual framework in the social service non‐profit sector. It helps to build a nascent body of literature suggesting that IC can be used as a competent strategic management conceptual framework in the social service non‐profit sector. A better understanding of the strategic management development in the non‐profit context also helps non‐profit leaders to appreciate that IC is the most appropriate strategic management concept in SSNPOs. The increased awareness of the IC concept in SSNPOs, as a result of this paper, will probably generate further research from both academic scholars and non‐profit practitioners.     

Discussing feedback system thinking in relation to scenario evaluation in a balanced scorecard setup

Since the emergence of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) at the beginning of the 1990s, literature has intensively discussed the problems of the cause-and-effect relationships, the time-delay elements between measures and perspectives and the concepts of feedback loops. This article focuses on the use of the System Dynamics Modelling approach to deal with these three problems, an approach first suggested by Forrester back in 1958. The wide scope of application of BSC as a decision-supporting instrument continues to spur the interest in BSC. We have used an actual case as inspiration on which our model construction and our simulation scenarios are based. Our findings suggest that the idea of linking BSC and System Dynamics together based on properties of the systems dynamic nature seem to be both a natural and a relevant development. Furthermore, our simulations demonstrate the ability to: (1) provide a scheme for the translation of the strategy into operational terms and at the same time (2) offer possibilities for the decision maker to be able to evaluate the plan–do–review results based on the feedbacks, specifically in a risk evaluating context.     

Strategic performance measurement in a healthcare organisation: A multiple criteria approach based on balanced scorecard

The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) methodology focuses on major critical issues of modern business organisations: the effective measurement of corporate performance and the evaluation of the successful implementation of corporate strategy. Despite the increased adoption of the BSC methodology by numerous business organisations during the last decade, limited case studies concern non-profit organisations (e.g. public sector, educational institutions, healthcare organisations, etc.). The main aim of this study is to present the development of a performance measurement system for public health care organisations, in the context of BSC methodology. The proposed approach considers the distinguished characteristics of the aforementioned sector (e.g. lack of competition, social character of organisations, etc.). The proposed measurement system contains the most important financial performance indicators, as well as non-financial performance indicators that are able to examine the quality of the provided services, the satisfaction of internal and external customers, the self-improvement system of the organisation and the ability of the organisation to adapt and change. These indicators play the role of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), in the context of BSC methodology. The presented analysis is based on a MCDA approach, where the UTASTAR method is used in order to aggregate the marginal performance of KPIs. This approach is able to take into account the preferences of the management of the organisation regarding the achievement of the defined strategic objectives. The main results of the proposed approach refer to the evaluation of the overall scores for each one of the main dimensions of the BSC methodology (i.e. financial, customer, internal business process, and innovation-learning). These results are able to help the organisation to evaluate and revise its strategy, and generally to adopt modern management approaches in every day practise.     

Performance management of suppliers in outsourcing project: case analysis from the financial services industry

This study investigates the characteristics of an effective performance management framework for outsourcing projects in a UK-based financial services organisation and how this may contribute to the success of the outsourcing arrangement. The analysis draws on outsourcing and performance management theory, and uses both primary and secondary data. Valuable information was found on objective setting, performance measurement and performance improvement in the outsourcing project. An adapted version of the Balanced Scorecard, termed a Logic Scorecard, is suggested as a measurement tool; a service credit system and a continuous improvement schedule used to enhance supplier performance. The performance management framework, which is one of the pillars of the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model, was developed, and provides practitioners with step-by-step guidance for the implementation of performance management in outsourcing projects. This combines both suggestions for performance management before and after the outsourcing decision, thus considering the entire outsourcing lifecycle. The proposed 10-step framework for outsourcing not only incorporates strategic propositions but also shows its implementation at an operational level.     

Stakeholder value disclosures: anchoring on primacy and importance of financial and nonfinancial performance measures

In the growing debate about stakeholder values, there has been little discussion about information overload or whether the requested disclosures can be effectively used. Stakeholder advocates call for complicated and massive environmental and related social disclosures while not considering how information overload might affect the discourse about corporate performance. Stakeholders, including shareholders, plead for more transparency in financial statements, management discussion and analysis (MDA), and other corporate disclosures. As we know, shareholders and boards of directors are most concerned with the ‘Holy Trinity’ of earnings per share, dividends and market value changes. We believe that managers and stakeholders involved in performance evaluations have multiple interests that extend beyond traditional shareholder value measures. We note that the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) was developed as one tool to reflect and communicate these multiple measures. We test how managers use (or ignore) multiple performance measures and we posit that stakeholders will face many of the same constraints when using and processing multiple disclosures including Corporate Social Reports (CSR), environmental, or similar disclosures. While we do not directly test a wide variety of stakeholder disclosures, we examine eight (four for a single subject) shareholder values (financial measures) and four stakeholder values (nonfinancial measures). The eight measures included in our research instruments serve as proxies for the multiple concerns that might be of interest to many stakeholders. Note that stakeholders are likely to be extremely interested in nonfinancial performance measures, while many shareholders will likely concentrate on financial performance measures. Field research has reported managers tend to favor financial measures while discounting or ignoring nonfinancial measures when evaluating subordinates, making it difficult to align performance evaluations and incentives with corporate strategies (Ittner et al. Account Rev 78:725–758, 2003). In this study, we find the relative weights managers place on financial and nonfinancial performance measures are influenced by both (1) presentation order and (2) the relative importance of specific measures. When financial measures are presented first, the manager who performs better on financial measures is rated higher than the manager who performs better on nonfinancial measures. However, when nonfinancial measures are presented first, managers who excel on nonfinancial measures are rated higher. Reports that include financial measures that are relatively more (less) important also produce higher (lower) ratings for the manager who excels on financial measures. Thus, the relative weights that superiors place on financial and nonfinancial measures in evaluating corporate managers’ performance are substantially anchored both by the order in which measures are presented as well as by the importance of the specific performance measures employed. Other stakeholder disclosures are likely to be similarly anchored, perhaps biased, by primacy and a priori importance rankings.     

学习型组织对企业绩效的影响研究

在回顾国内外学习型组织文献的基础上,检验了西方学习型组织模型及其测量工具“学习型组织问卷调查表”在中国的适用性,并得到中国环境下学习型组织由“支持个体学习以达成共同愿景”、“建立沟通与创新机制”、“鼓励团队学习与合作”、“倡导系统思考与战略领导”4个要素构成。同时采用平衡记分卡的思想开发了企业绩效评价问卷,为研究学习型组织与企业绩效的影响关系提供了绩效衡量工具,研究结果表明学习型组织对企业绩效有正向的影响作用,从而证明了创建学习型组织对提高企业绩效的必要性。     

Hitting the Target…but Missing the Point: Resolving the Paradox of Strategic Transition

Many firms are undertaking a strategic shift from cost leadership (through process management) to differentiation based on radical product innovation. Success in such transitions has been mixed, as have findings on the role of performance measurement and management in the process. This study explores the challenges of managing this transition, with specific focus on the role of performance metrics. Conventional wisdom indicates that top management can use metrics - measures, standards and rewards - to communicate new directions and priorities. Based on findings reported in this paper, this approach is found to be potentially fatally flawed when applied to a situation where both the corporate goals and the means of achieving these goals have changed. Using detailed data drawn from a multi-level analysis of a major international corporation undertaking such a strategic shift, this study explores the process by which metrics are formed and deployed, and the impact of this process on the ability of the firm to successfully achieve the change. Using measures such as the percentage of sales from new products, top management in the case study had the impression that the strategy was being successfully carried out by the various operating divisions. However, radical innovation (the desired result) had been replaced by incremental innovation. This study identifies the reasons for this situation. A major finding is that the performance measurement and management system can both allow and conceal this failure. Firms trying to significantly change their strategic directions must change their selection of performance metrics to focus less on the intended outcomes and more on the means by which these outcomes are to be achieved.     

Outsourcing and Performance in Entrepreneurial Firms: Contingent Relationships with Entrepreneurial Configurations*

This article develops and examines an empirical typology of entrepreneurial firms, based on organizational and life cycle characteristics. Results indicate five entrepreneurial configurations representing the essential contingent features of age, size, innovation, and governance structure (Elders, Giants, Innovators, and Owners) and one configuration representing a mix of all features (Balanced). We found that (i) outsourcing affected financial performance in entrepreneurial firms and (ii) configurations moderated this relationship. Results support the use of salient contingent features of age, size, innovation, and governance structure to predict outsourcing effectiveness in the entrepreneurial configurations. That is, entrepreneurial firms that aligned their configurational characteristics with outsourcing tended to have greater gains in financial performance. From a resource dependency perspective, managing these alignments has important implications for entrepreneurial firm performance.     

Managing multi-organization projects: A people perspective

Recent reports of management practices in multi-organization settings as well as advances in interorganizational theories possess implications for enhancing the effectiveness of technical personnel in multi-organization projects. These reports focus on what makes a project a success or on what makes an innovation a success. Factors include the characteristics and roles of key supporters and of those who link together the participating organizations. Much less emphasis is given to how these factors relate to an ongoing project and, in particular, how they impact upon the performance of individual engineers. This paper examines the reported success factors from a systems viewpoint and discusses the relationships between these factors and individual technical personnel performance in a multi-organization project setting.     

Topological Performance Measures as Surrogates for Physical Flow Models for Risk and Vulnerability Analysis for Electric Power Systems

Critical infrastructure systems must be both robust and resilient in order to ensure the functioning of society. To improve the performance of such systems, we often use risk and vulnerability analysis to find and address system weaknesses. A critical component of such analyses is the ability to accurately determine the negative consequences of various types of failures in the system. Numerous mathematical and simulation models exist that can be used to this end. However, there are relatively few studies comparing the implications of using different modeling approaches in the context of comprehensive risk analysis of critical infrastructures. In this article, we suggest a classification of these models, which span from simple topologically‐oriented models to advanced physical‐flow‐based models. Here, we focus on electric power systems and present a study aimed at understanding the tradeoffs between simplicity and fidelity in models used in the context of risk analysis. Specifically, the purpose of this article is to compare performance estimates achieved with a spectrum of approaches typically used for risk and vulnerability analysis of electric power systems and evaluate if more simplified topological measures can be combined using statistical methods to be used as a surrogate for physical flow models. The results of our work provide guidance as to appropriate models or combinations of models to use when analyzing large‐scale critical infrastructure systems, where simulation times quickly become insurmountable when using more advanced models, severely limiting the extent of analyses that can be performed.     

Are you ready for virtual organizations?

Success, and maybe even survival, in the future will go to those health care organizations that can respond to constant and rapid change in a timely fashion. And timely doesn't mean what it once did. Years and months may no longer be a satisfactory response time. Even weeks may not always do. Opportunities will have to be seized quickly, or they will disappear forever. One possible answer to the leaden nature of most bureaucratic, hierarchical organizations may be a new kid on the block--the virtual organization. Formed solely to work on a single opportunity, these organizations can be used to position the parent organizations for almost any conceivable change.