We were part of an international collaboration researching the future of performance measurement, as viewed by leading companies which are trying to keep their measurement system relevant in a rapidly-changing world.

Key Facts

    • A four-year study, which finished in 2014, saw us partner with University of Strathclyde, Michigan State University, University of Cambridge, and Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

    • We developed a framework to help companies analyse their situations and guide their performance measurement and management approaches.

    • This also highlighted the key issues, such as responsiveness, for the future of performance measurement.

Impact of our research

Aside from highlighting the key issues for the future of performance measurement (with responsiveness being top of the list), we developed a framework to help companies analyse their situations and guide their performance measurement and management approaches.

Why the research was commissioned

Balanced scorecards (for strategic planning and management purposes) appear to work quite well in traditional environments, if managed properly. However, companies in faster-moving industries struggle to keep up with change.

We asked 40 companies about the future of performance measurement and management and then used the Delphi method to refine their views.

Why Cranfield?

We developed a (two-by-two) matrix that looked at whether management could specify precisely the outcomes they wanted to achieve and the solutions to deliver these outcomes. The quadrant where outcomes and solutions are known is the easiest to manage but more frequently, companies only know what the outcomes are and the solutions need to be found as they go along. There are also situations where both the outcomes and solutions can be stated in general terms, and the possibility for some organisations that they are working to tightly-defined solutions but with only general statements of outcomes.