A Management Maturity Model (MMM) for project-based organisational performance assessment

Common sense suggests that organisations are more likely to deliver successful projects if they have systems in place that reflect a mature project environment based on a culture of continuous improvement. This paper develops and discusses a Management Maturity Model (MMM) to assess the maturity of project management organisations through a customisable, systematic, strategic and practical methodology inspired from the seminal work of Darwin, Deming, Drucker and Daniel. The model presented is relevant to organisations, such as construction and engineering companies, that prefer to use the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™ Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), but without the disadvantages of excessive time and cost commitments and a ‘one size fits all’ approach linked to rigid increments of maturity. It offers a game-changing advance in the application of project-based organisational performance assessment compared to existing market solutions that are unnecessarily complex. The feasibility of MMM is field-tested using a medium-sized data centre infrastructure firm in Tehran

Performance measurement : challenges for tomorrow

This paper demonstrates that the context within which performance measurement is used is changing. The key questions posed are: Is performance measurement ready for the emerging context? What are the gaps in our knowledge? and Which lines of enquiry do we need to pursue? A literature synthesis conducted by a team of multidisciplinary researchers charts the evolution of the performance-measurement literature and identifies that the literature largely follows the emerging business and global trends. The ensuing discussion introduces the currently emerging and predicted future trends and explores how current knowledge on performance measurement may deal with the emerging context. This results in identification of specific challenges for performance measurement within a holistic systems-based framework. The principle limitation of the paper is that it covers a broad literature base without in-depth analysis of a particular aspect of performance measurement. However, this weakness is also the strength of the paper. What is perhaps most significant is that there is a need for rethinking how we research the field of performance measurement by taking a holistic systems-based approach, recognizing the integrated and concurrent nature of challenges that the practitioners, and consequently the field, face

The role of performance appraisal in further education : the case of a post-secondary college in Malta

This paper is based on part of the research findings of a study conducted on the role of performance appraisal (PA) in post-secondary education that used a mixed methodology approach. The literature on PA highlights the divergence in opinion among practitioners and academics as to what the role of PA is, the form that it should take, and its effectiveness as an HRM tool. Given these conflicting viewpoints, the initial research study sought to determine the perceptions of academic staff on PA in an educational setting. This involved researching their views on the benefits and negative aspects of PA, the role of PA, the appraisal criteria and source to be used, and how the PA process is best conducted. This paper only focuses on respondents’ views on the benefits and shortfalls of PA, its role in educational institutions, and the source of appraisal; and on certain aspects of the quantitative data that was collected in the original research. The research findings confirm that PA is expected to be used concurrently for both developmental and administrative decisions. Furthermore, PA is primarily regarded as a positive process that is expected to result in a number of benefits for both the organization and the individual academics. PA is expected to result in the identification of clear work goals, improved performance, increased motivation, better feedback, increased accountability, and fairer distribution of rewards. Despite its important role and the expected benefits arising from PA’s use in education, the respondents identify a number of issues that impinge on PA’s success when put into practice. These include; an inappropriate PA model being used, PA being applied in isolation, lack of commitment to the process, inappropriate/lack of training on the conduction of appraisal, an organizational culture and management/staff relationships that do not encourage openness, and an appraisal process that focuses too much on the allocation of monetary rewards. Respondents also singled out a number of issues that need to be tackled for PA’s successful implementation; such as the identification of joint objectives, improved communication and continuous feedback, an open management approach, and for management to believe in the positive role of appraisal.peer-reviewe

The impact of knowledge management processes on organisational performance

Copyright @ 2012 ISEing.In today's increasingly competitive business environment, the use of knowledge to gain a competitive advantage has become a serious concern for all organisations. However, despite the increasing number of studies relating to Knowledge Management (KM) in developed countries, few studies have explored this issue within the context of developing countries. Moreover, some industries have been affected more acutely than others in the transition to a knowledge-based economy. Towards covering this gap, this study aims at investigating the impact of Knowledge Management processes on Organisational Performance (OP). In this paper, the authors propose a conceptual model through an in-depth investigation of the previous and current studies in the area of Knowledge Management and Organisational Performance. Through an extensive classification of Knowledge Management processes, the proposed model explores the impact of each Knowledge Management process on improving the level of Organisational Performance. It is envisaged that this model can play a role in guiding the process of Knowledge Management implementation in order to maximise the beneficial effects of Knowledge Management processes on Organisational Performance

A review of service quality and service delivery: Towards a customer co-production and customer-integration approach

© 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide researchers with an overview of the service quality and delivery domain, focussing on the inclusion of customer co-production and customer integration. Specifically, this paper concentrates on service quality (including quality measurement), the service environment, controls and their consequences. Design/methodology/approach: A comprehensive review of the literature is conducted, analysed and presented. Findings: The review shows that service delivery is both complex and challenging, particularly when considering the unique characteristics of services and the high level of customer involvement in their creation. The facilitation, transformation and usage framework identifies how failures can occur at each stage of service delivery, beginning with the characteristics of the service environment, while control theory offers insights into the formal and informal controls that may be applied in the facilitation and transformation stages, which may reduce the likelihood or extent of such failures. Originality/value: Despite the fact that it is widely accepted that service quality is an antecedent to customer satisfaction, it is surprising that this customer co-creation aspect has been largely neglected in the extant literature. As such, the role that customer co-production plays in service quality performance has been examined in this paper. It is hoped that this examination will enhance both theoretical and practical understanding of service quality. It would be useful to find modern tools that can help in improving service quality performance

Psychometric properties of organisational structure scale in the Malaysian public service agencies: Preliminary results

Organisational structure has been assessed with various different scales resulting in inconsistencies in the measures of this construct. Hence, a re-conceptualisation of the organisational structure construct is crucial due to the fact that researchers have thus far provided inconclusive agreement on what dimensions should be included in measuring organisational structure, although many studies have conceptualized organisational structure as a multidimensional construct. This study attempted to examine the psychometric properties of the organisational structure construct by integrating four subscales – decision making, hierarchy of authority, job codification, and rule observation. A priori proposition was made that organisational structure measurement could be explained by four of the hypothesised dimensions. SPSS version 12 and AMOS 4 were used to analyse the data. Findings supported the hypothesis that organisational structure can be measured by the four aforementioned subscales. Findings also showed acceptable internal consistency reliability for the overall and the four specific subscales of organisational structure latent construct

Impact of knowledge management processes on organisational performance: A preliminary study

Copyright @ 2013 EMCIS.Despite the increasing number of studies relating to Knowledge Management (KM) in developed countries, few studies have explored this issue within the context of developing countries. Moreover, some industries have been affected more acutely than others in the transition to a knowledge-based economy. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate KM processes and to investigate the impact on organisational performance (OP).The authors propose a conceptual model through an in-depth investigation of the previous and current studies in the area of KM and OP. It is envisaged that this model can play a role in guiding the process of KM implementation in order to maximise the beneficial effects of KM processes on OP. An inductive qualitative approach was used based on a preliminary study. A pilot study was conducted; the study involved the use of interview as a primary data collection technique. Content analysis approach was used to identify ideas relevant to the main themes. The study showed that knowledge usage is the most influential aspect of KM that impacts OP. Moreover, the study revealed that knowledge transfer is a common KM process employed by organisations. Accordingly, it was ranked as the second most influential factor of KM with respect to OP

Understanding and managing the manage processes

This paper discusses understanding and managing the manage processes. It was presented at the conference of the Performance Measurement Association in 2004