A methodical approach to performance measurement experiments : measure and measurement specification

This report describes a methodical approach to performance measurement experiments. This approach gives a blueprint for the whole trajectory from the notion of performance measures and how to define them via planning, instrumentation and execution of the experiments to interpretation of the results. The first stage of the approach, Measurement Initialisation, has been worked out completely. It is shown that a well-defined system description allows a procedural approach to defining performance measures and to identifying parameters that might affect it. For the second stage of the approach, Measurement Planning, concepts are defined that enable a clear experiment description or specification. It is highlighted what actually is being measured when executing an experiment. A brief example that illustrates the value of the method and a comparison with an existing method - that of Jain - complete this report

Developing PTS Device (pH, TDS, and Salinity) to Determine the Water Quality for Cultivating Milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsk) in Pati District

The importance of water management for milkfish cultivation determines the yields. This research aims to find the performance specification and pH, TDS, and Salinometer measurement (PTS) design validity and relevance. These tools are combinations from various sensors connected by Arduino nano 328 system, pH meter analogue, turbidity, and salinity measurement sensors complemented by Liquid Crystal Display and battery. They are connected by data cable. The findings showed that 1) the system’s performance specification was applying copper electrodes as the salinity, turbidity, and pH meter sensors. The Arduino system did the readings of the data. 2) the device-design specification was valid and relevant to measure the pond water quality for cultivating milkfish (Chanos chanos Forsk).

Institutions and economic performance: What can be explained?

Institutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyse whether commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms. We look at three ‘levels’ of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system affects performance. The second concerns whether the business and investment environment affects the performance of countries and the third concerns whether perceived business constraints directly affect the performance of firms. In all instances, we find little evidence of a robust link between widely used measures of institutions and our indicators of performance. We consider why this might be the case and argue that mis-measurement, mis-specification, complexity and non-linearity are all relevant factors.

Institutions and Economic Performance: What Can Be Explained?

Institutions are now widely believed to be important in explaining performance. In this paper, we analyze whether commonly used measures of institutions have any significant, measurable impact on performance, whether of countries or firms. We look at three 'levels' of institutions and associated conjectures. The first concerns whether the political system affects performance. The second concerns whether the business and investment environment affects the performance of countries and the third concerns whether perceived business constraints directly affect the performance of firms. In all instances, we find little evidence of a robust link between widely used measures of institutions and our indicators of performance. We consider why this might be the case and argue that mis-measurement, mis-specification, complexity and non-linearity are all relevant factors.institutions, growth

Measuring Business Performance: Comparison of Financial, Non Financial and Qualitative Indicators

Purpose: To review research contributions to performance measurement systems. Design/methodology/approach:Critical review of the literature using the systems developed by previous contributors: performance measurement systems; financial measures v/s nonfinancial measures; quantification of qualitative performance indicators; and generalization v/s specification in performance measurement system. Findings:The absence of unified performance measurement systems means that the existing literature is capturing a wide range of financial measures and qualitative specifications. As a result, performance measurement system appears scattered rather than summative. New measurement systems are needed for correct measurement of performance comprising both financial variables with nonfinancial variables and also inclusion of qualitative perspective is inevitable. Research limitations/implications: Similar researches have suggested performance measurement systems must always be tailored according to requirement of assessment entity. Empirical work must explain the measurement of performance explicitly. Originality/value:This paper synthesizes the existing literature in the area of performance measurement systems that has been critical for the performance evaluator in terms of advice given to strategic manager, business owners and policy makers. Keywords: Performance Measurement Systems, Financial Performance, Non-Financial Performance

High-speed, in-band performance measurement instrumentation for next generation IP networks

Facilitating always-on instrumentation of Internet traffic for the purposes of performance measurement is crucial in order to enable accountability of resource usage and automated network control, management and optimisation. This has proven infeasible to date due to the lack of native measurement mechanisms that can form an integral part of the network‟s main forwarding operation. However, Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) specification enables the efficient encoding and processing of optional per-packet information as a native part of the network layer, and this constitutes a strong reason for IPv6 to be adopted as the ubiquitous next generation Internet transport. In this paper we present a very high-speed hardware implementation of in-line measurement, a truly native traffic instrumentation mechanism for the next generation Internet, which facilitates performance measurement of the actual data-carrying traffic at small timescales between two points in the network. This system is designed to operate as part of the routers' fast path and to incur an absolutely minimal impact on the network operation even while instrumenting traffic between the edges of very high capacity links. Our results show that the implementation can be easily accommodated by current FPGA technology, and real Internet traffic traces verify that the overhead incurred by instrumenting every packet over a 10 Gb/s operational backbone link carrying a typical workload is indeed negligible

Testing of the high accuracy inertial navigation system in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Lab

The description, results, and interpretation is presented of comparison testing between the High Accuracy Inertial Navigation System (HAINS) and KT-70 Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU). The objective was to show the HAINS can replace the KT-70 IMU in the space shuttle Orbiter, both singularly and totally. This testing was performed in the Guidance, Navigation, and Control Test Station (GTS) of the Shuttle Avionics Integration Lab (SAIL). A variety of differences between the two instruments are explained. Four, 5 day test sessions were conducted varying the number and slot position of the HAINS and KT-70 IMUs. The various steps in the calibration and alignment procedure are explained. Results and their interpretation are presented. The HAINS displayed a high level of performance accuracy previously unseen with the KT-70 IMU. The most significant improvement of the performance came in the Tuned Inertial/Extended Launch Hold tests. The HAINS exceeded the 4 hr specification requirement. The results obtained from the SAIL tests were generally well beyond the requirements of the procurement specification

Performance Specification for Tennessee Bridge Decks

In today’s world of ever increasing demand on a weakening infrastructure, concentration is being firmly placed on increasing the sustainability of that infrastructure. Tennessee’s bridges and the concrete decks, on which the public travels, require a large part of the state’s infrastructure spending. Research has shown the current durability standards of Tennessee’s bridge decks could be significantly improved which would both increase service life and reduce maintenance costs of these structures. This research concentrates on greatly increasing the lifespan of these bridge decks, throughout the state, through an improved construction specification which will encourage the increased use of supplementary cementitious materials. These improved construction specifications would be performance based in nature and would give suppliers increased freedom to provide a more durable product while simultaneously reducing costs. This new performance based specification will remove the current stringent prescriptive requirements and will use the measurement of surface resistivity (SR) as a key variable to be assessed as a measure of performance. The ultimate goal of implementing a performance based specification is to achieve more durable bridge deck concrete. The proposed specification presented herein grew out of two years of research related to assessing the current situation regarding bridge deck concrete in Tennessee and the development of methodology to perform this assessment

An Analysis of Cost-Efficiency in Swiss Multi-utilities

This study presents an empirical analysis of the cost efficiency of a sample of Swiss multi-utilities operating in the distribution of electricity, natural gas and water. The multi-utilities that operate in different sectors are characterized by a strong unobserved heterogeneity. Therefore the measurement of their performance poses an important challenge for the regulators. The purpose of this paper is to study the potential advantages of recently developed panel data stochastic frontier models in the measurement of the level of efficiency for multi-utility companies. These models are estimated for a sample of 34 multi-output utilities operating from 1997 to 2005. The alternative models are compared regarding the cost function slopes and inefficiency estimates. for the inefficiency estimates, the correlation between different models and the effect of econometric specification have been analyzed. The results suggest that the inefficiency estimates are substantially lower when the unobserved firm-specific effects are taken into account.cost function; efficiency; panel data; multi-output utilities