Performance: Its meaning and content for today's business research

Copyright © 2007 Elsevier. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Computers in Industry. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Computers in Industry (2007), DOI: 10.1016/j.compind.2007.05.002Performance, as a concept, is a subject open to wide variability as it is a somewhat imprecise word when it functions as a placeholder in research. By using definitions from the Oxford English Dictionary and other research disciplines, this paper provides a wide-ranging discussion of the meaning and content of the term performance in the business performance research. The paper reviews numerous characteristics of performance, such as its being a subjective entity that is non-random in character; while it is governed by its relevance to a particular environment, and operates from a particular objective, by virtue of a set of chosen characteristics. It contains elements that are both static and dynamic; and it is possible to characterise via three states: unformed or random, formalised or systematic, and deformed or over-bureaucratic. Also, an encapsulating model of performance, whereby performance acts as a frame around performance management, performance assessment and performance measurement is proposed. Studies of performance as a concept in itself are practically non-existent in the business research; the value of this paper, therefore, lies in its attempt to explicate previously undocumented models of performance

The application of fuzzy performance modelling procedures in extended enterprise performance measurement

Copyright © 2011 by IGI GlobalIntroduction: The concept of performance, as it is measured and evaluated, is undergoing a transformation in modern business organisations. Globalisation, environmental issues, radical business and organisational structures have brought significant pressures to bear upon companies, who, in an attempt to address these pressures, are forming enterprise networks that work together across the value chain in order to meet more complex customer needs [Browne 1995]. The Extended Enterprise (EE) is a formation of closer co-ordination in the design, development, costing and the co-ordination of the respective manufacturing schedules of co-operating independent manufacturing enterprises and related suppliers [Jagdev & Browne 1998]; and is the consequent result of a move away from the traditional view of manufacturing companies with clear boundaries, limited relationships with other companies and a focus on internal efficiency and effectiveness only [Browne & Zhang 1999]..

40 years computers-in-industry: Applied interdisciplinary research

Computers in Industry started 40 years ago with a mission to promote research in the use of computers within manufacturing industry. The journal was started by IFIP TC5 and aimed to cross boundaries, not only between countries but also between disciplines, and specifically between academia and practice. This paper provides a personal view on the journal's aims and scope over these four decades. Decisions were taken concerning these aims and scope which are described from a bird's eye view. The arguments for such changes are outlined. The paper can be seen as a plea to continue with journals in interdisciplinary applied research, with academic rigor but also with practical relevance