Public Value as Performance: Politicians’ and Managers’ Perspectives on the Importance of Budgetary, Accruals and Non-Financial Information

Purpose
The study contributes to the literature on public value and performance examining politicians’ and managers’ perspectives by investigating the importance they attach to the different facets of performance information (i.e. budgetary, accrual based- and non-financial information (NFI)).

Design/methodology/approach
We survey politicians and managers in all Italian municipalities of at least 80,000 inhabitants.

Findings
Overall, NFI is more appreciated than financial information (FI). Moreover, budgetary accounting is preferred to accrual accounting. Politicians’ and managers’ preferences are generally aligned.

Research limitations/implications
NFI as a measure of public value is not alternative, but rather complementary, to FI. The latter remains a fundamental element of public sector accounting due to its role in resource allocation and control.

Practical implications
The preference for NFI over FI and of budgetary over accruals accounting suggests that the current predominant emphasis on (accrual-based) financial reporting might be misplaced.

Originality/value
Public value and performance are multi-faceted concepts. They can be captured by different types of information and evaluated according to different criteria, which will also depend on the category of stakeholders or users who assesses public performance. So far, most literature has considered the financial and non-financial facets of performance as virtually separate. Similarly, in the practice, financial management tends to be decoupled from non-financial performance management. However, this research shows that only by considering their joint interactions we can achieve an accurate representation of what public value really is.

Developing a conceptual model of lead performance measurement and benchmarking: A multiple case analysis

Purpose: Environmental turbulence including rapid changes in technology and markets has resulted in the need for new approaches to performance measurement and benchmarking. There is a need for studies that attempt to measure and benchmark upstream, leading or developmental aspects of organizations. Therefore, the aim of this paper is twofold. The first is to conduct an in-depth case analysis of lead performance measurement and benchmarking leading to the further development of a conceptual model derived from the extant literature and initial survey data. The second is to outline future research agendas that could further develop the framework and the subject area.

Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case analysis involving repeated in-depth interviews with managers in organisational areas of upstream influence in the case organisations.

Findings: It was found that the effect of external drivers for lead performance measurement and benchmarking was mediated by organisational context factors such as level of progression in business improvement methods. Moreover, the legitimation of the business improvement methods used for this purpose, although typical, had been extended beyond their original purpose with the development of bespoke sets of lead measures.

Practical implications: Examples of methods and lead measures are given that can be used by organizations in developing a programme of lead performance measurement and benchmarking.

Originality/value: There is a paucity of in-depth studies relating to the theory and practice of lead performance measurement and benchmarking in organisations.

Understanding New Product Project Performance

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the accumulated body of knowledge on the performance of new product projects and provide directions for further research. Design/methodology/approach – Using a refined classification of antecedents of new product project performance the research results are meta-analyzed in the literature in order to identify the strength and stability of predictor-performance relationships. Findings – The results reveal that 22 variables have a significant relationship with new product project performance, of which only 12 variables have a sizable relationship. In order of importance these factors are the degree of organizational interaction, R&D and marketing interface, general product development proficiency, product advantage, financial/business analysis, technical proficiency, management skill, marketing proficiency, market orientation, technology synergy, project manager competency and launch activities. Of the 34 variables 16 predictors show potential for moderator effects. Research limitations/implications – The validity of the results is constrained by publication bias and heterogeneity of performance measures, and directions for the presentation of data in future empirical publications are provided. Practical implications – This study helps new product project managers in understanding and managing the performance of new product development projects. Originality/value – This paper provides unique insights into the importance of predictors of new product performance at the project level. Furthermore, it identifies which predictor-performance relations are contingent on other factors.

Ownership structure, organisational flexibility and store performance in retail chains.

Drawing on agency and flexible capability perspectives, the authors develop a theoretical framework explaining the impact of ownership structure on organisational flexibility and store performance in retail chains. The researchers argue that franchised stores attract more entrepreneurial managers with more flexible capabilities and they have a stronger incentive to align their flexible capabilities with the demands of the business environment. A sample of 105 franchised and company-owned stores of an optical retail chain is used to test the hypotheses. Furthermore, the study found strong support for the hypotheses that 'Franchised stores have a higher structural flexibility than company-owned stores', but only weak support for operational and strategic flexible capabilities. Furthermore, in line with the study's theoretical framework, it has been found that in a highly turbulent business environment, franchised stores perform better than company-owned stores. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for theory development and management of ownership structures in retail chains.

A new performance based method for design and maintenance of reinforced concrete structures

Best concrete research paper by a student - Research has shown that the cost of managing structures puts high strain on the infrastructure budget, with
estimates of over 50% of the European construction budget being dedicated to repair and maintenance. If reinforced concrete
structures are not suitably designed and adequately maintained, their service life is compromised, resulting in the full economic
value of the investment not realised. The issue is more prevalent in coastal structures as a result of combinations of aggressive
actions, such as those caused by chlorides, sulphates and cyclic freezing and thawing.
It is a common practice nowadays to ensure durability of reinforced concrete structures by specifying a concrete mix and a
nominal cover at the design stage to cater for the exposure environment. This in theory should produce the performance required
to achieve a specified service life. Although the European Standard EN 206-1 specifies variations in the exposure environment,
it does not take into account the macro and micro climates surrounding structures, which have a significant influence on their
performance and service life. Therefore, in order to construct structures which will perform satisfactorily in different exposure
environments, the following two aspects need to be developed: a performance based specification to supplement EN 206-1
which will outline the expected performance of the structure in a given environment; and a simple yet transferrable procedure
for assessing the performance of structures in service termed KPI Theory. This will allow the asset managers not only to design
structures for the intended service life, but also to take informed maintenance decisions should the performance in service fall
short of what was specified. This paper aims to discuss this further.

Environmental Operations Management and its links with Proactivity and Performance: A study of the UK Food Industry

Two important strands of research within the literature on Environmental Operations Management (EOM) relate to environmental approach and performance. Often in this research the links between environmental approach, environmental performance and EOM are considered separately with little consideration given to the interrelationships between them. This study develops and tests a theoretical framework that combines these two strands to explore how UK food manufacturers approach EOM. The framework considers the relationships between an environmentally pro-active strategic orientation, EOM and environmental and cost performance. A cross-sectional survey was developed to collect data from a sample of 1200 food manufacturing firms located within the UK. Responses were sought from production and operations managers who are knowledgeable about the environmental operations practices within their firms. A total of 149 complete and useable responses were obtained. The reliability and validity of the scales used in the survey were tested using exploratory factor analysis, prior to the testing of the hypotheses underpinning the theoretical framework using hierarchical regression analysis. Our results generate support for a link between environmental proactivity, environmental practices and performance, consistent with the natural resource-based view (NRBV) and a number of studies in the extant literature. In considering environmental proactivity as a standalone concept that influences the implementation of environmental practices outlined in the NRBV, our study generates some novel insights into these links. Further our results provide some interesting insights for managers within the food industry who can identify the potential benefits of certain practices for performance within this unique context.

From Customer-Oriented Strategy to Organizational Financial Performance: The Role of Human Resource Management and Customer-Linking Capability

Drawing on the organizational capabilities literature, the authors developed and tested a model of how supportive human resource management (HRM) improved firms’ financial performance perceived by marketing managers through fostering the implementation of a customer-oriented strategy. Customer-linking capability, which is the capability in managing close customer relationships, indicated the implementation of the customer-oriented strategy. Data collected from two emerging economies – China and Hungary –established that supportive HRM partially mediated the relationship between customer-oriented strategy and customer-linking capability. Customer-linking capability further explained how supportive HRM contributed to perceived financial performance. This study explicates the implication of customer-oriented strategy for HRM and reveals the
importance of HRM in strategy implementation. It also sheds some light on the ‘black box’ between HRM and performance. While making important contributions to the field of strategy, HRM and marketing, this study also offers useful practical implications.

Developing an engineering approach for migrating from prescriptive to performance-based specification for concrete

The integral variability of raw materials, lack of awareness and appreciation of the technologies for achieving quality control and lack of appreciation of the micro and macro environmental conditions that the structures will be subjected, makes modern day concreting a challenge. This also makes Designers and Engineers adhere more closely to prescriptive standards developed for relatively less aggressive environments. The data from exposure sites and real structures prove, categorically, that the prescriptive specifications are inadequate for chloride environments. In light of this shortcoming, a more pragmatic approach would be to adopt performance-based specifications which are familiar to industry in the form of specification for mechanical strength. A recently completed RILEM technical committee made significant advances in making such an approach feasible.
Furthering a performance-based specification requires establishment of reliable laboratory and on-site test methods, as well as easy to perform service-life models. This article highlights both laboratory and on-site test methods for chloride diffusivity/electrical resistivity and the relationship between these tests for a range of concretes. Further, a performance-based approach using an on-site diffusivity test is outlined that can provide an easier to apply/adopt practice for Engineers and asset managers for specifying/testing concrete structures.