Challenges in business performance measurement: The case of a corporate IT function

Abstract

Contemporary organisations are increasingly adopting performance measurement activity to assess their level of achievement of strategic objectives and delivery of stakeholder value. This qualitative research sought to increase understanding of the challenges involved in this area. An in-depth case study of the corporate IT services unit of a global company highlighted key challenges pertaining to: (i) deriving value from performance measurement practices; (ii) establishing appropriate and useful performance measures; (iii) implementing effective information collation and dashboard practices. The need to transform performance measurement from a tool for simply monitoring/reporting to one of learning what factors drive results (so as to be able to influence these factors) is suggested as a way to increase the value derived from such practices. This is seen to imply a need to rethink major notions of balance and strategic relevance that have been advanced hitherto as leading design principles. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007.