پیاده سازی ارزیابی عملکرد استراتژیک هم تراز در شرکت های کوچک

This paper investigates the potential for improving the implementation of strategically aligned performance measurement (PM) in smaller firms. It identifies structural and cultural characteristics that typify smaller firms and examines the PM literature to investigate implementation difficulties and whether they can be overcome through an alternative development process. An empirical study examines the implementation of strategically aligned PM in two small firms, using a process designed to overcome the difficulties that arise in this environment. The paper concludes that the current focus on achieving balanced PM systems is less critical in small firms and the key aim should be instead to stimulate strategically aligned improvement.

The concept of strategically aligned performance measurement (PM) was developed from the many criticisms levelled at traditional, financially focused PM systems in the 1980s and 90s (e.g. Kaplan, 1983; Eccles, 1991; Ghalayini and Noble, 1996). This led to the development of a number of processes and frameworks which aim to link financial and operational measures to stakeholder requirements and align these with the overall strategy of the business (Kaplan and Norton, 1992; Lynch and Cross, 1991; Neely et al., 1996; Ghalayini et al., 1997). The purpose of this was to enable businesses to reduce their reliance on purely financial measures and drive performance towards the achievement of their strategic objectives. However, the majority of these approaches were designed and tested in, and for, large companies. Research has demonstrated that there can be considerable difficulties in implementing these methods effectively and that difficulties are particularly prevalent in smaller firms (McAdam, 2000). Using examples from the literature, this paper explores the structural and cultural characteristics of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). It then tests a development approach which was designed specifically for use in SMEs, through an empirical study. The aim of the study is to establish whether it is possible to use this approach to develop strategically aligned PMs in SMEs, through the ability to work within the cultural and structural constraints of this sector.

The case studies described have demonstrated that the CSI Process did enable the case companies to both develop and implement strategically aligned PM. However, the limited success in Company A compared to Company B may be attributed to three key areas; lack of full employee support; poor strategic planning capabilities and a lack of management expertise. Furthermore, the fact that Company A only implemented measures based on a single strategic objective demonstrates that the ability of the Process to facilitate the development of a balanced set of measures is compromised without continued use. Although this suggests that the CSI Process ultimately failed to achieve its stated aims, this must be contrasted with what it did actually achieve. In both case companies, the need for rapid improvement and immediately useful results in a chaotic and turbulent environment was clear. The CSI Process enabled this because it was designed with the explicit intention of providing short-term as well as long-term benefits, with the need for balance as only a secondary feature. This contrasts with other approaches that focus primarily on the need for balance, with benefits being gained only after full implementation is complete, and highlights an important theoretical trade-off between the need for balance and for usable outputs (Tangen, 2004). From a SME manager's point of view, the ultimate purpose of strategically aligned PM is as a driver for change, with the strategic alignment providing the direction for improvement. Given the dynamic nature of strategic objectives in SMEs, it is possible that the goal of completion is misleading. Indeed, a dynamic and developing set of measures, in line with developing strategy, accords with the most successful combination of Critical Point planning and Opportunistic strategies from the Frese et al. (2000) typology of strategic management approaches. SMEs, due to limited resources and an adhocratic nature survive by making focused improvements, rather than wholesale change. The case studies presented in this paper help to strengthen the claim that, for SMEs which align closely with this model, the CSI Process can be a useful approach for facilitating change through strategically aligned PM.