Reports on the use of benchmarking at ICL plc, and how it has been incorporated into the company′s routine processes. States that the key element in the implementation of change is measurement; ICL have chosen cycle time, inventory turns, customer lead times and delivery performance, delivered...

Discusses how Unisys Ltd in the UK and other leading companies are finding that performance measuring and improving key business processes form a vital part of a company‐wide improvement strategy. Using examples from Unisys, shows how cross‐functional methods of process improvement are being...

Managers of contemporary organizations are continually examining modern management techniques with a view to adopting best management practices and thus gain competitive advantage. The danger is that managers will adopt a functional stance and consider only narrowly defined management techniques...

Presents two questionnaires for measuring service quality. Derived from the SERVQUAL instrument, they have been field tested on around 100 subjects. The adapted questionnaires are shorter and more flexible when compared with SERVQUAL. They may be used separately or in combination. One...

Describes the results of a survey which shows that there is a gap between managers’ understanding of the importance of using performance measures, and the actual performance measures used. Argues that an inappropriate performance measurement could be a major cause of failure in the...

The performance management process is seen as a closed loop control system which deploys policy and strategy, and obtains feedback from various levels in order to manage the performance of the business. The performance measurement system is the information system which is at the heart of the...

Discusses the degree to which customer‐ and employee‐based measures of performance are used within The Times top 500 companies, as revealed by a postal survey carried out in 1995 and from initial findings from six in‐depth case studies. The inquiry was initiated as a result of the...

Total quality management is now a comprehensive management system. Yet many companies are still trying to combine TQM with an inappropriate performance measurement system to their own detriment. This article points out the dangers of overreliance on traditional financial and cost‐based...

The aim of this study is to identify and interpret the critical factors and performance measures of TQM. Based on extensive review of prescriptive, conceptual, practitioner, and empirical literature; we were able to identify seven critical factors and more than 45 performance measures of TQM. A...