Dina Gray

Towards a definition of a business performance measurement system

Purpose – Scholars in the field of performance measurement tend to use the term business performance measurement (BPM) systems without explaining exactly what they mean by it. This lack of clarity creates confusion and comparability issues, and makes it difficult for researchers to build on one an each others work. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key characteristics of a BPM system, by reviewing the different definitions of a BPM system that exist in the literature. This work aims to open a debate on what are the necessary and sufficient conditions of a BPM system. It is also hoped that a greater level of clarity in the performance measurement research arena will be encouraged.Design/methodology/approach – The performance measurement literature is reviewed using a systematic approach.Findings – Based on this research, a set of conditions of a BPM system has been proposed from which researchers can choose those which are necessary and sufficient conditions for their studies.Research limitatio...

Why do firms measure their intellectual capital

It is now generally believed, within the current literature, that an academic and practitioner focus on intellectual capital (IC) is important and that the measurement of a companys intangibles provides real business benefits. However, it is essential for researchers in the field of IC to be able to justify these newly formed theoretical assumptions through rigorous empirical testing. This paper reports on the results of a systematic investigation into the theoretical underpinnings of why firms measure their IC and existing empirical evidence that helps to prove that the measurement of IC is really worthwhile. The paper then critically reviews the state of research evidence in the field. The major finding of this paper is that the majority of research within the IC measurement field is at the theory building stage, and that very little of the proposed measurement theory has yet been fully tested. This paper outlines possible avenues scholars might pursue in order to further the development of the IC measurement field.