Evolving performance measurement to address environmental change in service utilities at multiple organisational levels

• Main Author: Crawford, Ken
• Published: Ulster University 2012
• Subjects: 658.3
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.633034

In the highly competitive business world performance measurement is important for all businesses to the extent that performance measurement is developing into an industry (Moullin, 2007). This is also true within the electricity supply sector where the added restriction of regulation and legislation from the UK and EU create additional pressures on performance measurement. These external pressures impact on strategic planning by limiting or introducing additional competition to drive or focus attention on some areas. This research will investigate evolving performance measurement to address environmental change in service utilities at multiple organisational levels. It will help expose what utility organisations measure and how measures cascaded throughout the business. The aim of the research is to explore how organisational performance models, methods and measurements within utility organisations evolve at all management levels, in line with the rapidly changing environment conditions. The research will adopt both an inductive and deductive theory building approach, leading to the development of a conceptual model and recommendations. The study will be based within the Northern Ireland electricity utility and will examine cases throughout the electricity supply chain. This research will explore the evolution of performance measurement within regulated multilevel organisations. It will examine performance measurement systems employed, and determine if these systems can evolve as the external environment changes. The research will examine how regulation affects the strategic making process. Internally strategic objectives have to be dissected and translated into divisional and individual performance measures. The research will expose enablers and inhibitors to performance measurement, cascade measures, strategy formulation and performance goals.