An empirical study of performance measurement systems in New Zealand manufacturing companies

Abstract

In the current dynamic business environment performance measurement (PM) is increasingly important. Although financial measures have been the primary focus in the past these measures have outdated and are considered by some writers to be misleading and even harmful. Much more emphasis is being placed on non-financial measures in approaches such as the Balanced Scored and Integrated Performance Measurement Systems. To date there have been few empirical studies of the characteristics and indicators of the PM systems being used. This project surveyed 219 manufacturing companies to investigate the use of performance measurement system (PMS) in New Zealand. The low response rate does not allow any general conclusions to be drawn but there are indications that New Zealand manufacturers are adopting with an increasing emphasis on non-financial measures.

Keywords:

• Performance
• Manufacturing
• Measurement
• organisation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

J E Carr

Jane Carr is a graduate in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of New South Wales, Sydney. She is now based in New Zealand.

M Hasan

Dr Maruf Hasan lectures in operations and quality management at the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering of the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. He has published papers in international refereed journals and presented papers in quality and operations management in various international conferences. He is a corporate member of Engineers Australia and a chartered professional engineer. He is a consultant to industry in the area of manufacturing and quality management.