Enhancing Joined-Up Government and Outcome-Based Performance Management through System Dynamics Modelling to Deal with Wicked Problems: the Case of Societal Ageing

The paper by Auping et al. (2015) focuses on the topic of societal 'ageing', that is, 'a population process, caused by declining fertility and mortality rates, which manifests itself in the growing number of older persons in society' (Huber, 2005). A broader definition frames societal ageing as a 'demographic, structural, cultural and economic transformation resultant from the increase in the number and proportion of " older " people within society' (Victor, 2005, p. 5). 'Double societal ageing' today characterizes most developed countries, which experience both an increase in the percentage of older people and in their life expectancy. In terms of public policy and finance, the relevance o…

Enhancing performance management and sustainable organizational growth through system-dynamics modelling

Organizational growth and performance management provide two important research topics for both enterprises and public sector organizations. Improving performance levels, or at least keeping them stable over time, is a hot topic not only for business executives and entrepreneurs, but also for managers and policy makers in public and non-profit institutions. How best to design Planning & Control (P&C) systems to support organizational performance management and assessment in a sustainability perspective? This paper illustrates the need for a methodological framework that would link system dynamics to P&C systems so as to support decision-makers in managing organizational performance, as well…

Public Sector Applications of the System Dynamics Approach

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Carmine Bianchi on understanding public sector from different levels and perspectives, one by Mauro Lo Tennero on the aspiration and structure of Sicily to enforce public policy, and one by Nuno Videira and colleagues on the use of group model building in the public sector to concur sustainable policies.

Enhancing Urban Brownfield Regeneration to Pursue Sustainable Community Outcomes through Dynamic Performance Governance

This paper discusses the case of Puerto Madero (Buenos Aires, Argentina) to illustrate how the “Dynamic Performance Governance” framework is able to support policy networks to pursue sustainable community outcomes in urban brownfield regeneration. The case is an example of successful implementation of urban renewal carried out through a significant involvement of the private sector. It portrays a “financially-driven” governance mode which entails balancing the advantage of cash flow reinvestment for public services and infrastructure capacity development, with potential shortcomings in terms of social inclusion. Findings reveal two main trade-offs associated with policy design and implement…

Resilient urban governance: Adaptation and innovation in the face of the Coronavirus pandemic

The pervasive, unpredictable, and unmanageable outcomes gener- ated by the coronavirus pandemic portray many features of what have been defined as “super-wicked ”problems ( Levin et al., 2012 ). In this regard, defeating COVID-19 is not the only issue. The main problem is, rather, how to make our societies more resilient also to possible similar kinds of viruses that might affect our lives in the near future, provided the structure of the socio-economic and ecological systems where we live. As noted by Levin et al. (2012 , p. 124), ‘super-wicked’ problems “comprise four key features: time is running out; those who cause the problem also seek to provide a solution; the central authority need…

Special Issue: Enhancing Sustainable Performance in Organizational and Inter-Institutional Systems

Sustainability is not just for Christmas… it’s for life. Sustainable solutions, whether sought in terms of business strategies, social policies, or the exploitation of natural resources have to serve organizations and communities in the long term, sometimes very long term, as well as the short term. Static analysis is unlikely to be able to evaluate candidate solutions fully, and is more likely to focus on the short-term future to the detriment of the longer-term. Sustainable solutions are more likely to be developed from studies based on deep analysis using systems approaches, and from system dynamics (SD) approaches in particular.

Sviluppo o nanismo? Verso una consapevole valutazione della crescita sostenibile e dei rischi di perdurante stasi dimensionale nell'impresa familiare: un approccio di "System Dynamics"

I processi di apprendimento nella piccola e micro-impresa familiare, in ordine al governo dello sviluppo e a quello del “mancato sviluppo” hanno costituito oggetto di precedenti lavori da parte di chi scrive. In particolare, si è focalizzato il tema della prolungata assenza di crescita dimensionale lungo un periodo tale da abbracciare almeno tre generazioni della famiglia proprietaria, fenomeno comunemente definito come “nanismo aziendale”. Quali sono il rischi del “nanismo”? Quali quelli connessi ad una non adeguata valutazione di una crescita dimensionale, intesa come effetto di una decisione di “uscita dal nanismo”? Come rimuovere i vincoli che contraddistinguono lo status di “impresa na…

Alla ricerca dei fattori rilevanti nell’adozione dei sistemi di gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni pubbliche territoriali. L’analisi di due casi di studio.

La ricerca scientifica ha dimostrato che la gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni pubbliche sta oggi spostando il proprio focus dalla mera attività di raccolta e rendicontazione di dati alla generazione di informazioni atte a supportare la formulazione di decisioni. L’analisi comparativa dei casi di studio analizzati in questo articolo mira ad identificare i fattori critici sottostanti alla progettazione e all’utilizzo dei sistemi di gestione della performance nelle amministrazioni regionali. Da questa analisi emerge che alcune variabili risultano essenziali ai fini di un’efficace adozione dei sistemi di performance management. Tra queste variabili sono annoverabili: il ruolo del…

Generalising Theories Explaining the Different Modes of SME Development and the Associated Growth Trajectories

Previous research has identified two forms of “abnormal” growth – styled as business dwarfism and gigantism - which can both lead to missed opportunities for owners/entrepreneurs and local economies, and even to business crisis and collapse. It has also shown that stunted and inflated growth phenomena, rather than being characterised by completely different rules and rationales, are closely related and that certain fundamental structures and processes underpin both those forms of ab-normal company growth behaviour. This paper reports an examination of a further SME phenomenon – what we have chosen to call "micro-giants". These are companies that would be categorised as rela-tively small fir…

Implementing collaborative governance: models, experiences, and challenges

This paper introduces the reader to a special issue focused on Collaborative Governance implementation. The purpose of this symposium is to advance our understanding of the cross-cutting and complex issues of collaborative governance implementation, which include: (a) supporting the collaborative process through innovative models and methods for enhancing a shared understanding of community problems and outcomes, (b) fostering the interplay between service policy and service delivery, and (c) combining a public service view with an institutional and interinstitutional view

Politiche incentivanti, Motivazione delle Risorse Umane e Performance nell’Azienda Pubblica: un approccio di System Dynamics.

A feedback view of behavioural distortions from perceived public service gaps at ‘street‐level’ policy implementation: The case of unintended outcomes in public schools

This paper discusses the limitations and risks associated with the use of output-oriented measures to assess public school performance. In particular, it questions the capability of the performance measures set by external institutions, with respect to schools, to support sustainable educational outcomes. To this end, the ‘street-level bureaucracy’ theory is used in the paper as a basis to analyse the behavioural distortions generated by perceived public service gaps at school level policy implementation. Such unintended behavioural effects are often a major cause of disappointing outcomes when test-based accountability systems are adopted. In the second part of the paper, an insight model …

Investigating sustainable strategies for Turning round ‘stunted growth’ businesses, AGSE Conference

Using System Dynamics ILEs in Service Business Interventions

Strategic Asset Building and Competitive Strategies for SMEs which Compete with Industry Giants

This chapter studies companies which are arguably business super-heroes – the small firms which despite the apparent handicap of very limited resources are able to compete against much larger, multinational firms – the micro-giants Davids that take on Goliaths. Through a process of detailed case studies of actual firms, analysis of asset structure, and experiments with a simulation model, the relationships between key assets, critical success factors, and micro-giant competiveness are explored. The model produces six scenarios reflecting different strategies for developing tangible and intangible assets and, critically, the balance between them. A level of aggression is needed in asset buil…

An outcome-based dynamic performance management approach to collaborative governance in crime control: insights from Malaysia

The paper analyzes Malaysia’s experience in crime control. It offers insights on how a whole-of-government perspective, underpinned by a dynamic outcome-based performance management system, or DPM, supports governments in bringing about progress in crime reduction. Although not exhaustive of all factors contributing to crime control, the paper argues that DPM can make collaboration in designing and implementing policies for crime control more effective, by enabling policy-makers frame causal links between strategic resources, performance drivers and outcomes. The feedback-loops underlying the crime-control system’s behavior should be governed in a way that enables policy-makers to build up …

A Physiological Approach to Analysing SME Growth Patterns and to Understanding the Distinctions and Similarities between Normal and Abnormal Growth

Building on earlier work on abnormal SME growth trajectories, this paper investigates to what extent the analysis can be extended to the study of an unusual but “normal” growth pattern. The detailed case histories of two firms which might be called micro-giants are presented. These are companies that would be categorised as small firms but are actually competing, and competing successfully, in non-niche markets with much larger firms, or even multinational giants. The resource based view and modelling approaches developed in the earlier non-normal growth situations is then applied to these cases. It is argued that by viewing the management of strategic assets as part of the normal business …

Applying Dynamic Performance Management to Enterprises

This chapter will illustrate two examples of DPM applied to enterprises. Cases will show how DPM can support a learning-oriented approach into the P&C processes of business organizations.

Building on Entrepreneurs’ Leadership through ‘Lean’ and Dynamic Performance Management Systems in Small and Micro Firms. Challenges and Missed Opportunities

This paper frames the potential benefits of ‘lean’ and dynamic performance management (PM) systems for small and micro enterprises. In this context, the ‘lean’ attribute is used to characterize a different approach in applying PM to small firms, in respect to larger organizations. In fact, such systems may exploit the entrepreneur’s tacit knowledge and build on leadership, by incorporating individual attributes into organizational routines. Related to small and micro firms, direct experience and case-studies suggest that their sudden crises and demises are often a product of gradual – internal and external – phenomena that entrepreneurs are not enabled to selectively and promptly detect and…

Applying System Dynamics Modeling To Foster a Cause-and-Effect Perspective in Dealing with Behavioral Distortions Associated with a City’s Performance Measurement Programs

This paper aims to show how applying system dynamics methodology to performance management can provide a powerful modeling perspective enabling public sector organizations to prevent, detect, and counteract behavioral distortions associated with performance measurement. A dynamic performance management approach is able to support performance management system designers in outlining and implementing a consistent set of measures that can allow public sector decision-makers to pursue sustainable organizational learning and development. This perspective implies a major shift from a static to a dynamic picture of organizational processes and results. It means framing delays between causes and ef…

Management Simulator as an Instrument to Aid Turning “Stunted Growth” Round in Family Businesses

This paper is the fourth in a series which has described the role and construction of simulation models and a ‘Management Flight Simulator’ that could aid the entrepreneur-owners of so-called ‘dwarf’ or ‘stunted growth’ small firms to break out from the constraints holding them back. While the research presented to date has highlighted the issues in such companies, and has suggested that in many situations relatively simple changes only might be needed to unleash the growth potential of such firms, effecting such changes is not likely to be that “simple” in real life. It has to be possible for affected owner-entrepreneurs to understand a number of factors: that there is a problem (or opport…

Dynamic Performance Management

This book explores how to design and implement planning & control (P&C) systems that can help organizations to manage their growth and restructuring processes in a sustainability perspective. The book is not designed to enable the reader to become an experienced system dynamics modeler; rather, it aims to develop the reader’s capabilities to design and implement performance management systems by using a system dynamics approach. More specifically, the book shows how to develop system dynamics models that can better support an understanding of: -What is organizational performance and how to frame and measure it; -How to identify and map the processes underlying performance; -How to d…

Opportunities and pitfalls related to e-commerce strategies in small-medium firms: A system dynamics approach

E-commerce is often perceived as a powerful lever to foster growth of SMEs. However, both the literature and empirical evidence have shown the perils hidden in superficial decision making by SME entrepreneurs. A system dynamics (SD) approach is used in this article to demonstrate how managing processes of accumulation and depletion of strategic assets, detecting inertial effects of decisions made in the past, and selectively acting on policy levers are likely to help entrepreneurs in understanding opportunities and pitfalls related to e-commerce strategies. A feedback analysis of three case studies selected from the literature and the main findings from a survey conducted by the authors on …

Using a Dynamic Performance Management approach to reinforce the benefits of territorial strategic planning

The purpose of this paper is to present how system dynamics (SD) can be used to enrich performance management in local government and to foster a common shared view of the relevant system’s structure and behavior among stakeholders for territorial strategic planning. We begin by framing how dynamic complexity through SD modeling can support consensus building among different stakeholders within a territory, which moves beyond the traditional view of strategic planning within the context of a single jurisdiction. A Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) approach, as shown by our case-study, may help such players to overcome possible barriers to collaboration because of its support to better de…

Dynamic Performance of the Agricultural Sector Under Conditions of Climate Change and Armed Post-conflict

The agricultural sector is a strategic source for the sustenance of the population worldwide, however, given the lack of a favourable environment that guarantees its sustainability and growth, this sector is exposed to multiple conflicts and needs, which affect its performance and even causing desertion of the producer. In this research, we model and analyse the agricultural sector of the potato in the Colombian context, which in addition to being a strategic food to respond to food crisis, represents the needs of the agricultural sector, where about 90% of producers are classified as small because of their low participation in land tenure and where, in addition to the low level of technolo…

Sistemi di Programmazione e controllo per l'azienda "Regione"

Questo libro affronta il tema del governo dello sviluppo sostenibile e del miglioramento della performance aziendale attraverso sistemi di programmazione e controllo che si avvalgano di modelli di system dynamics. Il testo è corredato da numerosi casi applicativi e modelli di simulazione, che il lettore potrà scaricare gratuitamente dalla pagina web dell’autore (www.ced4.it). I casi e i modelli riportati derivano da applicazioni realizzate dall’autore presso aziende operanti in settori diversi (es. telecomunicazioni, assicurazioni, tessile, servizi bancari, produzione su commessa, commercio all’ingrosso) e con riferimento a problematiche differenti. Gli ambiti decisionali analizzati con i m…

Operational and financial effectiveness of e-collaboration tools in supply chain integration

This paper develops a comprehensive model of supply chain integration and uses it to analyze and assess the operational and financial effectiveness of different e-collaboration tools at various levels of supply chain integration. This model is also used to evaluate the importance of the sequence in which e-collaboration tools are adopted in supply chain integration. Computational results from a validated system dynamics simulation model with different implementation sequences of e-collaboration tools and different financial scenarios show that local financial constraints can also severely impact operational and financial performance of the entire supply chain. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rig…

The Need of a Dynamic Performance Management Approach to Foster Sustainable Organizational Development

The concept of organizational growth concerns the strategic domain of management. It underlies the aptitude of an organization to attain a set of results leading to its long-term success and continuity.

Fostering Entrepreneurs’ Capabilities to Outline Sustainable Strategies in ‘Stunted’ SMEs through Modelling and Simulation: a Dynamic Resource Based View

The literature recognises the phenomenon of ‘dwarf’ or ‘stunted’ small and micro firms (in Italian nanismo aziendale) and that they might represent potential lost opportunities for owners and the local economy. Based on a field survey conducted by Bianchi et al. (2003) and the analysis previously developed by the authors of this paper in sketching a simple ‘insight’ model to simulate the behaviour of such firms (Bianchi & Winch, 2005), this work aims to show further research developments in the effort to better understand the business dwarfism phenomenon. A system dynamics model replicating the basic no-growth, cyclical behaviour attributed to “stunted” SMEs is firstly analysed. Alterna…

Modelling Collaborative Logistics Policies that Impact the Performance of the Agricultural Sector

The performance of the agricultural sector is considered a fundamental factor for achieving sustainability of the most vulnerable population as well to meet the world’s food needs. This is how countries like Colombia, recognize in their government plans the importance of the development of sector leveraged by infrastructures boosting their results, however, the instrumentation and design of public policies are a challenge for the governors given the dynamic complexity of the system. Through this research, we propose a model for the analysis of logistic public policies in the agricultural sector of the potato, where the collaboration through public-private partnerships (PPP) for the implemen…

Sustainable strategies for small companies competing 
against multinational giants

Modelli concettuali e strumenti operativi per la valutazione e il miglioramento della «performance» nell’erogazione dei servizi pubblici in una prospettiva di soddisfazione dell’utenza

La qualità dei servizi è stata riconosciuta come un rilevante aspetto caratterizzante la performance dell’azienda pubblica, analogamente alla capacità di operare secondo criteri di efficienza e nel rispetto dei vincoli di bilancio. Sebbene sia possibile riscontrare alcuni casi di customer satisfaction nelle amministrazioni pubbliche italiane, a tutt’oggi il tema presenta significative criticità, specialmente in ordine agli aspetti metodologici e agli strumenti operativi che consentano di integrare tali valutazioni nel sistema di programmazione e controllo e nel più ampio sistema di controllo organizzativo delle aziende che erogano tali servizi. Il presente lavoro adotta una diversa prospett…

A Dynamic Performance Management Approach to Evaluate and Support SMEs Competitiveness: Evidences from a Case Study

The role of Performance Management (PM) systems has become crucial for steering Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to successfully compete during the ongoing critical economic transition. To improve decision-maker strategic learning processes, traditional PM frameworks need to be combined with System Dynamics (SD) modeling. This paper shows how to design and use a Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) approach to assess and support SMEs competitiveness. The emerging framework is applied to a real case of a small business to analyze the empirical effectiveness of the approach hereby suggested.

Introduction to a Symposium on Broadening the Application of Performance Management

The Italian Academy of Management (Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA)), which was founded in Bologna during July 1813, is one of the oldest academic societies in the world. On the occasion of celebrating its bicentenary, the AIDEA held a conference in Lecce, Italy, during September 2013 for AIDEA members and international scholars to present their research within six major areas: Economia Aziendale, Ragioneria ed Economia Aziendale in Italia, Accounting, Management & Organization, Public Management, and Banking & Finance. The theme of the conference—The Firm’s Role in the Economy: Does a Growth-Oriented Business Model Exist?—was in response to the global crisis that has raised…

Structural Growth Disengagement and Entrepreneurship in Small and Micro-Firms. Mapping Pathologies and Physiologies of “Business Dwarfism” in a Dynamic Resource-Based-View

This paper focuses growth disengagement, in the perspective of those firms who have been keeping their structures, processes and relational systems unchanged for a very long time. The implicit hypothesis according to which such businesses are affected by a structural disease, are not able to create any significant value, and characterised by similar features, is critically discussed. Through an analysis of the phenomenon in the business growth and dynamic resource-based-view, a first attempt taxonomy, based on case-studies, is sketched. It is demonstrated how the implicit assumption according to which such firms are affected by a pathological condition is false, at least if seen as an a pri…

Improving performance and fostering accountability in the public sector through system dynamics modelling: From an ‘external’ to an ‘internal’ perspective

This paper aims to outline the benefits justifying a tailored approach to System Dynamics (SD) modelling in the public sector, to improve performance and foster decision makers' accountability. The need of combining an ‘internal’ with an ‘external’ perspective (in respect to decision makers) in developing SD models is claimed. Different levels of intervention (i.e. macro, micro and meso) are discussed. Two case studies are analysed. The first one demonstrates how a dynamic resource-based view (DRBV) can support an analysis of the impact of back and front office units on a public sector organization's performance drivers. The second case shows how SD modelling based on a DRBV can also be app…

Applying a Dynamic Performance Management Framework to Wicked Issues: How Coproduction Helps to Transform Young People's Services in Surrey County Council, UK

This article explores how a dynamic performance management (DPM) approach can give policy makers a more integrated, time-related understanding of how to address wicked problems successfully. The article highlights how an outcome-based approach to solving wicked policy problems has to balance three very contrasting objectives of stakeholders in the policy making process-improving service quality, improving quality of life outcomes and improving conformity to the principles of public governance. Simultaneous achievement of these three objectives may not be feasible, as they may form an interactive dynamic system. However the balancing act between them may be achieved by the use of DPM. Policy…

Moving Away from Patronage: A Feedback Approach

Patronage appointments in government are a continuing issue in many administrative systems. Especially for countries in Latin America and Africa patronage is considered a major impediment to developing more effective administrative systems. A great deal has been written describing patronage and discussing the causes for patronage, but much less research has addressed the dynamics of moving away from patronage to more merit-based systems. This paper reviews the patronage literature and then develops a dynamic feedback model for movement away from patronage. The model links the quality of the services provided by the government, the nature of the political party system, and levels of trust t…

Commercial and financial policies in family firms: The small business growth management flight simulator

An interactive learning environment (ILE) was built to reproduce the budgeting process of a small family-owned entrepreneurial firm and to capture how current decisions affect business growth in a longer time horizon. The ILE matches the accounting-related perspective through which spreadsheet-based budgets are drawn up, with the system dynamics (SD) view. Such a goal has been pursued through a connection of traditional Excel spreadsheets with POWERSIM SD models. Playing the SMALL BUSINESS GROWTH MANAGEMENT FLIGHT SIMULATOR allows one to learn how (a) to draw up a budget based on an SD perspective, (b) long-term goals may be affected by current decisions, (c) business/family survival and gr…

A Comparative Analysis of Performance Management Systems

Performance management is maturing as an effective organizational approach in public organizations around the world, but the existing models have limitations that must be addressed. The international comparative case study analysis in this article presents policy recommendations and organizational strategies on how regional governments can create more robust performance management systems for higher levels of accountability and transparency in a time of global economic crisis. These include the consideration of organizational structure regarding alignment, control, and culture, the positive impact of performance management legislation, the role of executive leadership, and the need for an i…

Exploring the Shift from Output Measures to Outcome Measures of Service Delivery: Insights from Municipal Research

Prior research shows that reporting on outcome measures increases the probability that local officials will use perform- ance data to inform their decisions. What has been over- looked in the literature is the question of why some local governments continue to focus more on outputs than on out- comes of service delivery, thereby limiting their ability to use performance data for decision-making. The purpose of this art- icle is to identify organizational, individual, and support factors that could increase the probability that local officials in the Apulia Region of Italy when measuring performance, will move beyond the basic measures of output to the more advanced measures of outcome. Base…

Opportunities and pitfalls in Public policies for sme districts: A dynamic strategic resource-based-view

Exploring Options and Increasing Confidence in Turning “Stunted Growth” Firms Round: Trials with a Management Simulator

RIPENSARE AL BENE DELL’AZIENDA IN UN’OTTICA DI SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE NEL SODDISFACIMENTO DELL’INTERESSE PUBBLICO TRA BISOGNI INDIVIDUALI E SOCIALI

Il presente lavoro costituisce un tentativo di inquadramento in prospettiva economico-aziendale di un importante tema come quello connesso al soddisfacimento dell’interesse pubblico. Attraverso quali meccanismi e quali soggetti soddisfare al meglio tale interesse? Quali caratteristiche presenta l’interesse pubblico e in quali tipologie di prodotto/servizio esso si sostanzia? Come l’ente pubblico può al meglio perseguire il soddisfacimento di tale interesse? Può il mercato, lasciato alla sua libera iniziativa, consentire un adeguato soddisfacimento dell’interesse pubblico? In che misura l’attività del settore pubblico rappresenta, di per sé, condizione sufficiente per il soddisfacimento dell…

Improving performance measurement/management in Academic Institutions: a dynamic resource-based view. Insights from a field project

Note critiche e metodologiche sulla progettazione dei sistemi di programmazione e controllo nell’azienda “regione”: riflessioni alla luce del caso Regione Sicilia

La tesi sostenuta è che l’adozione di un approccio burocratico-formale o di tipo ingegneristico nel ricorso ai meccanismi di P&C tende a generare effetti indesiderati. Con l’intento di delineare le logiche sottostanti alla progettazione dei sistemi in oggetto nell’azienda “Regione”, si evidenzia dapprima il concetto di sistema di P&C accolto nel presente scritto, e – in funzione di questo – si analizzano talune fisiologie e patologie riscontrate, specialmente in relazione alle esperienze sviluppate dall’autore nella Regione Sicilia.

Incentive-based Policies, Human Resource Motivation and Performance of Public Organizations: a System Dynamics Approach

Applying system dynamics to foster organizational change, accountability and performance in the public sector: A case-based Italian perspective

The goal of this paper is to discuss the role System Dynamics (SD) can play to enhance performance improvement in the public sector. It is remarked how SD can help decision makers to properly perceive the boundaries of the relevant system underlying observed phenomena. To this end, three real cases are analysed to show how SD can facilitate a better understanding of the relationships between the political and the organisational system in the public sector, and how to promptly attain efficiency and improve outcome, given the constraints that the institutional and political systems constitute. The goal of this paper is to discuss the role System Dynamics (SD) can play to enhance performance i…

Scritti in onore di Pellegrino Capaldo

La qualità dei servizi è stata riconosciuta come un rilevante aspetto caratterizzante la performance dell’azienda pubblica, analogamente alla capacità di operare secondo criteri di efficienza e nel rispetto dei vincoli di bilancio. Sebbene sia possibile riscontrare alcuni significativi casi di adozione di politiche di customer satisfaction nelle amministrazioni pubbliche italiane, a tutt’oggi il tema presenta significative criticità, specialmente in ordine agli aspetti metodologici e agli strumenti operativi che consentano di integrare dette politiche nel sistema di programmazione e controllo delle aziende che erogano tali servizi. Il presente lavoro adotta una diversa prospettiva di analis…

Using System Dynamics to Enhance Performance Management in Local Government: An Application to Residential Refuse Collection

While some scholars have suggested that the forces of New Public Management are now in decline (Hughes, 2003), a clear success story of this reform is the use of performance measurement in the public sector for tracking the outputs and outcomes of service delivery. In fact, research has demonstrated that well-managed performance measurement systems are critical for accurately and systematically demonstrating operational accountability in governmental organizations (Rivenbark, 2007). However, we must be cautious in how we think about the use of performance measurement systems because of their two distinct parts as described by de Lancer Jules and Holzer (2001). The first part involves adopti…

A dynamic performance management approach to support local strategic planning

In spite of efforts devoted in the last decades to local strategic planning, such field of research and practice has been frequently characterized by a lack of implementation. We argue here that this phenomenon is due to the limitations of the static and linear approach to local strategic planning in fostering the development of common shared view among policy makers on the relevant system's structure and behavior. By means of a case-study, we illustrate how an approach based on system dynamics modeling applied to Performance Management can be useful to overcome such weaknesses. The proposed approach enhances a better understanding of the causes and effects related to adopted policies, unde…

Reflections on the 8th European System Dynamics Workshop

The purpose of this paper is to comment on the main scientific and social outcomes produced by the 8th European System Dynamics Workshop on “Modeling Sustainability Pathways”—hosted by the NOVA School of Science and Technology, and the Center for Environmental and Sustainability Research in Lisbon on June 1‐2, 2017.

Teaching Public Administration Abroad through the Fulbright Specialist Program

The purpose of this article is to promote the benefits of the Fulbright Specialist Program—which was created in 2001 as a short-term complement to the Fulbright Scholar Program—and to encourage more public administration scholars to consider teaching abroad. After providing an overview of the Fulbright Specialist Program and the collaborative teaching approach we used for the preparation and delivery of instructional materials, it presents a number of lessons learned from the perspective of the Fulbright Specialist and the host institution for maximizing the experience of teaching abroad. This article also is dedicated to the work of Fulbright, which has pursued its mission to increase mutu…

The Design and Execution of Performance Management Systems at State Level: A Comparative Analysis of Italy and Malaysia

ABSTRACTThis comparative study analyses the experience of Italy and Malaysia in the design and execution of performance management systems at the state level. The article investigates how performance management systems have changed over the past decades, the motivations behind their metamorphoses, their common elements across the two countries, and what accounts for the respective progress. It also investigates the role that the institutional framework plays in making performance management systems robust. The study presents policy recommendations on how governments can create more robust performance management systems for enhanced accountability and transparency in an age of resource const…

A System Dynamics Approach to Evaluate Incentive-based Policies, Human Resource Motivation and Performance of Public Sector Organizations

This paper tries to analyze - through a System Dynamics approach - positive and negative effects caused by human resources‘ (de)motivation in terms of productivity and quality of performance in public sector organizations. Therefore, motivation is here meant as an inclination to fill a gap between a desired and an actual level of productivity; this can be achieved through a set of policies aimed to encourage, sustain and address human resource behaviour in a working setting. As a consequence of such policies, public sector organizations would increase their productivity and effectiveness, thereby improving the level of wealth to the community they work for. But how does work motivation infl…

Fostering Sustainable Organizational Development Through Dynamic Performance Management

This chapter outlines a conceptual and methodological framework to support organizational policy makers in managing and assessing performance within the perspective of sustainability. It analyzes the role of SD to enhance P&C systems so as to both manage performance and foster sustainable development.

System dynamics models for decision making in product multiple lifecycles

The main drivers for adopting product multiple lifecycles are to gain ecological and economic advantages. However, in most of the cases it is not straight forward to estimate the potential ecological and economic gain that may result from adopting product multiple lifecycles. Even though many researchers have concluded that product multiple lifecycles result in gain, there are examples which indicate that the gain is often marginal or even none in many cases. The purpose of this research is to develop system dynamics models that can assist decision makers in assessing and analysing the potential gain of product multiple lifecycles considering the dynamics of material scarcity. The foundatio…

Managing Organizational Growth and Dynamic Complexity

Managers, entrepreneurs and administrators are often reluctant to invest time in order to frame the future of their own organization. They may look too much focused on reducing the complexity of current management. The vision of the future they create in their own minds may remain unchanged even for many years, or may incrementally and ambiguously change, with no effort on learning, on perceiving the early symptoms of crises, and assessing the sustainability of organizational growth rate.

Performance Management in Local Government: The Application of System Dynamics to Promote Data Use

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how system dynamics can be used to enrich performance management in local government, focusing specifically on how the development of conceptual and simulation system dynamic models can foster a shared view of the relevant system among stakeholders to overcome factors that limit data use. Responding to this purpose, we present a normative case study on how key drivers can be used to foster a shared view of the residential refuse collection system for supporting policy and process changes. A major finding from our research, however, is that performance management cannot overlook the broader forces of citizenship outcomes that impact the community.

Measuring Coordination and Coherence: Assessing Performance Across the Public Sector

This chapter will bring together two bodies of the literature addressing some of the most important issues in contemporary public administration and governance: policy coordination and performance management.

Performance Management and Governance in Public Universities: Challenges and Opportunities

The goal of this introductory chapter is to outline a set of problematic issues, challenges, and opportunities behind this topic, so to provide a key to the subsequent chapters. How can we frame sustainable performance, if referred to an organization (such as a public HEI) located in a given context? What binds governance with performance management in the field of HEIs? What challenges are associated with different governance perspectives in HEIs? Why linking performance management to governance is particularly crucial in the investigated field?

System Dynamics : Theory and Applications ; Edited by Brian Dangerfield

The Springer volume on “System Dynamics. Theory and Applications” (2020), edited by Brian Dangerfield, substantially contributes to strengthening the position of feedback modeling and simulation in both research and practice in various policy analysis domains. The 23 chapters, of which the book consists, cover a wide scope of fields ranging from theory and methodology (part II) to practical applications of system dynamics (SD) to solve different real-life problems (part III). In particular, the methodological chapters provide a suitable conceptual framework for the subsequent chapters which illustrate the benefits from applying SD to specific policy fields and contexts. A well-balanced mix …

Supporting value creation in SMEs through capacity building and innovation initiatives: the danger of provoking unsustainable rapid growth

Value creation comes in many guises, and may be achieved through expansion and efficiency, innovation and novel processes, and closer alignment with customer needs. This article examines the real dangers to firms, especially small firms, which pursue very ambitious capacity growth plans in order to chase market opportunities. Case analysis has unearthed a new phenomenon, which might be termed ‘business gigantism’ – a situation of rapid and unsustainable growth that places severe strains on the firm. This article briefly recounts two case studies where small firms secured substantial funding to support rapid expansion – in both cases via public agencies. In each case, funding was justified b…

Building dynamic balanced scorecards to enhance strategy design and planning in public utilities. Key-findings from a project in a city water company

Increasing complexity and uncertainty of both business internal and external variables determines a growing need for prompt and accurate information. On this concern, in the last decade, there has been an increasing effort to provide public utilities with tools aimed to support decision makers in planning and control, by taking into account not only operational but also strategic issues. Among them, for 1instance, customer satisfaction, internal business process efficiency, business image, and bargaining power against other counterparts (e.g. the municipal administration). Often, however, such an effort has been oriented to generate a large volume of data, only focused on financial indicato…

Patronage and the Public Service: A Dynamic Performance Governance Perspective

Patronage is one of the enduring issues in public administration. Although the virtues of merit-based recruitment and retention in the public service are extolled widely, patronage of some form persists in many, if not most, countries. By using system dynamics modeling applied to performance governance, this chapter provides an analysis of both the pathological and the eufunctional aspects of patronage appointments in the public sector. It also considers the potential virtues of using patronage appointments. In addition, using a dynamic performance governance model, we examine how patronage may actually improve the performance of public services.

Modelli di system dynamics per il controllo di gestione: l’analisi dei margini

Enhancing strategy design and planning in public utilities through “dynamic” balanced scorecards: insights from a project in a city water company

In the last decade there has been an increasing effort to provide public utilities managers with planning and control tools, to take into account not only operational but also strategic issues. Among them are customer satisfaction, internal business process efficiency, business image, and bargaining power against other counterparts (e.g., the municipal administration). Often, however, such an effort has been oriented to generate a large volume of data, focused only on financial indicators and on a static view of the relevant system. This paper shows how the use of “dynamic” balanced scorecards can significantly improve the planning process in a strategic learning perspective. Insights from …

Enhancing Performance Management and Sustainable Development through e-government policies in Urban Areas

The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how system dynamics modelling can be used in e-government policy and systems as an aid to spport territorial ananlysis, planning and governance, sustainable performance in urban areas and the assessment of policy outcomes. Topics such as renewable energy, efficiency, the design and exploitation of urban energy, water and waste management infrastructure and the alignment of different stakeholders provide relevant fields of study for the analysis of this paper. Specifically, we reflect upon the way in which a preliminary dynamic performance management model of an exemplary case study can be used to foster a common shared view among different policy mak…

MANAGING LEVERS OF ORGANIZATION DESIGN TO ENHANCE SMES’ LONGEVITY: An Agenda for Further Research

SME success is often primarily linked to the personal traits of entrepreneurs and vice versa. In terms of SME failure, most of the literature, research and popular press, seems focused on individual factors, such as those related to the owner/entrepreneur’s profile and behavior, or contextual factors like those associated with relationships between the firm and its own stakeholders, especially on the competitive and financial systems arenas. That said, some scholars have emphasized the relevance of organizational design for SME longevity, though there seems to be little inter-relating of the two sides. This paper examines the relationships between owner/entrepreneur attributes and organizat…

Managing Small Business Growth

Performance analysis of the closed loop supply chain

Purpose The question of resource scarcity and emerging pressure of environmental legislations has brought a new challenge for the manufacturing industry. On the one hand, there is a huge population that demands a large quantity of commodities; on the other hand, these demands have to be met by minimum resources and pollution. Resource conservative manufacturing (ResCoM) is a proposed holistic concept to manage these challenges. The successful implementation of this concept requires cross functional collaboration among relevant fields, and among them, closed loop supply chain is an essential domain. The paper aims to highlight some misconceptions concerning the closed loop supply chain, to d…

Il governo dello svilupo aziendale attraverso modelli di system dynamics

Experimenting lean dynamic performance management systems design in SMEs

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to frame the potential benefits of lean dynamic performance management (PM) systems for small and micro-enterprises. Such systems may exploit the entrepreneur’s tacit knowledge and build on managerial competencies, by incorporating individual attributes into organisational routines. Design/methodology/approach The paper suggests the use of insight models based on the combination of lean PM tools and system dynamics (SD) modelling. Based on a number of exemplary cases, the paper discusses the potential benefits of these models, in respect to four specific contexts: artisan, new company start-up, established firm and micro-giant company. Related to such c…

Giants with Feet of Clay. The Pitfalls in Going for Unbalanced and Unsustainable Growth

Measuring and Managing the Performance of Territories as a hybrid field of study and practice: a System Dynamics Approach

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how system dynamics (SD) modeling can be used to enrich performance management in local government and to foster a common shared view of the relevant system’s structure and behavior among stakeholders for territorial strategic planning. This is a quite hybrid field of analysis in performance measurement/management. In fact, in this context, performance is not primarily related to the single institutions in a regional area; it is rather associated to the territory where they operate. We begin by showing how framing dynamic complexity through SD modeling can support consensus building among different stakeholders in a territory. This shifts the atten…

Pathology and physiology of business ‘dwarfism’ as a structural growth disengagement condition a dynamic resource-based-view

Designing dynamic performance management systems to foster SME competitiveness according to a sustainable development perspective: empirical evidences from a case-study

The role of performance management (PM) systems has become crucial for steering small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to successfully compete during the ongoing critical economic transition. To improve decision-maker strategic learning processes, traditional PM frameworks need to be combined with system dynamics (SD) modelling. This paper shows how to design and use a dynamic performance management (DPM) approach to assess and support SMEs competitiveness according to a sustainable development perspective. The emerging framework is applied to a real case of an Italian small business to analyse the empirical effectiveness of the approach hereby suggested.

Drivers and dynamic processes for SMEs going global

PurposeMany, if not most, small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are subject to the impacts of globalisation. This article seeks to explore the extra dimension of challenge to their already difficult environments when they have to venture into the world‐trade system.Design/methodology/approachRecent research undertaken separately by Polish, Italian, Norwegian and UK collaborators examined eight case studies of disparate smaller companies with international operations. This article brings together the common features found, and discusses them in terms of structural drivers and dynamic implications.FindingsResearch findings include the stretching of capabilities in supporting customers in u…

'Stunted Growth' in small firms: How to turn them Round and Unleash their potential

Fostering sustainable community outcomes through policy networks: a dynamic performance governance approach

This chapter will illustrate how an “outside-in” view of policy making may implement a balanced perspective for assessing sustainable outcomes through an integrated Dynamic Performance Management and Governance framework. In the next sections such a framework will be illustrated and applied to different examples of collaborative networks. In the remaining part of this section practical implications from an “outside-in” view of policy making will be illustrated.

The contribution of "spontaneous" health care networks to improving outcomes: Opportunities and challenges from the perspective of planning and control systems

The article aims to explore how Planning Control systems may support network-oriented policy-making in the health care sector. This work examines the case of ISMETT (Mediterranean Institute for high specialized transplants and therapies), a Sicilian hospital established in 1998 to provide high specialized and complex transplants and therapies. ISMETT pertains to several networks and it has a long-time experience in establishing and governing such inter-organizational relationships. The analysis of the case illustrates how health care networks may contribute to improve health and generate social and economic outcomes for the community.

The Design and Execution of Performance Management Systems at State Level: a Comparative Analysis of Italy and Malaysia

Performance management is maturing as an effective approach in public organizations around the world in improving public services. However, the existing models, based primarily on best practices of first-world nations, have limitations that must be addressed. One of which is the relative lack of attention to the context of performance management reform. This international comparative case study analyses the experience of Italy and Malaysia in the design and execution of performance management systems at the national level. It seeks to contribute to the comparative literature on performance management across national jurisdictions. Italy and Malaysia also offer a contrasting study given thei…

“Pursuing Community Resilience through Outcome-Based Public Policies: Challenges and Opportunities for the Design of Performance Management Systems”

The purpose of this symposium is to contribute to the ongoing debate on this topic in the public administration literature by exploring the contribution of performance management in the implementation of effective governance systems that may foster community resilience, especially to social “wicked” problems. The set of articles hosted in this issue provides a variegated mix of ideas and experiences in this field, encompassing different countries (from Northern to Southern Europe, and Canada), sectors (including labor, healthcare, tourism, and public utilities), and methodological approaches. An empirical perspective is adopted by the authors, involving case studies, interviews, and field r…

Territorial Governance, E-Government and Sustainable Development Policy: A System Dynamics Approach

Part 1: Research Foundations; International audience; The goal of this paper is to demonstrate how system dynamics modelling can be used in e-government policy and systems as an aid to spport territorial ananlysis, planning and governance, sustainable performance in urban areas and the assessment of policy outcomes. Topics such as renewable energy, efficiency, the design and exploitation of urban energy, water and waste management infrastructure and the alignment of different stakeholders provide relevant fields of study for the analysis of this paper. Specifically, we reflect upon the way in which a preliminary dynamic performance management model of an exemplary case study can be used to …

Applying Dynamic Performance Management to Public Sector Organizations

This chapter will illustrate different examples of DPM applied to public sector organizations.

Unleashing Growth Potential in ‘Stunted’ SMEs: Insights from Simulator Experiments

The literature recognises the phenomenon of 'dwarf' or 'stunted' small and micro firms (in Italian nanismo aziendale) and that they might represent potential lost opportunities for owners and the local economy. This paper describes the development of a simple 'insight' model to simulate the behaviour of such firms. The model replicates the basic no-growth, cyclical behaviour attributed to them and shows how changes in targets and attitudes towards asset management can change that behaviour to one of stable growth. In this simple form, the model does link behaviours to system structure and could support individual entrepreneurs in understanding the reasons for dwarfism in their firm and the …

Applying system dynamics modeling to foster a cause-and-effect perspective in dealing with behavioral distortions associated with a city's performance measurement programs

This paper aims to show how applying system dynamics methodology to performance management can provide a powerful modeling perspective enabling public sector organizations to prevent, detect, and counteract behavioral distortions associated with performance measurement. A dynamic performance management approach is able to support performance management system designers in outlining and implementing a consistent set of measures that can allow public sector decision-makers to pursue sustainable organizational learning and development. This perspective implies a major shift from a static to a dynamic picture of organizational processes and results. It means framing delays between causes and ef…

Introducing SD modelling into planning and control systems to manage SMEs' growth: a learning-oriented perspective

This article emphasises the need for a learning-oriented approach to planning and control as a prerequisite for SMEs’ survival and growth. Such a perspective can be effectively pursued through the development of interactive learning environments linking system dynamics (SD) and accounting models, which provide two complementary views of business phenomena. In order to properly support the drawing up of business plans and the evaluation of results associated with their implementation, the use of financial SD models embodying the accounting perspective is recommended. This is likely to enhance a shift in SME key actors’ minds, as they will be able to analyse under the feedback view financial …

Dealing with Multi-Level Governance and Wicked Problems in Urban Transportation Systems: The Case of Palermo Municipality

Italian New Public Management (NPM) has been mainly characterized by a political orientation toward power decentralization to local governments and privatization of public companies. Nowadays, local utilities in Italy are often run by joint stock companies controlled by public agencies such as Regional and Municipal Administrations. Due to this transformation, these companies must comply with a set of diverse expectations coming from a wide range of stakeholders, related to their financial, competitive and social performance. Such fragmented governance increases the presence of “wicked” problems in the decision-making sphere of these entities. Given this multi-level governance structure, ho…

Structural Growth Disengagement and value creation in small and micro-firms. Mapping pathologies and physiologies of business dwarfism in a dynamic resource-based view

This paper focuses growth disengagement, in the perspective of those firms who have been keeping their structures, processes and relational systems unchanged for a very long time. The implicit hypothesis according to which such businesses are affected by a structural disease, are not able to create any significant value, and characterised by similar features, is critically discussed. Through an analysis of the phenomenon in the business growth and dynamic resource-based-view, a first attempt taxonomy, based on case-studies, is sketched. It is demonstrated how the implicit assumption according to which such firms are affected by a pathological condition is false, at least if seen as an a pri…

Using System Dynamics ILEs to enhance Intellectual Capital policies in service businesses

Enhancing Joined-Up Government and Outcome-Based Performance Management through System Dynamics Modelling to Deal with Wicked Problems: the Case of Societal Ageing

The paper by Auping et al. (2015) focuses on the topic of societal ‘ageing’, that is, ‘a population process, caused by declining fertility and mortality rates, which manifests itself in the growing number of older persons in society’ (Huber, 2005). A broader definition frames societal ageing as a ‘demographic, structural, cultural and economic transformation resultant from the increase in the number and proportion of “older” people within society’ (Victor, 2005, p. 5). ‘Double societal ageing’ today characterizes most developed countries, which experience both an increase in the percentage of older people and in their life expectancy. In terms of public policy and finance, the relevance of …

MODELLI DI SYSTEM DYNAMICS PER IL MIGLIORAMENTO DELLA PERFORMANCE AZIENDALE. VERSO UN SISTEMA DI PROGRAMMAZIONE E CONTROLLO PER LO SVILUPPO SOSTENIBILE

Il libro affronta il tema del governo dello sviluppo sostenibile e del miglioramento della performance aziendale attraverso sistemi di programmazione e controllo che si avvalgano di modelli di system dynamics. Il testo è corredato da numerosi casi applicativi e modelli di simulazione. I casi e i modelli riportati derivano da applicazioni realizzate presso aziende operanti in settori diversi (es. telecomunicazioni, assicurazioni, tessile, servizi bancari, produzione su commessa, commercio all’ingrosso) e con riferimento a problematiche differenti. Gli ambiti decisionali analizzati con i modelli riportati nel libro tendono a coprire gli aspetti maggiormente critici della gestione strategica e…

Overcoming Myopic Behaviour in Intellectual Capital Policies through Interactive Learning Environments based on System Dynamics and Accounting Models

Enhancing policy design and sustainable community outcomes through collaborative platforms based on a dynamic performance management and governance approach

This chapter aims at illustrating how a Dynamic Performance Management and Governance approach may support the implementation of “collaborative platforms” (Ansell and Gash, 2018) to enhance network policy design and the pursuit of sustainable community outcomes. This is an emerging field of research, embracing performance management, collaborative governance, and systems theory, aimed at fostering a learning-oriented perspective in performance data use. Such a view has been also referred as “collaborative performance management”, i.e., the “sharing of resources and information among different actors for the purposes of achieving a formal performance goal” (Choi and Moynihan, 2019, p. 1539).…

Dealing with abnormal business growth by leveraging local area common goods: an outside-in stakeholder collaboration perspective

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to illustrate how for a business located in a local area that does not portray the characteristics of the “Silicon Valley” stereotype, developing a strategy that pretends to autonomously set its boundary spanning may lead to unsustainable growth.Design/methodology/approachThis work suggests Dynamic Performance Management (DPM) as a method to implement an outcome-based view of sustainable development of small- and micro-sized organizations in their own context. A case study shows how collaboration between the public and the business sector may improve local area's outcomes and develop common goods in the context.FindingsAmong the “abnormally-grown” small-a…

Introduction to the Symposium on Exploring the Complexities of Performance Management

ABSTRACTThe editors of this symposium hope that this collection of articles can help advance the public administration literature stream across the multiple organizational and cultural settings in which these performance management studies were conducted. However, this symposium also focused on articles that can help advance the practice of performance management, where specific recommendations are needed to help public officials collect, analyze, and use meaningful outcome measures specifically for the benefits for making better management and policy decisions.

Opportunities and Pitfalls in Public policies for SME districts: A dynamic resource-based-view