Archive for August, 2010

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The 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

The Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University has released the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).

Harvard University remains on the first place for the eight time, whereas other seven US universities (Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Princeton, Columbia and Chicago) are in top 10 (Center for World-Class Universities, 2010):

Source:  Center for World-Class Universities, 2010 (click for higher resolution)

Moreover, the US accounts more than half (54 universities) in the top 100.

In Europe, the UK has as best ranked universities Cambridge (5th position) and Oxford (10th position).  Other recognized European universities are:

  • ETH Zurich (23rd) in Switzerland
  • Paris 6 (39th) in France
  • Copenhagen (40th) in Denmark
  • Karolinska (42nd) in Sweden
  • Utrecht (50th) in Netherlands

From the Asia-Pacific, the best ranked are:

  • Tokyo (20th) in Japan
  • ANU (59th) and Melbourne (62nd) in Australia

Along with the overall ranking, the rankings for broad fields and rankings for subjects have also been published. For example, for Natural Sciences and Mathematics, the top three universities are Harvard, Berkley and Cambridge, whereas for Mathematics alone, the top three are Princeton, Berkeley and Harvard.

To visit the complete results, please follow: http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp.

About the ARWU

The Academic Ranking of World Universities is published annually by the Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, starting with 2003.

Based on a set of objective indicators and third-party data, the best universities in the world are nominated and hierarchized in three types of rankings:

  • Overall ranking (tops 100, 101-200, 201-300, 301-400, 401-500)
  • Field ranking (Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Engineering / Technology and Computer Sciences, Life and Agriculture Sciences, Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy, Social Sciences)
  • Subject ranking (Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics / Business)

Source: Center for World-Class Universities (2010)

Reference

Center for World-Class Universities of Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2010, ARWU 2010 Press Release, available at: http://www.arwu.org/ARWU_2010_press_release.jsp (accessed 17 August 2010).

Further information

In a previous blog post, smartKPIs.com has presented the 2009 ARWU, as well as some other international academic rankings (such as the Global University City Index, World Universities Rankings THS & QS and others).

smartKPIs.com contains more than 40 Key Performance Indicator examples used in the field of Academic Education, as well as performance reports from more than 35 academic institutions worldwide.

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Professional Services Performance Management – performance criteria and measures

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Professional Services have some particularities that make them different from commercial activities in many respects, such as:

  • The way they relate with the customer: they see themselves / are seen as subject matter experts in an area, thus an equilibrium between their advice and the customer needs must always be maintained;
  • Internally, they might find it difficult to establish a culture and work practices that will reconcile both the more experienced (in many cases, the founders) and the more young and enthusiastic or to correctly assess the contribution and reward each individual within the organization.

Thus, there are at least two perspectives that the Professional Services firms must consider when addressing both their external and internal-focused performance issues.

On one hand, they have to attain the clients’ expectations in terms of quality, timeliness, adequacy of the solutions and services they provide (and these will often be formally measured by the customer himself).

On the other hand, they have to be able to attain internal alignment and correct evaluations of performance of the teams and individual consultants.

Regarding the first perspective, especially in the case of clients that are public authorities that resort to private consulting services, formal evaluation methodologies are being used.

In the public sector, it is considered that consultants are used to deliver a specific project or piece of research, also based on their recognition of the added value they can bring over a civil servant (UK Office of Government Commerce 2006).  The UK based Office of Government Commerce (OGC), together with Management Consultancies Association and the Institute of Management Consultancy developed a framework for the value criteria in working with Professional Services representatives, aimed at identifying and expressing the value expectations at the beginning of the assignment that will also provide the baseline against which delivery can be assessed in the post-assignment stage (OGC 2006). In this context, an important focus is put on the flow of the various stages in the project, from the business case (which identifies the value needed to be delivered), to the development of the specifications (explaining how the value will be created), followed by the delivery of the value and, finally, the measurement of the value delivered:

Source: OGC (2006)

The importance of having clear and correct performance standards for the Professional Services firms, mainly in the case of clients in the public sector, is outlined also by the fact that contracting them is not a matter of personal option of the public representative in charge, but it follows a specific public procurement procedure and it involves reporting to stakeholders on various levels, ultimately to the community itself, which is the final beneficiary (although not always directly) of the services.

Mike Cameron from Bozz Allen Hamilton (2004) suggested a three-levels Performance Work Statement (PWS) to be used in the procurement of Professional Services:

  • Performance Requirements (describes measurable results that must be attained)
  • Performance Standards (refers to the acceptable quality of these results)
  • Performance Measurement (describes how measurement will be done)

This framework must be able to answer two simple questions (Cameron 2004):

  • What problem are we trying to solve?
  • How will we know when we solved it?

Thus, Professional Services firms must be aware and have good knowledge of what are their clients’ requirements in terms of performance and further on translate these standards and criteria into how they deliver their work and how they can make an assessment of their own. This assessment will not only reflect the alignment to customer requirements, but also the internal competences (in terms of people, resources, processes etc.).

smartKPIs.com contains more than 100 popular Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) used in the Professional Services industry, for businesses in Consulting, Accounting Services, Recruitment & Employment, Engineering or Legal Practice. To explore the KPI examples, follow: http://www.smartkpis.com/kpi/industries/professional-services/.

References

Cameron, M (Bozz Allen Hamilton) 2004, Performance Criteria for Professional Services, Service Acquisition Center of Excellence Open Ceremony, November 18, 2004.

smartKPIs.com, Key Performance Indicator Examples in the Professional Services Industry, available at: http://www.smartkpis.com/kpi/industries/professional-services/ (accessed 13th July 2010).

UK Office of Government Commerce 2006, What value do consultants add?, available at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/ (accessed 13th August 2010).

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Over 4700 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) examples on www.smartKPIs.com

Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Registered members of the www.smartKPIs.com community can now select their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from over 4700 performance measures documented and published in the online repository. The team focused over the last few days on publishing examples from the State/Federal Government and Local Government sectors.

The functional areas with the highest number of KPI examples are:

The industries with the highest number of documented performance measures are:

Example of a documented performance measure: # Net expenditure per head of population

Registered member experience on http://www.smartKPIs.com

  • Learn: To learn more about performance management and Key Performance Management visit the Resources section.
  • Explore: To explore the library of KPI examples by navigating the functional area and industry directory, visit the Browse KPIs section.
  • Customize: To build your customized KPI library by saving favorite examples for later use, visit the My KPIs section.
  • Contribute: To propose a new example of KPI, visit the Submit KPIs section.
  • Collaborate: To collaborate with other users and to discuss KPI examples, add comments on each KPI description page, ask questions on smartKPIs Answers, or contribute to the smartKPIs Forum.
registered members

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Canon – kyosei, humanity and excellence

Saturday, August 14th, 2010

smartKPIs.com Performance Architect update 32/2010

Canon Inc. is today one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world. They produce paper copying machines, printers, projectors, binoculars and calculators and cameras among others. While their products are widely appreciated for their quality and demonstrated craftsmanship, the business philosophy of the organization is truly intriguing. It is characterized by simplicity, long term thinking, humanism and harmony. It is also well communicated and most importantly, it works.

Discovering this philosophy is easy: it is two clicks away from the homepage: “Corporate info” and “About Canon”. The emphasis on people and dialogue starts with a message from top management. It shows that the company is made of people and thrives on the relationship with people. Messages from both Fujio Mitarai (Chairman and CEO) and Tsuneji Uchida (President and COO) conclude with the same phrase “…look forward to your continued understanding and support.” Both messages are brief and the key themes are illustrated by several keywords: Excellent Global Corporation Plan, total optimization and profit, Improved management quality, corporate philosophy of kyosei, overwhelming No.1 market position in all current business areas, “cross-media imaging”, joining the ranks of the world’s top 100 companies in terms of all key business performance indicators, spirit of “Speed and Quality”.

A unique characteristic of Canon’s corporate profile is having a declared corporate philosophy – kyosei. This was announced in 1988 and now used in Japan to express a range of meanings. Canon’s interpretation of the term is stated as: “All people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future.” While a big ask coming from an electronics manufacturer, it outlines a commitment to cut across traditional boundaries of corporate priorities and operate using an integrative approach. This desiderate is more than corporate discourse, as it is supported by a long term plan to get closer to it.

The “Excellent Global Corporation Plan” was launched in 1996 and is now in the final year of its third phase. Five key strategies characterize this phase:

  • Achieve the overwhelming No.1 position worldwide in all current core businesses
  • Expand business operations through diversification
  • Identify new business domains and accumulate required technologies
  • Establish new production systems to sustain international competitiveness
  • Nurture truly autonomous individuals and promote effective corporate reforms

Of these, the most intriguing one is the inclusion of a people oriented strategy along with strategies that fall in the traditional business domain. This latter strategy is described as aiming at nurturing future global leaders and cultivating individuals society can rely on. It may sound surprising coming from an electronics manufacturer, as such aims are generally in the realm of educational institutions. It is however a type of thinking that should perhaps be embraced by more organizations committed to improving the quality of life in the 21st century.

Canon’s corporate DNA is simply illustrated by three elements: respect for humanity, emphasis on technology and enterprising spirit.

At an individual level, three guiding principles form the “San-ji spirit”, which dates back to the establishment of the company:

  • Self-motivation - Take the initiative and be proactive in all things;
  • Self-management – Conduct oneself with responsibility and accountability;
  • Self-awareness - Understand one’s situation and role in all situations.

The Key Performance Indicators used by Canon in managing its growth are illustrated in a separate section of the Annual Report:

  • Net sales
  • Gross profit to net sales ratio
  • R&D expense to net sales ratio
  • Operating profit to net sales ratio
  • Inventory turnover measured in days
  • Debt to total assets ratio
  • Canon Inc. stockholders’ equity to total assets ratio

While they are dominated by financial ratios, they reflect the same approach as with the corporate strategy – simple and informative. Each KPI is explained in detail in the 2009 Annual Report (p.44-45), outlining the reasons for selecting them, the value they add and the way they are calculated.

Illustrating how Canon’s business philosophy goes beyond discourse to making a difference, the latest press releases featured on the homepage this month, represent a sincere combination of humanity and excellence:

All part of a forward looking corporate philosophy:

“…the presence of imbalances in the world in such areas as trade, income levels and the environment hinders the achievement of kyosei. Addressing these imbalances is an ongoing mission, and Canon is doing its part by actively pursuing kyosei. True global companies must foster good relations, not only with their customers and the communities in which they operate, but also with nations and the environment. They must also bear the responsibility for the impact of their activities on society. For this reason, Canon’s goal is to contribute to global prosperity and people’s well-being, which will lead to continuing growth and bring the world closer to achieving kyosei”

Stay smart! Enjoy smartKPIs.com!

Aurel Brudan

Performance Architect,

www.smartKPIs.com

Walker, Rob 1992, “Rank Xerox – Management Revolution”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 9 to 21

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Individual performance management and the use of metrics in the world of scientific research

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Image by David Parkins, @ 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited

In a recent blog post, ‘Metrics in science – Performance Measurement and the world of scientific research’, we have outlined the most important performance measures for the scientific field as presented by the researcher Richard van Noorden (2010) in the weekly international scientific journal ‘Nature’. The post concluded that the provision of metrics that invaded the field of science in the last decades needs closer review before being used, as oftentimes simple measures can better reflect scientific performance aspects than more sophisticated and complicated measures. Acknowledgment for the need of reflection and consolidation in the field of scientific performance measurement was also emphasized. Continuing this line of inquiry, a new question is explored in more detail below:

How does performance measurement influence the careers of researchers in regards to matters such as hire, promotion or tenure?

The premise that “no scientific career can be summarized by a number” is the starting point of the research study initiated by the Nature magazine. It argues that there are other things that can recommend a good scientist,  which need to be taken in consideration when making an individual performance assessment in addition to:

• # Published papers

• # Impact factor of the journals published in

• # Citation frequency of the published papers

• $ Amount of grant money earned, or

• # H-index

However, from the 150 researchers that responded to the research poll, a vast number considered that the metrics of scientific performance represent a major factor in hiring decisions, tenure decisions, promotions or performance reviews / appraisal.

Source: Nature, Do metrics matter?, @ 2010 Macmillan Publishers Limited

The study also revealed that the most important criteria for scientist evaluation, in the poll respondent’s view, were grants and income, number of publication in high impact journals and citations of published research. These findings are doubled up by a high proportion of respondents that were unsatisfied by the way some of the measures are used in performance assessments, considering that too much credit is given to objective measurement and less to qualitative reviews, such as letters of recommendation from people in the field, or reviews of the work by peers outside the department or institution.

Surprisingly however, when asked to rate the most important criteria that should be used to evaluate researchers, the poll revealed that number of publication in high impact journals, grants earned, training and mentoring students and the number of citations on published research stood out in the respondents choice.

On the other side of the barricades, the administrators and evaluators, when interviewed in regards with the same matters insisted that metrics don’t matter nearly as much for hiring, promotion and tenure as the poll respondents seemed to think.

Despite these mixed opinions, the bottom line, as revealed by the Nature study remains that:

• 51% of respondents said that they have changed their behavior because of the way they are evaluated;

• 71% of respondents said that they are concerned their colleagues can ‘game’ or ‘cheat’ the systems for evaluation in their institutions.

Summing all these findings, one conclusion that can be reached at is that the problem doesn’t necessarily sit with the use of metrics in researcher’s performance evaluation process but more with the way these measures are used. Thus the challenge, as it is acknowledged also by the study authors is not to reduce the reliance on metrics, but to give more clarity, consistency and transparency to the performance appraisal process.

Integrating the individual performance evaluation in a more comprehensive context of a performance management system and aligning the objectives from the individual level with those from the operational and strategic level can be one of the solutions to strengthen and give more clarity, consistency and direction to the individual performance appraisal process viewed from an integrated, organizational performance perspective.

Question such as: Do metrics matter? What can be done to streamline the performance monitoring  and appraisal process at the individual level? continue to generate interest in both researcher and practitioner communities.

References

Additional resources

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Over 4600 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) examples on www.smartKPIs.com

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Registered members of the www.smartKPIs.com community can now select their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from over 4600 performance measures documented and published in the online repository. The team focused over the last few days on publishing examples from the  State/Federal Government and Local Government sectors.

The functional areas with the highest number of KPI examples are:

The industries with the highest number of documented performance measures are:

Example of a documented performance measure: # Average response time to structural fires

Registered member experience on http://www.smartKPIs.com

  • Learn: To learn more about performance management and Key Performance Management visit the Resources section.
  • Explore: To explore the library of KPI examples by navigating the functional area and industry directory, visit the Browse KPIs section.
  • Customize: To build your customized KPI library by saving favorite examples for later use, visit the My KPIs section.
  • Contribute: To propose a new example of KPI, visit the Submit KPIs section.
  • Collaborate: To collaborate with other users and to discuss KPI examples, add comments on each KPI description page, ask questions on smartKPIs Answers, or contribute to the smartKPIs Forum.
registered members

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Evaluating universities based on the financial success of their graduates

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

In 2008, Forbes ranked the top billionaire universities based on a performance indicator measuring the number of billionaire graduates.

The 2008 top five billionaire universities (Farell, 2008) are:

With a a $35 billion endowment, Harvard is consistently ranked as one of the top schools in the country, being the best-funded college in the United States.

The performance of universities as centers of academic education can also be measured through other performance indicators, such as:

For further examples of performance indicators, explore the Academic Education KPI examples section of the library of KPI examples available on smartkpis.com (smartKPIs.com, 2010).

References:

Farrell, A 2008, The Billionaire Universities, available at: http://www.forbes.com/2008/05/19/billionaires-harvard-education-biz-billies-cx_af_0519billieu.html (accessed 08 August 2010)

smartKPIs.com 2010, Academic Education KPI examples, available at: http://www.smartkpis.com/kpi/industries/education-training/academic-education/ (accessed 08 August 2010)

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Over 4500 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) examples on www.smartKPIs.com

Tuesday, August 10th, 2010

Registered members of the www.smartKPIs.com community can now select their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from over 4500 performance measures documented and published in the online repository. The team focused over the last few days on publishing examples from the Hospitality & Tourism,  State/Federal Government and Local Government sectors.

The functional areas with the highest number of KPI examples are:

The industries with the highest number of documented performance measures are:

Example of a documented performance measure: % City unemployment rate

Registered member experience on http://www.smartKPIs.com

  • Learn: To learn more about performance management and Key Performance Management visit the Resources section.
  • Explore: To explore the library of KPI examples by navigating the functional area and industry directory, visit the Browse KPIs section.
  • Customize: To build your customized KPI library by saving favorite examples for later use, visit the My KPIs section.
  • Contribute: To propose a new example of KPI, visit the Submit KPIs section.
  • Collaborate: To collaborate with other users and to discuss KPI examples, add comments on each KPI description page, ask questions on smartKPIs Answers, or contribute to the smartKPIs Forum.
registered members

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Marketing Performance Management tools

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Marketing has been for some time one of the core organizational functions. Especially in today’s competitive global economy, the marketing capability is vital for success.  As a result, Marketing Performance Management is gaining importance on marketers’ agendas, from both improvement and accountability perspectives.

The Marketing Science Institute from USA has ranked marketing accountability, ROI (return on marketing investment) and MPMS (marketing performance management systems) among the top 10 priorities in marketing research since 2002 and as top-priority for 2008-2010 (Lamberti & Noci, 2010).

Source: Kennedy (2006)

Marketing Performance Management has several dimensions, depending on the perspective of the measurement (whether it regards marketing results for the organization as a whole, or performance within the marketing department) and depending on the aspect under evaluation (whether it is branding, customer etc.).

Two of the most popular marketing performance measurement tools are:

  1. Marketing Scorecard – contains KPIs that the marketing function uses to assess performance of the department as an entity in itself. It outlines the objectives of the function and their corresponding KPIs, grouped by perspectives (such as the traditional Balanced Scorecard ones).
  2. Marketing Dashboard – contains KPIs that reflect the results of the marketing capability at organizational level, such as aspects related to the market position, customer analysis, brand dimensions etc. Marketing Dashboards can also be developed for specific aspects of the activities, such as Customer Dashboard or Brand Dashboard.

A Customer Dashboard can be organized around aspects such as, among others:

Having these things clearly streamlined is very useful when organizing the Marketing Performance Management system and architecture, as it helps focusing on the most relevant aspects and organizing data in a structured and articulated manner.

References

Kennedy, N 2006, Google marketing principles, available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/niallkennedy/102935116/ (accessed 9th July 2010).

Lamberti, L & Noci, G 2010, ‘Marketing strategy and marketing performance measurement system: Exploring the relationship,’ European Management Journal, vol. 28, pp. 139-152.

smartKPIs.com, Key Performance Indicator Examples in Marketing & Communications Functional Area, available at: http://www.smartkpis.com/kpi_examples/dashboard/ (accessed 9th July 2010)

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Over 4400 Key Performance Indicator (KPI) examples on www.smartKPIs.com

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Registered members of the www.smartKPIs.com community can now select their Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from over 4400 performance measures documented and published in the online repository. The team focused over the last few days on publishing examples from the Hospitality, Healthcare, State/Federal Government and Local Government sectors.

The functional areas with the highest number of KPI examples are:

The industries with the highest number of documented performance measures are:

Example of a documented performance measure: $ Average cost of ambulance tours per day

Registered member experience on http://www.smartKPIs.com

  • Learn: To learn more about performance management and Key Performance Management visit the Resources section.
  • Explore: To explore the library of KPI examples by navigating the functional area and industry directory, visit the Browse KPIs section.
  • Customize: To build your customized KPI library by saving favorite examples for later use, visit the My KPIs section.
  • Contribute: To propose a new example of KPI, visit the Submit KPIs section.
  • Collaborate: To collaborate with other users and to discuss KPI examples, add comments on each KPI description page, ask questions on smartKPIs Answers, or contribute to the smartKPIs Forum.
registered members

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Learning from practice – A brief history of performance measurement

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

smartKPIs.com Performance Architect update 31/2010

Measurement is in the realm of mathematics. It is about keeping track, about establishing dimensions. Some of the earliest measurement activities in human history track back to 35,000 B.C. (Lebombo bone) and 9,000-6,500 B.C. (Ishango bone). Researchers consider them the first measurement tools in human history used for measuring intervals of time.

The Salamis metrological relief, dating back to the 4th century B.C. is considered an important measurement tool for architecture, as it illustrates the correlation between the different measuring systems used in Ancient Greece: Doric, Ionic and Common. This unification facilitated the construction of one of the symbols of civilization: the Parthenon, incorporating beauty, science and art.

In a business, measuring is linked to the use of money and can be traced back to Mesopotamia, where writing was first invented (3100 BC), banking was first developed (3000-2000 BC), and laws were first used to regulate banking operations (1792 – 1750 BC, The Code of Hammurabi).

Standards around measurement in a business environment are owed to the Venetians, who evaluated the performance of their sailing expeditions by calculating the difference between the investment made by the ship owner and the money obtained by selling the goods brought back by the journey. Venice merchant’s need for a more elaborate approach to evaluating outcomes lead to double-entry bookkeeping system, described by Luca Pacioli’s: ‘Summa de arithmetica, geometrica, proportioni et proportionalita’ (‘Everything on arithmetic, geometry, proportions and proportionality’), published in Venice in 1494. While Pacioli is considered today the “father of accounting”, the emergence of the discipline represents one of the earliest illustrations of learning from practice.

From this point on, the evolution of measurement in business was driven by three institutions: church, military and the public service, at both organizational and individual level. In mid 1500s, Ignatius Layola instituted a procedure to formally rate members of the Jesuit Society. In 1648 Dublin Evening Post in Ireland evaluated legislators by using a rating scale based upon personal qualities. Most Western armies did appraisals as early as the 19th century.

One of the earliest books on performance measurement that used used the term “measure” in the context of evaluating performance is: Efficient Democracy, by William Harvey Allen. It was written in 1907, not before the age of management consultants, business schools and strategy gurus. Allen was a practitioner, secretary of the Committee on Physical Welfare of School Children and General Agent of the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. He wrote on education, healthcare and philanthropy.

In 1920-1925 DuPont started using Return on Investment as a performance measure, one in a long series of business and technology innovations that emerged from the company.

In 1951, General Electric introduced the use of key corporate performance measure, through an initiative commissioned by the then CEO, Ralph Cordiner. The selected measures were grouped in categories such as market share, productivity, employee attitudes and public responsibility.

In the 1970s, General Motors used a system of performance measures that included non-financial indicators, considered a precursor of the Balanced Scorecard as measurement tool as introduced in 1992.

In the 1990s, performance measures use gained in popularity across a variety of sectors, most importantly in government. Not all implementations of performance management systems were smooth sailing and sometimes they generated more harm than good. However, both good and bad experiences contributed to making more informed decisions about the use of measures by learning from practice.

Where does all this history lead us? Practice has lead the emergence of management concepts and not the other way around. The use of performance measures has evolved organically over time, consultants being facilitators and enabler of better results, but not drivers.

Regarding the popularity of performance measurement terminology, as of August 2010, www.google.com searches illustrated the following results:

  • “kpi” = 9,670,000 results
  • “kpis” = 3,480,000 results
  • “key performance indicator” = 215,000 results
  • “key performance indicators” = 1,190,000 results
  • “performance measure” = 1,150,000 results
  • “performance measures” = 2,180,000 results

Ultimately, as Protagoras of Abdera said in Ancient Greece:“Man is the measure of all things.”

Stay smart! Enjoy smartKPIs.com!

Aurel Brudan
Performance Architect
www.smartKPIs.com

Walker, Rob 1992, “Rank Xerox – Management Revolution”, Long Range Planning, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 9 to 21

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