Cranfield School of Management

About the Centre for Business Performance

Aims

The Centre for Business Performance brings together leading edge academic research with practical tools and extensive experience from collaborating closely with industry. This blend of theoretical rigorous research and practical application has placed CBP at the forefront of performance measurement and management.

Our research and development activity tackles one or more of the four main challenges in performance measurement and management. These are:

• The design of performance measurement systems
• The implementation of performance measurement systems
• The management of organisations using measurement systems, and
• The evolution of performance measurement systems.

We also have an ongoing stream of work exploring: -

1. the impact that measurement systems have on organisations and their performance,
2. how organisations can maximise the benefits of performance measurement and management
3. the relationship between the measurement and management systems of an organisation and
   1. target setting
   2. reward systems
   3. plans and budgets
   4. HR practices
   5. government and regulatory systems

Maximising the benefits of performance measurement can be a daunting task, so CBP have created a series of workshops and conferences to help directors and managers design, implement and manage performance measurement systems. Using tools and techniques crafted over the past fifteen years and honed in practice, the programmes cover high level overviews through to a four day design and implementation programme and specific individual workshops.

Tools and Techniques

CBP has developed and tested a series of tools and techniques to help directors, managers and consultants:

• The Performance Prism - a multi-stakeholder performance measurement framework that guides performance measurement design in outward looking businesses and public sector organisations
• The Performance Measurement Record Sheet - a template for designing appropriate performance measures especially useful for the softer areas such as customer loyalty and employee satisfaction
• The Catalogue of Measures - a comprehensive catalogue of measures to help companies in their measurement quest
• Implementation Pre-Assessment - a tool for gauging the probability of success prior to embarking on an expensive performance measurement project
• The Performance Planning Value Chain - a framework for managing through measures
• The Performance Dash Board - a software supported tool for displaying and communicating performance.

These tools and techniques were all developed from a theoretical base but are heavily rooted in practice having been perfected through extensive testing and use. Both CBP's publicly offered workshops and tailored incompany development programmes draw heavily on the use of tools and techniques. The tools allow a process approach to performance measurement giving managers a structure to work from whilst allowing them the freedom to create tailored solutions for use in their own organisations.

Training and Education

CBP runs a series of courses and conferences on performance measurement, performance management, planning and budgeting, intangible assets and associated subjects.

Roundtables

CBP has been running Roundtables with practitioners since 1997. Our Roundtables have enabled a vigorous exchange of ideas between those involved. They have facilitated extensive networking and exchanges of good practice as well as keeping CBP's research firmly grounded in this emerging field.

CBP now runs two Roundtables:-

• Business Performance Roundtable that focuses on the leading issues and practices in the area.
• Public Sector Performance Roundtable that focuses on the issues of performance measurement and management that pertain to the public sector. Member organisations include a wide cross section of public sector organisations.

PhD and other Research

Besides the government and industrially sponsored research projects, CBP has a research agenda of its own that it pursues through PhD and other research.

History

The Centre is the largest of its kind and its members are internationally recognised as innovators in the field of performance measurement and management.

The Centre for Business Performance has a history going back to 1992 when research work started at Cambridge University. The initial research focused on "How should balanced performance measurement systems be designed?" The output was a process that helped practicing senior managers and directors decide what to measure, design appropriate measures and use these in their businesses.