An empirical examination of performance measurement for managing continuous innovation in logistics

Abstract

Performance measurement within organisations identifies areas of a business that need attention and improvement. The measurement and control of logistics performance requires the selection of critical performance measures and the development of information systems to gather required data, report on variance analysis and recommend corrective action. The logistics function is increasing in its strategic importance as more and more firms in developed economies such as Singapore and Australia are forced to compete globally to survive. Innovative firms measure outcomes of strategies and action plans to ensure that systems and processes allow for continuing improvement. The key objective of the research reported in this paper was to investigate the performance measures used in logistics firms and their significance in enabling improvements and continuous innovation in logistics operations. The study adapted and refined the CIMA model for Continuous Innovation and used it as the basis for indepth case studies on 10 firms from Singapore and Australia. The findings show that logistics firms are placing an increasing importance on performance measurement, and using a broader spectrum of performance measures, due to the dynamic business environment. This study provides important lessons for managers in logistics organisations (and in organisations that include a logistics function) because the timely and effective measurement of outcomes is imperative for firms wishing to examine the effectiveness of their innovation processes and competitiveness in the marketplace.

Information Quality and Supply Chain Performance: The Mediating Role of Information Sharing

“…Performance measurements are useful diagnostic tools for better decision-making and a key requirement of successful continuous innovation (Soosay & Chapman, 2006). Researchers have proposed various frameworks for supply chain performance, in order to qualify the efficiency and the effectiveness of the supply chain, where different dimensions of supply chain performance are considered (Lin, Huang & Li, 2002;Lin & Li, 2010;Gunasekaran et al, 2004;Sillanpää & Kess, 2011).…”

Continuous Innovation: A Literature Review and Future Perspective

“…The studies on the CI and its application in various sectors, scales, and types of industry, such as manufacture industry [5], [6], services industry [7], [8], social sector [9], high-tech industrial cluster [10], Small and Medium-sized enterprises or clusters [11], [13], mature and slow moving industry [14], and rapidly changing industry [15], indicated that there are different definitions and concept of "continuous innovation". The connotation of the word "continuous" in several studies are sometimes linked to the extent to which the innovation change is made, such as continuous improvement [16].…”

Procurement Strategies in Multi-Layered Supply Chains

“…Performance measures may also be classified according to their strategic or operational usage (e.g. Soosay and Chapman 2006). For instance, strategic performance measures would comprise key metrics for leadership, strategic planning, human resource management, customer satisfaction, and process quality.…”

“…In case any of the quadrants is empty after all parameters are entered, the area should be revised again to be sure it is either on purpose that there is no entrance or until the white spot area is filled. The division into strategic and operational performance measures has been researched in field studies (Soosay & Chapman, 2006). They show that there is a disproportionate focus on costs (42%) over non-cost measures such as quality (28%), time (19%), flexibility (10%), and innovativeness (1%).…”