Business Performance Analytics: level of adoption and support provided to Performance Measurement Systems

Despite several studies on the importance of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS), often their implementation is considered insufficient or unsatisfactory. This situation is motivating research on several issues: PMS design and focus, cultural and technological aspects, and the specific contexts of implementation. This paper introduces Business Performance Analytics (BPA) as an important framework for successful PMS design and adoption. Specifically, it defines BPA as the use of data and analytical methods to understand and control business dynamics and performance. Based on an exploratory survey on a group of global companies, the paper highlights the importance of measurement not fully delivered by current PMS, together with a first examination of the implementation of BPA in practice. The analysis shows a low level of adoption of BPA both for strategic and operational decisions. At the same time, companies adopting BPA have a higher perception of relevance of statistical and mathematical tools for supporting the decision-making process. The results also show the presence of the two clusters with very different approaches to performance measurement. The "advanced" one is characterized by the implementation of Business Intelligence tools, together with advanced management accounting and PMS approaches. Compared with the "basic" one, the "advanced" cluster shows a higher perception of BPA effectiveness in supporting the decision-making process and also a higher satisfaction for the contribution provided by the information system to the management action.