Conceptual design of performance measurement and management systems using a structured engineering approach

Purpose – To provide and illustrate a structured engineering approach for conceptual design of enterprise performance measurement and management systems. Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes and utilizes a design approach based on combining an enterprise engineering process with a system dynamics (SD) modeling methodology. A research case application in a call center using real data serves as an illustration of these ideas. Findings – This proposed approach provided clear guidance through all the steps of the research case developed. When compared to traditional alternatives, it especially enhanced considerations pertaining to causality relationships among performance metrics, both in a qualitative as well as in a quantitative way. Originality/value – The explicit combination of enterprise engineering and SD methods creates new research and application opportunities. From a research perspective it establishes a framework for dealing with performance from a systems life‐cycle perspective as well as points to the need for developing integrated modeling techniques. From a practical perspective, the results achieved to this point provide a conceptual design guideline of immediate applicability.