Integrated performance measurement systems: an audit and development guide

The performance management process is seen as a closed loop control system which deploys policy and strategy, and obtains feedback from various levels in order to manage the performance of the business. The performance measurement system is the information system which is at the heart of the performance management process and it is of critical importance to the effective and efficient functioning of the performance management system. Research identifies two critical elements with respect to the content and structure of the performance measurement system: integrity and deployment. The viable systems model (VSM) provides a framework for assessing the integrity of the performance measurement system, while the reference model developed for integrated performance measurement systems provides a framework against which performance measurement systems can be designed and audited.