Performance measurement in SMEs: literature review and results from a German case study

Alexander Brem, Nico Kreusel and Christian Neusser

International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business, 2008, vol. 2, issue 4, 411-427

Abstract: A literature review of Performance Measurement Systems (PMS) in Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) shows that the main contributions focus on the development of theoretical models, but not on guidelines for practical implementation. In this context, an important neglected aspect is the general fitness or readiness of a SME to implement a PMS. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to determine critical prerequisites for a successful PMS implementation in SMEs. For this purpose, a case study in a German SME was conducted. The findings indicate that the existence of specific contingency factors – Corporate Strategy, software-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Activity Based Costing (ABC) – strongly supports the successful implementation of a PMS and its later use. Hence, further research shall include these prerequisites as new variables determining the PMS process. Based on that, researchers and managers of SMEs can develop individual indicators to identify their own PMS readiness.

Keywords: SME management; small and medium-sized enterprises; SMEs; performance measurement; activity based costing; ABC; enterprise resource planning; ERP; contingency factors; Germany. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=18102 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijgsbu:v:2:y:2008:i:4:p:411-427

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Globalisation and Small Business from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().