Paper
Performance measurement systems based on IWA performance indicators. Balance Scorecards.
Publish year
2006
Congress
Fifth IWA World Water Congress
Place of celebration
Pekín, China
Date
Septiembre
Abstract
Performance indicators (PIs) are a powerful management tool as it has been shown through their systematic use in many industries for decades. They can provide measures of how many resources are used in relationship with the available ones, they can be used to assess to what extent management targets are met and even to evaluate if the general impact of management strategies is the expected one. However, performance indicators cannot become a goal in themselves. The implementation of a performance indicators system must be the result of a wider approach in management within a water undertaking. Otherwise the results obtained through performance indicators may not be adequate or even useful at all. It is then often the case that the measures are not related to the strategy; only the easy things to measure are measured; financial measures become the only important ones; things are measured but not analyzed and no actions result; etc. The integration of solid performance indicators in a performance measurement system guarantees that the organization (the utility) will be measured according to the strategic goals and the key factors that influence success. As a result, better decisions will be made.