History of Business Performance Measurement

Abstract

This history of performance measurement focuses on the development of performance measurement in commercial organizations over the past 500 years. As would be expected, performance measurement over the centuries has been directed at providing stakeholders with a picture of their organization. As the model of business and technology shifted, so did the need for the information to understand the performance of the organization. Models that are viewed as having significant defects today, such as return on investment, did provide useful information for the organizations for which they were designed. There is a continuing challenge to develop a measurement system that effectively and efficiently captures organizational performance in a timely fashion.