Given our rapidly changing world, companies are virtually forced to engage in continuous performance monitoring. Though Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) may at times seem to be the real driving force behind social systems, economies and organizations, they can also have far-reaching normative effects, which can modify organizational behavior and influence key decisions – even to the point that organizations themselves tend to become what they measure! Selecting the right performance indicators is hardly a simple undertaking. This book describes in detail the main characteristics of performance measurement systems and summarizes practical methods for defining KPIs, combining theoretical and practical aspects. These descriptions are supported by a wealth of practical examples. The book is intended for all academics, professionals and consultants involved in the analysis and management of KPIs.

Measuring and managing the performance of a business is one of the most genuine desires of management. Balanced scorecard, the performance prism and activity-based management are the most popular frameworks in this setting. Based on the findings of R.G. Eccles’ acclaimed "Performance Measurement Manifesto (1991)" this book introduces new contexts and themes of application and presents emerging research areas related to business performance measurement and management, e.g. SMEs and sustainability. As a result of the 1st International Summer School Piero Lunghi on "Perspectives of Business Performance Management" this book is written both for students and academics, as well as for practitioners looking for new, yet proven ways to measure and manage business performance.

As acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) increases in popularity among clinicians, it becomes more and more vital to understand its theoretical basis, relational frame theory (RFT). RFT is a psychological theory of human language and cognition, developed by Steven C. Hayes. It focuses on how humans learn language and how language connects them to their environment. In essence, our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are dependent on our experiences and the context that these experiences provide. Edited by leading relational frame theory (RFT) scholars, Simon Dymond, PhD, and Bryan Roche, PhD, Advances in Relational Frame Theory presents advances in all aspects of RFT research over the last decade, and provides a greater understanding of the core principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT). The book also contains chapters written by Steven C. Hayes and Kelly Wilson, both research-active experts from the RFT community around the world. Because ACT is focused largely on accepting one’s thoughts, it is important to understand where these thoughts come from. And while many books on RFT are abstract and require extensive knowledge of behavior analysis, this is the first book to comprehensively but accessibly introduce RFT to ACT mental health professionals. Gaining a deeper knowledge of the relational concepts of RFT can help you understand why a person's behavior does not always match up with their self-professed values. Whether you are a mental health professional, or simply someone who is interested in the connection between language and experience, this book is an invaluable resource.

A key resource and framework for assessing the performance of competing entities, including forecasting models Advances in DEA Theory and Applications provides a much-needed framework for assessing the performance of competing entities with special emphasis on forecasting models. It helps readers to determine the most appropriate methodology in order to make the most accurate decisions for implementation. Written by a noted expert in the field, this text provides a review of the latest advances in DEA theory and applications to the field of forecasting. Designed for use by anyone involved in research in the field of forecasting or in another application area where forecasting drives decision making, this text can be applied to a wide range of contexts, including education, health care, banking, armed forces, auditing, market research, retail outlets, organizational effectiveness, transportation, public housing, and manufacturing. This vital resource: Explores the latest developments in DEA frameworks for the performance evaluation of entities such as public or private organizational branches or departments, economic sectors, technologies, and stocks Presents a novel area of application for DEA; namely, the performance evaluation of forecasting models Promotes the use of DEA to assess the performance of forecasting models in a wide area of applications Provides rich, detailed examples and case studies Advances in DEA Theory and Applications includes information on a balanced benchmarking tool that is designed to help organizations examine their assumptions about their productivity and performance.

In this Research Topic the two editors bring together a series of articles that use facet theory and allied approaches to research. Since its inception in the work of Louis Guttman in the mid twentieth century, facet theory has become an established approach within social science research. In addition, over the past 70 years a wide range of research publications have appeared operating within the theoretical and analytic rubric of facet theory and for the last two decades a biennial international conference has been held devoted to facet theory research. When using a facet theory approach, an implicit aim of the research within this framework is to bring together in an explicit manner a clear definition of the content area that is being investigated along with data analysis procedures. Integrating the explicit design of research content (for example, attitudes, values, etc) and its subsequent analysis (for example to identify the variables that are influential to respondents in relation to the specific area under investigation) allows for the construction of theory relating to the content area and for the meaningful measurement of complex research areas. The clear explication of an area of research content, is achieved through the use of a mapping sentence (MS). In a MS all of the pertinent variables (called facets) associated with the specific subject matter of the research study are specified in the form of a natural language sentence where facets (variables) are arrange to demonstrate how these theoretically relate to each other. Sub-levels of facets are defined in such a way as to capture the relationships of research variables (facets) to each other and the overall research domain. Background variables are also stated in the MS along with a specified range over which observations will be made to test the veracity of the structural hypotheses (statements regarding the proposed manner in which variables are related to the study’s content) implicit in the MS. Furthermore, by using a MS the researcher is able to select variables that appropriately address the area of content. Traditionally, facet theory has been used in quantitative research but has recently been applied to the analysis of qualitative and philosophical research which incorporates a declarative mapping sentence in such research and which is included in this Research Topic. In order to interrogate these structural hypotheses, quantitative data analysis procedures are employed, such as Smallest Space Analysis (SSA) and Partial Order Scalogram Analysis by base Coordinates (POSAC). In SSA the structure of the content area of interest (the variables that have been included in the MS) can be interrogated as observations that have been made along the specified outcome range, are represented geometrically (as partitioned regions) in a concept-space related to the specific research domain. Individual respondents may also be investigated in terms of their profile of facet related scores using POSAC. A similar approach is employed when analysing information from qualitative facet theory research, which interrogates the structural hypotheses present in the declarative mapping sentence through approaches such as content and narrative analyses. This Research Topic presents work from scholars with particular emphasis upon how the approach has developed both theoretically and in terms of its application, new areas of application, and advances in theory development.

A multidisciplinary book on performance measurement that will appeal to students, researchers and managers.

This book introduces readers to the use of R codes for optimization problems. First, it provides the necessary background to understand data envelopment analysis (DEA), with a special emphasis on fuzzy DEA. It then describes DEA models, including fuzzy DEA models, and shows how to use them to solve optimization problems with R. Further, it discusses the main advantages of R in optimization problems, and provides R codes based on real-world data sets throughout. Offering a comprehensive review of DEA and fuzzy DEA models and the corresponding R codes, this practice-oriented reference guide is intended for masters and Ph.D. students in various disciplines, as well as practitioners and researchers.

Companies are what they measure and the selection of good performance indicators is not an easy process. This monograph suggests how to identify indicators that achieve a balance in these effects and enhance long-term profitability. It focuses on the designing of a Performance Measurement System (PMS).

Foreword Ten years is a long time. In 2009 a bunch of friends gathered in Portugal for a conference that was to precede TAKE. In 2011 we repeated. Then, after a strange sequence of events, we finally organized TAKE for the first time in 2015 in Aveiro, followed by Zagreb, Poznan and now Vienna. Florian Kragulj was in the first TAKE in Aveiro and from the start showed the highest level of enthusiasm and professionalism in the event. These characteristics were kept alive during all the 15 or so months during which we organized TAKE 2019. That this edition of TAKE involves several entities linked with academia, i.e. WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, the Austrian Economic Chamber and the Institute for Applied Research on Skilled Crafts and Trades (IAGF). This in itself a big success and a sign of the Conference improvement. Also, we may see, by analysing the papers and in particular the streams, that TAKE has been following the economic times, and this year we have several papers on the Gig Economy. Only good conferences adjust, the others get stuck in time. And success in Conferences is about teams. And in TAKE that team, is indeed, a very large group of people including the co-chairs, the local organizing team, the material organizers (Book of Abstracts and Proceedings), the stream leaders, and the paper reviewers – without all these persons nothing could have been done. And finally we had to depend on the authors, and their willingness to work with us. Without the work of these large dozens of devoted and skilled people TAKE 2019 would not have existed. May I also mention that this time and with Florian’s impulse and skill the organization of TAKE was improved in technological terms – in short we became techno – we used a website to deliver the mail list, a website to receive the scientific material and another website to receive the fees. All these were investments that eventually paid of, and that will guarantee a more stable organization for TAKE in the future. And we owe it to Florian. However, as the Human Resource Development part of TAKE (and more than anyone Gary Mc Lean) would remind us – “We are humans, Eduardo”, and technology helps, but in the end, is attention to detail, capacity to deal with the bizarre and to accommodate the weirdness making sometimes the impossible possible that differentiates a good conference, made doing things right, from an excellent conference, based in doing the right things. And on this last matter, believe me, we in TAKE are among the best in the world, because apart from being outstanding scholars, and good colleagues, we are an amazing group of friends, and friendship is the best way to turn good conferences into outstanding ones. Many thanks, from the heart and enjoy the Conference. Eduardo Tomé Conference Chair, Universidad Europeia Lisbon, July 2019, Lisbon, Portugal