Resilience is seen as a key organisational capability for sustainability in the current turbulent environment. At the same time, for organisations to be more sustainable and resilient, the delivery of innovative responses to the market through continuous change and improvement is necessary. If small and medium enterprises (SMEs) account for over 70% of the world's production, and there is a growing mandate to create sustainable SMEs, then instilling, developing and implementing change capabilities is paramount in making progress towards sustainability and resilience. Therefore, this article aims to demonstrate that change management process capability is fundamental to creating resilience in SMEs. This study is based on a multiple case study methodology through semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 232 senior managers in 37 manufacturing SMEs across Europe. This article demonstrates that sustainability and resilience in SMEs will be enhanced by (1) ability to embrace organisational and people dimensions as well as operational aspects of change management, and (2) paying attention to long-term planning and external communication to drive change proactively. This article builds a bridge between the theoretical starting point, the results of empirical research and the usability of the presented findings in practice in order to contribute to the development of more resilient SMEs.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the gap between theory and practice in performance management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and analyse it in the light of specific SME characteristics and needs, to identify how SMEs can develop their managerial practice for effective performance management. Design/methodology/approach: The design of the study is based on literature review and multiple case studies. Combining both approaches and investigating a spectrum of 37 European SMEs through 232 semi-structured and face-to-face interviews with managers helped the authors to provide theoretical and empirical evidence to offer a more effective performance management process for SMEs. Findings: The paper found that SMEs engage with a four-stage performance management process, although there are some gaps between their practice and the complete process as recommended in literature. SMEs seem to be more focussed on internal and short-term planning, whereas they pay less attention to long-term planning. The main challenge for making performance management practice more effective lies in an appropriate, balanced use of strategic and operational practices and relevant measures. Therefore, managerial activities such as vision, mission and values development, internal and external communication, change management and horizon scanning represent recommended areas for improvement. Originality/value: The paper suggests a number of ways to improve the SME managerial practice to achieve a more balanced view of the whole performance process, which includes the mechanisms for the development and implementation of good practice in performance management

Purpose – It is argued that whilst operational and support processes deliver performance presently, it is the managerial processes that sustain performance over time. The purpose of this research paper is to better understand what these managerial processes are and how they influence organisational performance.\ud Design/methodology/approach – The theoretical background is reviewed covering literature on the subject of business process management, resourced-based view (RBV), dynamic capabilities and managerial processes. A research framework leads to qualitative case study-based research design. Data are collected from 37 organisations across Europe, classified according to their performance.\ud Findings – Findings suggest that the five managerial processes and their constituent managerial activities, identified through the empirical research, influence performance of organisations as an interconnected managerial system rather than as individual processes and activities. Also, the execution and maturity of this managerial system is influenced by the perceptions of the managers who organise it.\ud Research limitations/implications – Within the limitation of the study the discussion leads to eight research propositions that contribute to our understanding of how managerial processes influence organisational performance. These propositions and ensuing discussion provide insights into the content and structure of managerial processes, as well as contributing to the debate on RBV by suggesting that managerial processes and activities could be considered as valuable, rare and inimitable resources. Furthermore, the discussion on how managerial perceptions influence the organisation and execution of the managerial system contributes towards our understanding of how and why dynamic capabilities develop.\ud Practical implications – The results suggest that in higher performing organisations, managers: demonstrate a wider awareness of the overall managerial system; achieve a balance between\ud short-term and future-oriented activities; exploit their managerial activities for multiple purposes;demonstrate greater maturity of managerial activities; and pay greater attention to the organisation of the managerial system.\ud Originality/value – This paper presents one of the first empirical studies that attempt to understand how business processes, and particularly managerial processes, as an interconnected managerial system serve to sustain performance of organisations

Over the last 20years, the field of performance measurement (PM) has evolved from measurement to management. Investigations demonstrated the relevance of PM in management of organisations' results. Although maturity model concept was widely used, the value of maturity models in PM has not been purposefully investigated. To address this gap, this research formulated three research questions: (1) How do maturity models in the field of performance measurement and management (PM&M) add value in practice? (2) How do such maturity models compliment and/or replicate the value added by an expert? (3) How do maturity models contribute to the development of the organisation's PM&M practices? Using a predefined research protocol, 12 European manufacturing organisations and independent experts were engaged in conducting two separate studies: (1) the experts conducted reviews with 12 companies using a standard business review format; (2) research team adopted one of the available maturity models and facilitated self-assessments with the management teams of the same 12 companies. Results from both the studies were compared and high levels of congruence were identified. The analysis demonstrates that the maturity models with certain characteristics, promote organisational learning as well as enabling efficient and effective assessment of the performance management practices of the organisation

The purpose of this paper was to explore how visual strategy and performance management techniques impact performance measurement and management practices of organisations. A novel visual performance management approach is developed and implemented in qualitative case studies with seven manufacturing SMEs across Europe. The implementation cases demonstrate that visual management systems serve to support ongoing strategy development and implementation, facilitate performance measurement and review, enable people engagement, improve internal and external communication, enhance collaboration and integration, support the development of a continuous improvement culture and foster innovation. Additional explorative and longitudinal research is required to understand the long-term impact of such approaches in both small and larger organisations