PrefaceThis book is the first in a series on "System Dynamics for Performance Management." The purpose of the series is to bridge the gap between system dynamics and its applications in organizations, with a specific focus on performance management.Most contributions to this series are expected to come from the research and teaching at the doctorate level program in "Model Based Public Planning, Policy Design and Management," which was started in 2007 as a double degree collaboration between the Universities of Palermo and Bergen. The collaboration is further enhanced by the joint "European Master in System Dynamics," which is delivered as an "Erasmus Mundus" EU-funded program with the Radboud University of Nijmegen and the University of Lisbon. The teaching work related to the Master in Public Management, recently started by the System Dynamics Group at the University of Palermo, also will contribute to such endeavor.The purpose of the book is to support the reader's understanding of how to design and implement planning and control (P&C) systems that can help organizations manage their growth and restructuring processes in a sustainability perspective. More specifically, the book shows how to develop system dynamics models that can better support an understanding of the following:• What is organizational performance and how to frame and measure it; • How to identify and map the processes underlying performance; • How to design and implement a dynamic performance management system and link it to strategic planning; • How to tie strategic resource dynamics to processes and performance indicators; • How to link strategic resources and performance indicators to responsibility and incentive systems.The book builds on my work over the last 20 years in research, teaching, and consulting in the field of system dynamics modeling applied to performance management, with a specific focus on public sector organizations and business.vii It also includes numerous case studies and dynamic performance management models for providing examples of how such methods work in practice.Reading the book is beneficial to: (1) graduate students in business and public management, (2) researchers in performance management and system dynamics modeling, and (3) managers in business and public sector organizations in the fields of performance management and planning.The book is not designed to enable the reader to become an experienced system dynamics modeler; rather, it aims to develop the reader's capabilities to design and implement performance management systems by using a system dynamics approach. A literature review is included to provide a guideline for further improvements to those readers who wish to develop relevant, specific, and detailed system dynamics modeling skills and to establish the foundation for teaching system dynamics applied to performance management in organizational and inter-organizational contexts. This is particularly relevant for those graduate students who have taken system dynamics courses and need to apply thei...

This paper aims to outline the benefits justifying a tailored approach to System Dynamics (SD) modelling in the public sector, to improve performance and foster decision makers' accountability. The need of combining an 'internal' with an 'external' perspective (in respect to decision makers) in developing SD models is claimed. Different levels of intervention (i.e. macro, micro and meso) are discussed. Two case studies are analysed. The first one demonstrates how a dynamic resource-based view (DRBV) can support an analysis of the impact of back and front office units on a public sector organization's performance drivers. The second case shows how SD modelling based on a DRBV can also be applied to improve performance on a political level.

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In the last decade there has been an increasing effort to provide public utilities managers with planning and control tools, to take into account not only operational but also strategic issues. Among them are customer satisfaction, internal business process efficiency, business image, and bargaining power against other counterparts (e.g., the municipal administration). Often, however, such an effort has been oriented to generate a large volume of data, focused only on financial indicators and on a static view of the relevant system. This paper shows how the use of "dynamic" balanced scorecards can significantly improve the planning process in a strategic learning perspective. Insights from a project in a municipal water company are analysed and discussed.

Organizational growth and performance management provide two important research topics for both enterprises and public sector organizations.\ud Improving performance levels, or at least keeping them stable over time, is a hot\ud topic not only for business executives and entrepreneurs, but also for managers\ud and policy makers in public and non-profit institutions. How best to design Planning\ud & Control (P&C) systems to support organizational performance management and\ud assessment in a sustainability perspective? This paper illustrates the need for\ud a methodological framework that would link system dynamics to P&C systems so\ud as to support decision-makers in managing organizational performance, as well as\ud to foster sustainable growth and monitor crisis prevention. The need for this\ud conceptual framework is discussed in the paper