Measuring production performance is a topic of increasing debate because there is no one agreed-upon design for performance measure systems that is appropriate for the modern organization. Many measures of productivity are available, and for the most part are all approximations. Operations managers can combine many measurements in order to monitor and identify trends in an effort to introduce improvements to a process. The problem with current systems, especially those based on traditional principles, is that performance measurements are most often based on cost and efficiencies. With modern organizations there are more criteria that may accurately reflect production performance. Organizations have become more complex and measuring their performance through a narrow approach is problematic for managers. Performance measurements must be holistic in their approach. Inadequate performance measures leads to dysfunctional behavior and bad habits within an organization. Often times the dysfunction and bad habits stem from the employees chasing the metric rather than creating efficient and effective processes.

Our discussion this week asks three questions.In an internet driven environment, managers have more data available to ensure that they make the right decisions. Today, there are constant reports on business performance so that managers can understand how the company is performing and ultimately monitor and develop organizational goals. The question is,

1.What metrics provide the best data for companies?

2.Provide at least 3 metrics you think are not valuable in identifying company performance and present your rationale for the choices.

3.Provide at least 3 metrics you would recommend for use in identifying company performance and present your rational for the choices.