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Background
Performance metrics is a concept for measuring a company's activities in terms of its vision and strategies, to give managers a comprehensive view of the performance of its business. Measuring business performance has been around for quite some time but the concept, also referred to as the balanced scorecard, was refined in the early 1990's by Robert Kaplan and David Norton (Balanced Scorecard, n.d.). The key element of the balanced scorecard was to not only focus on the financial outcomes but also on the human issues that drive those outcomes, so that organizations focus on the future and act in their long-term best interest.
Analysis
Performance metrics management has evolved to a point now where many companies utilize the methodology in managing their business. Successful companies like; Toyota, General Electric, Microsoft and The Vanguard Group have implemented performance metrics into their business model, to name just a few. There are two main types of marketing performance metrics: process and end-result. Process market metrics are the leading indicators of financial performance while end-result metrics occur simultaneously with a company's financial performance (Best, 2005). At The Vanguard Group, process metrics are referred to as drivers, while end-result metrics are called outcomes. Examples of driver metrics are: investment management process effectiveness, product service and market development, employee satisfaction and effectiveness, and service excellence. The driver measures are designed to represent activities that influence process performance. Outcomes on the other hand represent the results of how ...