The Categories of Performance Measurement, Coursework Example

Identify the categories of performance measurement and discuss activities that are part of each category.

Performance measurement provides the ability for individuals or groups holding the responsibility to leading projects or managing teams to understand how the efforts are working in regard to key metrics and milestones.  The ability to understand the performance of actions, teams, business units or other entities delivering upon requirements is critical in providing the information needed to make informed business decisions.  There are basically two different types of performance measurements.  There are result orientated performance metrics and input focused metrics.  The result or output performance based measurement focuses on the outcome of the specific activity or accumulation of multiple efforts.  Outcomes of these efforts include financial performance, increased market share, launch of a new product, acceptance of an idea or product or developing a competitive advantage.  Activities for the result orientated performance measurements include calculating profit margins, unit productivity, sales or cost reductions.  These are key metrics that are measured after activities are accomplished and measure the results.

On the other side of the performance measurement spectrum there is the measurements of inputs into the process.  The areas of performance that can be measured here include quality of the process or product, reduction in lead-times, production changes to increase line rate capacity or efficiency and utilization of the tools and people to either produce more or to produce the same with less cost.  These inputs are measure by activities such as measuring the cost of quality, variances between key performance indicators, ability to adapt or change to market demands, or other factors that determine the results.

What is change management? Discuss two ways to improve change management.

Change management is the process of transitioning people, places, things, processes, inputs, outputs or an assortment of other variables that impact the business to a new and desired end state.  The change management process follows the process of creating a change, requesting change, approval of the change, communication of the change, implementation of the change and sustainment of the change.  No matter how large or how small the change should go through some varying degree of that process.  Larger changes or changes that impact a breadth of areas would focus not only on the core area that is changing but all the change that will result in the other depending or impacted areas.  This type of change management focus allows for the remediation of potential risk to other parts of the organization.  In order to implement change and fully benefit from the change being implemented there are a couple areas that can help improve the entire process.  The first area of change management that can help improve the process revolves around communication.  There needs to be informative and concise communication that is available for reference by the entire organization.  The key to communication is having targeted communication to the key participants while also allowing for increased ease of access for a larger spectrum of users.  The next area that would improve change management is the ability to rollback changes that occur if they are implemented and unintended results occur.  Having a rollback plan that can be implemented as well as criteria on when a rollback plan is required to be enacted will take the guesswork out of a very tough decision.  This also allows for key areas of operation to have a risk mitigation plan enacted if the situation warrants it.

How can firms resolve claims and disputes effectively? Describe any experience you have had in claim resolution.

Firms can resolve claims and disputes effectively by understanding what the consumer ultimately wants and needs.  The consumer wants a good or service that they expected.  Sometimes expectations are not always visible to both parties but as an organization that provides those goods or services it is their job to establish that baseline of quality and performance.  When disputes do arise it is integral to the resolution to understand the actual issue the consumer is facing.  Listening and taking effective and highly responsive actions will set the stage to build the relationship with the consumer.  The customer has an obvious issue and the firm has the obligation to resolve issues pertaining to their good or service.  This is where effective communication can alleviate extraneous issues negatively impacting the situation.

In my role as a consumer support representative it was my main objective to interact with the complainant and document the information.  The example of claim resolution was based on a customer service position.  This example was based upon a purchase of a micro card for memory storage on a cellular phone.  The consumer purchased a card that did not work and returned it immediately for a different memory card.  The defective card was exchanged.  The new card worked for a short period then became defective.  After the initial resolution with the point of sale was not satisfactory, the consumer went to the manufacturer for a resolution.  The manufacturer turned them away then they returned to the store and wanted a refund.  The issue with this was that the policy for exchange or refund had expired but this was due in part to the fact that the customer spent the entire time trying to resolve the issue with the manufacturer.  While my organization was not long technically liable it was deemed appropriate to remedy the situation with the consumer and take it up with the manufacturer.  We removed the customer from the situation and presented the manufacturer with a dispute based on the quality of their merchandise.

Discuss the significance of effective contract closeout.

Project procurement management has four different processes that encompass the entire procurement management realm of responsibility.  These areas are the planning, conducting, administering and closing procurements.  Each area has a significant impact on the outcome of the project and each follow a specific standard framework to ensure compliance and an opportunity for success.  During the planning process the project team focuses on the purchasing decisions, outlines the approach and identifies the vendors that could potentially provide the goods, service or outcome the project needs.  Conducting the procurement phase focuses the resources of the team on obtaining requests for information, quotes and potentially using an auction type scenario to choose the best vendor for the requirement.  This is also the phase in which the contract is awarded to a specific vendor based on cost, quality and ability to meet the needs of the project.  After the contract is awarded the next phase or process framework is started.  The administration of the contract becomes a significant milestone of the project due to the fact that the contracts and relationships between the vendor and the project organization need varying levels of nurturing and attention.  This phase encompasses the management, monitoring and changes to a contract or engagement.  With all projects each must come to an end and that is the closing of the procurement management phase.  This entails ending and closing out all of the active contacts and ensuring the obligations are met by each party in the contract.  The significance of contract closure symbolizes the end of a project and separates the ties between the vendors of both sides of the contract.  This ends the liabilities and obligation on both sides and allows the parties to move on from the project.