With the title, professor of Management Accounting Frans Roozen points to the work he has pursued over the past forty years in teaching and research. Companies are opting for ever more complex strategies and strategic objectives. To support this, the past forty years have seen the development of an increasing number of management concepts and systems, including performance measurement systems. Yet firms’ struggle to realise their strategic objectives appears as great as ever.
Research shows that the information produced by strategic performance measurement systems can play an important supporting role in implementing strategies. However, merely having that information available is not enough. What matters is whether, and how, that information is used. It is increasingly clear that such use is not a simple choice but depends on organisational conditions such as communication culture, conflict climate and leadership.
In his valedictory lecture, Roozen offers a perspective on the evolution of performance measurement systems and the conditions under which they may be expected to contribute to the realisation of the strategic objectives that companies pursue.