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Performance Measurement Systems in Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Small Medium-Sized Enterprises:
A Balanced Scorecard Perspective
Paul Phillips and Panos Louvieris
Journal of Travel Research 2005 44: 201
DOI: 10.1177/0047287505278992
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NOVEMBER
10.1177/0047287505278992
JOURNAL
OF2005
TRAVEL RESEARCH
In response to the United Kingdoms governments desire to improve the performance of tourism, hospitality,
and leisure small medium-sized enterprises, this article
analyzes the performance measurement processes within 10
best practice organizations. Related to contemporary approaches to improving business performance in the management literature, performance measurement approaches are
analyzed using the balanced scorecard framework. An exploratory case study approach using the balanced scorecard
as the theoretical framework was taken to explore and elicit
critical success factors in performance measurement. Results revealed that four key concepts drove measurement and
performance evaluation systems across the sample. These
were the exercising of budgetary control with a view to increasing total revenue, the undertaking of customer relationship management as a means of improving quality of service
and customer retention, the necessity for strategic management in managing internal business processes, and collaboration (both inter and intra) to drive innovation and
learning. The article also proposes a balanced scorecard
template for hotels.
Keywords: tourism; small medium-sized enterprises;
hospitality and leisure; performance;
balanced scorecard
Cross-country performance comparison is very difficult in the tourism, hospitality, and leisure industry for a
number of reasons. Past studies in the fieldfor instance, the
McKinsey Global Institute study (1998)have been criticized on methodological grounds. Moreover, there is a paucity of best practice research available from other countries.
Given some of the nuances of tourism infrastructure and
markets, United Kingdom (UK) tourism practitioners are
skeptical of the value of best practice developed outside
the UK.
Improving business performance has been one of the central tenets of management and remains fundamental to organizational success (Neely 1999). Despite the evanescent
view that managers can operate solely with accountingbased indicators, strict financial outcomes remain the dominant measures used. During the past decade, an increasing
number of scholars and practitioners have expressed disquiet
with traditional quantitative performance measures that tend
BALANCED SCORECARD
Since its development in the early 1990s (see Kaplan and
Norton 1992), the BSC has been written about extensively.
This can be illustrated by a citation analysis drawn from the
Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 44, November 2005, 201-211
DOI: 10.1177/0047287505278992
2005 Sage Publications
202
NOVEMBER 2005
papers presented at the First and Second International Conferences on Performance Measurement, when it was noted
that the BSC was the dominant underlying theory to the field
(Marr and Schiuma 2002). The BSC, with its emphasis on
financial, customer, internal business processes, as well as
learning and growth, has been widely adopted by manufacturing, service, nonprofit, and government organizations
around the globe (Olve, Roy, and Wetter 1999). The BSC
has evolved to fulfill two control roles within organizations
at strategic and operational levels. At the strategic level, the
focus is to determine what the organization is trying to
achieve, while at the operational level, the focus is to determine the salient processes to be monitored.
Kaplan and Nortons (1992) BSC has emerged as a ubiquitous performance managerial tool that provides managers
with the mechanisms to develop performance objectives and
measures linked to strategy. The BSC methodology
acknowledges the deficiencies in many business performance measurement systems, which often rely totally on
financial metrics and attempts to overcome the deficiencies
of existing systems by measuring and analyzing results
across a range of activities (Sanger 1998). An additional
byproduct of the BSC is the role that it can play in change
management, which goes well beyond the original idea of
merely broadening performance measures (Kaplan and
Norton 1996).
The BSC concept presents a significant challenge to
underlying assumptions regarding performance measurement
and highlights the need to observe measures from a number
of perspectives (Liyanage and Kumar 2001). The BSC
makes a compelling case for including nonfinancial measures in a performance measurement system (Amaratunga,
Baldry, and Sarshar 2001). It recognizes that operational
measures, such as on-time delivery, order cycle times, and
product returns, should be equal in status to the more traditional financial measures. These leading indicators can
help identify trends in performance before they appear in
financial data (Sanger 1998).
Professor Paul Phillips, MBA, PhD, FCCA, DipM, is deputy director of the Kent Business School, University of Kent, in Kent, United
Kingdom, and professor of strategic management. His teaching, research, and consultancy interests and expertise include travel and
tourism, strategic planning systems, e-business strategy, and performance management and measurement. Prior to joining the Kent
Business School in January 2004, he held the prestigious Charles
Forte Chair of Hotel Management, which was created by a generous endowment from Forte plc in 1986 at the School of Management, University of Surrey, United Kingdom. He was director of the
Centre for Hospitality Industry Performance Research and stream
leader for the universitys MSc degree program in international hotel management. He has written more than 100 papers and textbook
publications, including E-Business Strategy: Text and Cases (2003)
and Strategic Planning Systems in Hospitality and Tourism (1998,
with Luiz Moutinho). Dr. Panos Louvieris, BSc, MSc, PhD, DipM,
CIM, MBA, MAIS, is senior lecturer in information systems in the
School of Management at the University of Surrey, in Surry, United
Kingdom. He has held directorial posts in information systems and
management in the private sector. His research interests and publications are in the areas e-business management, knowledge management, and information systems development. He is currently involved in both private sector and government research contracts
(Department of Trade & Industry) in the tourism sector concerned
with business performance management, e-business systems development, and e-channel management. His teaching interests are
strategy and tactics for information technology, e-business management, and business strategy.
FIGURE 1
BALANCED SCORECARD: FOUR PERSPECTIVES
FINANCIAL
To succeed financially, how should
we appear to our stakeholders?
CUSTOMER
To achieve our vision, how should we
appear to our customers?
VISION AND
STRATEGY
METHODOLOGY
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FIGURE 2
MANAGING STRATEGY: FOUR PROCESSES
Balanced
Scorecard
Business Planning
-
setting targets
aligning strategic initiatives
allocating resources
establishing milestones
Micro
Small
Medium
9
NA
NA
49
EUR 7 million
EUR 5 million
249
EUR 40 million
EUR 27 million
A semistructured interview instrument, based on the philosophy of the BSC, was devised. Open and closed questions
were used to explore performance measurement activities
within each case organization. The questionnaire consisted
of the following seven sections:
organization information;
financial information systems in use;
sources of information used to measure the organiza
tions performance;
current performance measurement activities;
performance target setting;
revenue management; and
future developments of performance measurement.
Each interview lasted approximately one hour, and interviews were typed and transcribed in full. The researchers felt
that the case study approach would be most appropriate to
elicit more in-depth information regarding performance
measurement issues under consideration, as research cases
offer a unique tool to build theory by examining phenomena
not suited to traditional statistical approaches (Stake 1995).
Given the paucity of previous tourism management performance studies, as well as with the exploratory nature of the
investigation, the BSC was used as a descriptive framework.
This is in agreement with Yin (1994), who asserts that developing a case description is appropriate when theoretical
propositions are unclear. As 10 case studies were available
for analysis, secondary analysis across cases was performed.
All case organizations were analyzed from the prospective of
the BSC and form the basis for the results in the following
section. It must also be borne in mind that examining business practices in the tourism, hospitality, and leisure industry
is an area that is underdeveloped, and the results should be
placed in this context.
RESULTS
The interviews covered a wide range of performance
management issues, and cross-case analysis revealed some
disparity in processes. For example, uses ranged from paperbased manual processes to highly innovative computerized
processes, a disparity that highlights the potential for implementing and maintaining a BSC (see Sanger 1998). No case
organization was explicitly using the BSC, which was unsurprising given the lack of empirical research (Andersen
2001). However, the case organizations included nonfinancial measures in their performance management system. The
following section provides an overview of the critical success factors with relevant quotes from interviewees.
The finance director would like to extend the use of software to detailing table spend, for example, which would enable him to identify customer trends more easily. For example, Are pasta sales increasing? Have they gone to steak?
Do they like that new dish that weve just put out?
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NOVEMBER 2005
a more coherent interaction between day-to-day operations management and forecasted performance.
K-Spa. The hotel and leisure complex has a fully integrated, IT-based financial and management information system. The chief executive officer is able to use the system to
monitor current performance and plan for the future.
We have a weekly business meeting. Following that
one, we have a yield meeting, which discusses where
we can go to and get extra business to meet financial
targets. Following that, we have a financial forecast
meeting where we pull the results of the two meetings
down into spreadsheets to work out how much our
budget is going to be exceeded by or under by. Then,
we forecast where we can make cost savings as
appropriate.
DISCUSSION
The BSC literature review, when placed in the context of
the findings of this research study, illustrate that the case
organizations have yet to fully avail themselves of the benefits of the BSC. Based on the literature review, this suggests
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CONCLUSIONS AND
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS
This study has identified performance measurement
among best practice tourism, hospitality, and leisure SMEs.
Nevertheless, not all organizations that were originally
approached agreed to be interviewed, so the sample may be
biased in terms of being representative only of those willing to participate in the study. However, we have identified
priority factorsbudgetary control, customer relationship
management, strategic management, and collaboration
that are slightly different from Kaplan and Nortons (1992)
perspectives, which are financial, the customer, internal
business processes, and innovation and learning. This reinforces the problems of SMEs simply implementing management tools developed in larger organizations.
This study recommends that managers within best practice SME tourism, hospitality, and leisure organizations who
wish to develop effective performance measurement systems should incorporate digitization, holistic approaches,
and well-trained and motivated staff into the process. Managers should aim for digitization to enable the swift and
accurate retrieval of information from financial and management information systems, a system that would, in turn,
allow for greater operational control. Effective performance
measurement should be viewed holistically. Financial, customer-related, internal business process and innovation and
learning should not be measured in isolation but must be
viewed as part of a whole. There does appear to be a move
throughout the industry in this direction, with the visitor
attractions often offering the most tangible and creative
examples (e.g., Flamingo Park Wildlife Encounter and
EcoTech).
Staff should be acknowledged in the formation and performance measures. Well-trained and empowered staff enhance the guest experience, track and evaluate the effectiveness of internal business processes, and drive innovation and
learning. It is encouraging that many of the case organizations involve staff in the performance measurement pro-
Budgetary control
Customer related
Quality of Service
Customer profiling
Internal business
Productivity
Innovation/learning
Encouraging teamwork
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2. EcoTech, Swaffham
The interview was conducted with the communications
manager.
zation employs approximately 90 staff and holds Investors in People status. It is a popular wedding venue with approximately 111
events planned in 2002.
7. The New Mill Restaurant
Sixteen staff are employed across the park, the gift shop,
and the catering outlet. The management team consists of the
four family partners, a livestock manager, a conservation
manager, an education officer, and a gift shop manager.
4. The George at Stamford
The interview was conducted with the finance director.
Background. The George at Stamford is situated in Stamford,
Lincolnshire. The establishment consists of a 47-bedroom hotel,
restaurant, garden lounge, and bar, as well as three private dining
rooms. It has been awarded three AA/Royal Automobile Club stars,
one AA dining rosette, and is listed in the Egon Ronay and Good
Food guides.
5. K-West (incorporating K-Spa)
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