The use and development of indicators for the commercialisation of university research in a national support programme

Governments in most countries have set up specialised programmes to support the commercialisation of academic research. A key challenge is to develop indicators that are able to measure operation and impact. This study shows how different indicators are used to satisfy different stakeholders of a Norwegian support programme. Policy intervention is supposed to lead to additionality related to input, behaviour and output. While the support programme uses input and behavioural measures as strategic tools for its operation, policy makers are mostly preoccupied with output measures. This study illustrates how indicators develop over time, partly co-evolving with the development of the programme and the national commercialisation infrastructure. Indicators serve as incentives for the agents involved, but they may also influence the strategies of the programme that established them. The external signalling effect of indicators remains central, while its use in daily operations becomes less important with time and experience.     

The disclosure of key performance indicators in the public sector

This article investigates the disclosure of key performance indicators in the annual reports of Irish public sector organizations. It begins by discussing the two main driving forces behind public sector bodies disclosing performance information in their annual reports for the first time as well as looking at other contributing factors. The present situation with regard to the disclosure of key performance indicators in the whole of Ireland is then analysed. A number of annual reports from central government departments or agencies, local government bodies, other public sector entities and, in the case of the Republic of Ireland, semi-state organizations are examined to see whether such information is being disclosed and, more importantly, whether performance indicators are being linked to predetermined objectives and targets.     

Using Leading Indicators to Forecast U.S. Home Sales in a Bayesian Vector Autoregressive Framework

This article uses Bayesian vector autoregressive models to examine the usefulness of leading indicators in predicting U.S. home sales. The benchmark Bayesian model includes home sales, price of homes, mortgage rate, real personal disposable income, and unemployment rate. We evaluate the forecasting performance of six alternative leading indicators by adding each, in turn, to the benchmark model. Out-of-sample forecast performance over three periods shows that the model that includes building permits authorized consistently produces the most accurate forecasts. Thus, the intention to build in the future provides good information with which to predict U.S. home sales. Another finding suggests that leading indicators with longer leads outperform the short-leading indicators.     

Regional sustainability: How useful are current tools of sustainability assessment at the regional scale?

Sustainability assessment methods are primarily aimed at global, national or state scales. However, modelling sustainability at finer spatial scales, such as the region, is essential for understanding and achieving sustainability. Regions are emerging as an essential focus for sustainability researchers, natural resource managers and strategic planners working to develop and implement sustainability goals. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of current sustainability assessment methods - ecological footprint, wellbeing assessment, ecosystem health assessment, quality of life and natural resource availability - at the regional scale. Each of these assessment methods are tested using South East Queensland (SEQ) as a case study. It was selected because of its ecological and demographic diversity, its combination of coastal and land management issues, and its urban metropolitan and rural farm and non-farm communities. The applicability of each of these methods to regional assessment was examined using an evaluation criteria matrix, which describes the attributes of an effective method and the characteristics that make these methods useful for regional management and building community capacity to progress sustainability. We found that the methods tested failed to effectively measure progress toward sustainability at the regional scale, demonstrating the need for a new method for assessing regional sustainability.     

担保机制对固定收益企业债信用等级迁移的影响

采用 logistic 回归模型对担保机制就固定收益企业债信用等级迁移的影响予以检验,研究结果表明,企业偿债能力和盈利能力指标的变化都对企业债的信用等级迁移具有显著影响,尤其应该关注资产负债率的变化,而在财务指标一定的条件下,没有抵押或担保的企业债发生信用降级的概率会增大,说明担保机制的存在确实会使得担保债获得更高的信用等级。     

GDP硬性指标下产能过剩的分析及其应对策略

通过介绍GDP指标及其对我国经济发展的影响,分析了它与产能过剩之间的关系,提出应引入绿色GDP评价指标。认为将绿色GDP指标作为衡量我国政府绩效的指标,既符合绩效审计寻求发展的内在要求,又是实现可持续发展的必然选择。因此,在今后的经济建设中,各级政府应努力贯彻＂科学发展观＂,建立纳入了资源耗减成本与环境成本的“绿色GDP”评价指标,形成可持续发展理念。     

超临界350MW电厂四大管道国产化应用分析

目前超临界机组四大管道采用进口产品带来的一系列问题,如价格昂贵,采购周期长,管道制造过程质量无法监督控制,造成电厂基建费用增加,建设周期长,现场安装前检验发现诸多质量缺陷等。通过对国内钢厂所生产的四大管道化学成分、性能指标分析及调研已应用国产化四大管道情况,为某350MW电厂机组四大管道国产化提出建议。     

物流企业核心竞争力的财务指标及评价方法

本文认为,企业的产品竞争力及资源整合与创新能力是影响企业核心竞争力的主要因素。而物流营运能力指标、物流偿债能力指标、物流获利能力指标、物流发展能力指标等则是影响物流企业核心竞争力的财务指标。文章指出,可采用层次分析法(AHP法)对其财务指标进行综合评价。即将问题予以层次化,根据指标性质和要达到的最终目标,将考评指标分成不同组成因素,并根据因素间的关联影响及隶属关系将其按不同层次进行聚集组合,形成一个多层次结构模型,从而最终把系统分析归结为最低层(具体考评指标)相对于最高层(总目标)的相对重要权值的确定或相对优劣次序的排序问题。     

对中小国企经理人任用、业绩考核问题的思考

依目前情况看 ,中小国企的退出道路是漫长的 ,应适当重视对中小国企的监管 ,尤其是经理人的任用及业绩考核等。     

Leading and lagging indicators in fundraising management: A Canadian case study

Fundraisers, managers, and boards in the charitable sector are faced with an ongoing concern: how do they produce sustainable, predictable financial returns for their causes while minimizing the cost of fundraising? One way to address this is to improve the measurement of fundraising activities and this study asks how fundraising results should be communicated within organizations to support sustainability. This case study focuses on the fundraising program from one Canadian charity with a large, diversified fundraising program to examine how fundraisers can move beyond simple end-of-year financial ratios and implement one managerial technique, leading and lagging indicators, to improve long-term financial performance. A literature review, internal interviews, and internal document review are used to identify 81 potential leading and lagging indicators that fundraisers can use to develop a suite of indicators that fit their context, activities, and goals and to identify potential challenges with implementing indicators. The role of organizational context and characteristics in selecting an appropriate suite of indicators is also discussed.