Linking a performance management system and competencies: Qualitative research

The main purpose of the paper is to identify the group of indicators that are most widely used in the manufacturing area worldwide, to identify the responsibility and authority for measuring and evaluating business performance, and to create an illustrative competency-based model for a performance management system within a business. The paper covers two areas that are important in the maintenance of sustainable business performance. The first area focuses on a performance management system and its key performance indicators as an important element in every performance management system within a business. The article also presents the theoretical background of the Z-MESOT method, which is applied to define the consistency of these indicators in practice. The second area is dedicated to defining a competency-based model and competences related to the measurement and assessment of performance, which have been extracted from other general competences. This paper presents findings from qualitative research to eliminate the bottlenecks of the Z-MESOT matrix that was transposed into a questionnaire. The questionnaire, as well as structured interviews, helped identify differences in responsibility attributes of the Z-MESOT matrix regarding the size of the researched businesses. The paper offers a list of competences related to the key performance indicators that can be used for following theoretical and practical research.