PMS maturity level and driving forces: an empirical investigation in Italian SMEs

Although many studies on performance measurement have been carried out in the last years, just a few of them refer specifically to small and medium enterprises and usually have mainly a theoretical approach. Starting from an analysis of existing literature on PMSs in SMEs, the research aims at extending current knowledge and understanding of performance measurement practice into the context of SMEs. Using data collected through a probability sample survey of 87 Italian manufacturing SMEs, the paper investigates the state of PM approaches adopted by SMEs, analysing in detail the maturity level of their PMSs. Furthermore, several theoretical propositions found in literature about the factors that affect PM introduction and evolution in SMEs have been tested in order to check their validity and applicability and in the majority of cases a statistically significant association between the considered context-specific factors and the adoption of a PMS was found.