Microfinance institutions (MFIs) are mainly private-held companies, whose owners tend to have long-term interests (Ingo, W., Krauss, N. 2008). Most MFIs are strongly related with a social mission. For example, the most common “raison d’être” for MFIs is to broaden access to financial services, reduce poverty, empower women, build community solidarity, or promote economic development and regeneration.
The specific needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been addressed by various initiatives in diverse areas of organizational management and development, including the context of performance management and measurement.
A model is a simplified representation of the world. According with The American Heritage Dictionary (2001), a model can have multiple significations, one of the most used being “a schematic description of a system, theory, or phenomenon, that accounts for its known or inferred properties and may be used for further study of its characteristics”.
Between March and May 2009, Business Application Research Center (BARC) an unbiased market analyst based in Germany, conducted a study regarding the maturity of organisational Performance Management processes. The study had 553 respondents from around the world, across a wide range industries, countries and organizations.
Google launched in the autumn of 2009 a new resource page called “Internet Stats” which “brings together the latest industry facts and insights” (Google Internet Stats, 2010).