L'utilisation des systemes de mesure de performance dans les PME

Operating in a global economy and having to cope with increasing pressure from their business partners, SMEs face new challenges in regard to performance management. They must achieve and maintain a level of excellence that allows them to survive and prosper. In supporting the process of performance management, performance measurement systems (PMS) enable SMEs to handle this situation.;Guided by a research question broad in scope, based on explaining the use of PMS in SMEs, this thesis examines PMS artefacts, their use and their impacts as well as the influence of system characteristics and various contextual factors. Two previously validated information system (IS) research models, that is the technology acceptance model (TAM) and the DeLone and McLean's information systems success model, found the conceptual framework. Used as a guide for exploration rather than as a model to be tested, this framework was helpful in organizing in a coherent manner the collection and analysis of the research data. Extensive interviews were conducted with the owner-managers of 16 SMEs selected to ensure a diversity of organization sizes, sectors and geographical locations. Combining qualitative and quantitative approaches, interviews were conducted according to a protocol that consisted of a semi-structured interview followed by a questionnaire administered in the researcher's presence.;Our results show a wide variety of PMS artefacts in the firms studied. Performance measurement focuses on aspects related to operations and production. Information is generally presented as ratios and graphs. The PMS provide mostly a custom interface to the needs of the owner-manager and are accessible from outside the company. However, the various technological components of PMS are for the most part poorly integrated with each other. The use of PMS is on a regular basis, with control being the dominant function. The owner-managers acknowledged several positive impacts of their use of PMS, including organizational cohesion and operational productivity among others.;The characteristics of the artefact may affect the use that is made of it. Some factors related to the owner-manager, the firm, and the environment seem to affect the characteristics of the artefact and its use, such as the aims of the leader, his or her experience and strategic profile, as well as the size of the firm, the nature of its activities, and the speed of technological change in its sector of activity. Finally, the use of PMS would help reduce perceptions of uncertainty and hostility in the business environment.;The lack of knowledge on the use of PMS and the little attention given so far to PMS developed in SMEs call for studying the use of these systems in such firms. Despite a large number of publications on PMS design and implementation, one deplores in the PMS literature the paucity of empirical research studying this phenomenon in its complexity. Already poorly documented, the issue of the use as such of PMS, as found in the literature, is characterized in terms of low, null or deviant usage, and is more related to large organizations. Also, the definition of the PMS artefact itself does not meet general consensus.;The implications of this research are diverse. Firstly, in a context where the descriptions of PMS are rare, this study provides an empirical description of several such artefacts, and extracts the configurational principles that bind PMS to IS, while highlighting their specific characteristics as systems dedicated to measuring and managing organizational performance. A classification framework for PMS artefacts is also provided.;Moreover, in a context where the lack of empirical knowledge on the use of these systems and on their impacts is noted by many, this research provides empirical descriptions of such use that takes into account the complex nature of this phenomenon on several levels. It identifies the variables that play a role in the specific context of SMEs and proposes a model for using PMS that is anchored in the reality of these firms.;Finally, this study contributes added knowledge on the specific issue of PMS in SMEs. It reveals the irrelevance of the problem of low, null or deviant usage, and the unmet needs for benchmarks when designing, managing and evaluating the PMS of SME owners, as convinced users of a system that they themselves have initiated. This research provides SME owner-managers and those that assist them in managing performance, as well as PMS designers, with an empirical framework for the design, the improvement, and the evaluation of PMS. It also provides an empirical framework for evaluating the use of these systems and for identifying the success factors of that use.