Abstract for: Dynamics of Operational Procurement: Systems Modelling for Performance Tracking and Auditing

Traditional independent project performance evaluations take time, disrupt business-as-usual, and report one-off performance based on the best data available at the time. The alternative approach for measuring project, programme or enterprise success – performance tracking – risks moving the focus of work from the technical end goal to the satisfaction of performance measures. In this research, we create and begin testing a method aimed at creating a synergy of these two approaches. We employ qualitative system dynamics models, built from a text-based analysis of an existing audit of defence procurement in the UK within a group model building context. We set out to prove that it possible to create recommendations commensurate with an independent audit from an interrogation of causal loop models. Considering the inherent dynamic properties of qualitative system dynamics and the relative ease of keeping models up-to-date (compared with performance audit reports), by proving it possible to create adequate performance recommendations from qualitative system dynamics models, we now have a firm basis for producing a framework of dynamic organisational system performance evaluation.