Neely, Andy (ed.): Business Performance Measurement. Theory and Practice Cambridge University Press, 2002, ISBN 052180342X, EUR 55,58 During the 1980s it became ever clearer that the leading industrial nations were developing towards service and information societies. Accordingly, new focal points in the economy and companies as well as in their scientific reflection and intervention have emerged. Among other things performance is no longer understood only in a narrow physical-technical or financial sense. A wider, multi-dimensional range of causes, aspects and consequences of business performance and its measurement were identified. In recognition of this, Andy Neely, director of the Centre for Business Performance at Cranfield School of Management, has edited a book about 'business performance measurement: This anthology is intended to be a state-of-the-art book and comes in six chapters. In the first chapter some functional analysis of performance are provided. Contributions towards a theoretical foundation of performance measurement are offered in the second chapter. They are followed in the third chapter by papers which shall give an overview of different methodologies and operational frameworks of measurement systems. The fourth chapter is more about practical applications of performance measurement, the fifth chapter about specific measures of operational performance, and in the last chapter some possible trends are being described. Taken together, the papers are not only well elaborated but deliver interesting insights and they give the reader much food for thought. But this anthology additionally makes a high claim: Not only shall a comprehensive overview about the problem of operational performance measurement be provided but also a contribution to the methodological foundation of operational performance measurement as a profession. If one assesses the book with regard to these targets a more equivocal picture appears. In the first chapter operational performance is considered with respect to the functional areas of accounting, marketing, operations and management. Although the latter contribution is laid out relatively broadly and an interesting suggestion for an `activity-centric performance measurement' is provided it is hard to understand why such functional areas as Human Resource Management or organizational aspects are not also considered. Hence, individual and social dimensions of performance are not being taken into account sufficiently. This might reduce possible insights since it is widely known that especially operational performance and value added have their roots in people's skills and (social) action. Because of the restriction on the four functional areas, which are surely of considerable importance, the reasoning remains trapped in a relatively narrow understanding of operational value drivers and indicators. The second chapter is about the theoretical foundation of performance measurement. In the first two papers by Lebas / Euske and Austin / Gitell, very structured and thoughtful ideas concerning performance and the design of performance measurement systems are provided (however, the empirical example of performance measurement in the airline industry in the second paper, although very interesting, might be in this chapter out of place). Against that, the papers by Osterloh / Frey concerning the impact of performance-related salary components on motivation and by Emmanuel about the tolerance of senior managers toward dysfunctional behaviour may not contribute much to a theoretical foundation of performance measurement. Here, it might be argued that the space could have been used better. For example, the subjectivity and interest-orientation of all measurement and valuation (especially in economy and economics) are not sufficiently made a subject of discussion. Although it is merely about measurement and not about the management of performance; who's perceptions and objectives are being taken into account and being measured by which criteria and how they are linked to other measures (headwords: main targets of a company, stakeholders' interests, short-term and budget orientation versus long-term and sustainable value-driver orientation) are of principle relevance for every operational performance measurement (system) and an important part of their theoretical foundation. …