ABSTRACT
The definition, measurement and improvement of organizational performance is of critical importance to organizations today. The recession, both international and national, experi enced over the last five years has undoubtedly increased the importance of performance measurement both at the inter and intra-organizational levels. Performance measurement within organizations is based on both public and non-public financial and management accounting information. On the other hand, an external assessment of performance is based on information which is obtained from published (annual and interim) financial reports in the main. Annual reports contain detailed statements, namely the profit and loss account, balance sheet and, more recently in the UK, the cash flow statement (a recent requirement1 of Financial Reporting Standard No. 1).
