| Course | WMBA 6201 Individual and Organizational Performance Management |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 5 |
| Paper type | Peer replies |
| Length | About 590 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Discussion reply, APA 7 citations |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Business Administration (MBA) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for WMBA 6201 Week 5
Week 5 Discussion: Responding to Classmates' Proposed Measures
Who Pulls the Number, From Which System, on What Day and at Whose Expense: Two Peer Replies That Close the Collection Gap in Classmates' Proposed Performance Measures
Response to Priya: Call Light Response Time on a Medical-Surgical Unit
Priya, your proposal to measure how quickly nurses answer call lights on your medical-surgical unit fits the purpose you described well, since patients judge their care partly by how long they wait. What your post did not say is who will produce the number each week, and I think that gap could sink the measure.
Most nurse call systems log every call, its time and the time it was canceled at the bedside, so the data probably exist. The questions are who has access and what extraction costs. In many hospitals the call system belongs to clinical engineering or facilities, not nursing, and its reports are run on request. If your charge nurses must ask another department for a report each week, the measure will be produced for a month and then quietly stop.
I would suggest three specifics. First, name the source: the call system's response-time report, filtered to your unit and to patient-initiated calls, so staff-assist and bathroom pull-cords are counted separately. Second, name the person and the day: ask clinical engineering to schedule an automatic weekly export to your nurse manager's inbox every Monday at 7 a.m., which most systems can do once it is set up. Third, count the cost: setting up the export might take an engineer an hour; reading and posting it might take the manager fifteen minutes a week. Bourne et al. (2000) found that performance measures often fail in implementation rather than design, when collecting the data proves harder than expected, and the Monday export is a way to avoid that.
Would your manager be the right owner, or would a charge nurse who works Mondays be more reliable?
Response to Jamal: Table Turn Time at a Restaurant
Jamal, your measure of average table turn time at your restaurant is clear, and you defined it carefully, from seating to the table being reset. My question is the same one I asked Priya: who pulls it?
Your point-of-sale system records when a check is opened and when it is closed, so it can approximate the time a party spends at the table, but it cannot see seating or reset. Seating time lives in the host stand's waitlist app, and reset time is not recorded anywhere. That means your measure, as defined, would need a host to log reset times by hand, which will not survive a busy Friday. A definition the data cannot support is a measure in name only, a risk that reviews of measurement design have long flagged (Neely et al., 1995).
Two options would close the gap. You could redefine the measure to what the systems already hold, check-open to check-close, and accept that it misses the minutes before ordering and after paying. Or you could add one tap to the host app when a table is reset, which the app may support, and export both logs weekly. The first option costs nothing and starts tomorrow; the second is more accurate but depends on hosts tapping consistently. Melnyk et al. (2014) argued that measurement systems must be designed around how organizations actually work, and in a restaurant that means measures that need no extra steps during service.
Which would your general manager accept: a slightly less complete measure that runs itself, or a complete one that depends on the host stand?
References
Bourne, M., Mills, J., Wilcox, M., Neely, A., & Platts, K. (2000). Designing, implementing and updating performance measurement systems. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20(7), 754-771. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570010330739
Melnyk, S. A., Bititci, U., Platts, K., Tobias, J., & Andersen, B. (2014). Is performance measurement and management fit for the future? Management Accounting Research, 25(2), 173-186. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mar.2013.07.007
Neely, A., Gregory, M., & Platts, K. (1995). Performance measurement system design: A literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 15(4), 80-116. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443579510083622
Reading the WMBA 6201 Week 5 instructions
Reply assignments in the middle of a performance management course often focus on a gap most measure designs share: nobody has said who will produce the number. Prompts ask students to respond to classmates' proposed measures by naming the system that holds the data, the person who extracts it, the day it is pulled and the cost in time for someone who already has a full job. Instructors grade the replies on closing that gap concretely, not on praising the classmate's idea. Two replies of about three hundred words each are common. Suggesting options with their trade-offs, and ending each reply with a practical question, respects the classmate's ownership of the design while showing how the measure could survive contact with daily work.
How the WMBA 6201 Week 5 example is put together
The first reply acknowledges the call light measure's purpose, then explains that the data probably sit in a system owned by another department, and proposes three specifics: the report and its filter, a scheduled weekly export and the time cost, citing Bourne and colleagues on implementation failure. It closes by asking who should own the measure. The second reply praises the precise definition of table turn time, then shows that no system records seating and reset together, cites Neely and colleagues on definitions the data cannot support and offers two options, a narrower measure that runs itself or an added tap in the host app, with their costs. It cites Melnyk and colleagues on designing around how organizations work and asks which option the manager would accept. Margin comments flag the specific system and the two options.
Where the marks sit in the WMBA 6201 Week 5 rubric
Graders reward replies that name the system, the person, the day and the cost for each classmate's measure. Identifying where data actually live, including systems owned by other departments, shows practical knowledge. Offering options with honest trade-offs earns more than a single prescription. Citing research on measurement implementation adds weight. Ending each reply with a practical question keeps the discussion moving. Respecting the classmate's design while improving it shows professional tone. Instructors also check that each reply is specific to the classmate's setting rather than generic. Each reply should fit in a few short paragraphs and land on a different day.
Common WMBA 6201 Week 5 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Read each classmate's measure and ask four questions: which system holds this data, who can get it out, on what day and how long will it take them? If no system holds part of the data, say so and suggest a narrower definition or a small change to how the data are captured. Give costs in minutes or hours, not just in principle. Students often lose marks by praising a classmate's idea without addressing collection, or by suggesting a new system when an existing one would do. Another frequent gap is ignoring who owns the system. Close each reply by asking which option the classmate prefers. If you want custom sample replies on measures your classmates proposed, send us their posts.
Get a WMBA 6201 Week 5 example written to your instructions
Paste both classmate posts along with the Week 5 participation rubric and two written replies come back inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. Sections requiring a citation in each reply get one, sourced and formatted to the style your instructor names. Classmate posts belong to their authors, so replies are built around whatever text you paste in.
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WMBA 6201 Week 5 questions, answered
Where can I find a free WMBA 6201 Week 5 sample paper?
Both measure collection replies appear in full on this page.
What gap do the replies close?
Who pulls each number, from which system, on what day and at what cost in time.
How would call light data be collected?
Through a scheduled Monday export of the nurse call system's response-time report.
What is wrong with the table turn measure?
No system records both seating and table reset, so part of the definition cannot be counted.
What options does the second reply offer?
A narrower measure from the point-of-sale system, or an added reset tap in the host app.