Non-financial indicators that affect Igloo Software

Non-financial indicators and their impact on business

Non-financial indicators, which are not stated in monetary units, are comparable to the quantitative measures of competence employed in the corporate sector. These performance indicators make up the "x-factor" that causes clients to favor one product or service provider over another. Respect is an illustration of a crucial non-financial strategy used to draw in and keep clients. Customers are more likely to be grateful and make more purchases from a business when they feel their dignity is not violated while they look for its products. Additionally, there is a very high chance that they will recommend the business to many people and may even bring a friend.

There are several non-financial indicators that affect the operations of Igloo Software. These factors include Corporate Social Responsibility, social media, corporate beliefs and political opinions, aesthetic appeal, innovation, customer experience, market share, reputation of the company, and new product adoption rate among other things. The reason why the management of Igloo Software is sure to factor in non-financial indicators in its company performance review is that of the need to be in line with the truth that making supernormal profits is not directly proportional to success (Bernardin & Wiatrowski, 2013).

The significance of Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is an approach to conducting business that contributes a lot to sustainable development. Sustainable development for companies such as Igloo Software revolves around the delivery of environmental, social, and economic benefits for every stakeholder. As such, Corporate Social Responsibility is an ideology with a lot of practices and definitions. Apart from assisting in the improvement of communication for up-and-coming start-ups and globally recognized corporations alike, Igloo Software has supported the community around it by embarking in a number of noble causes; these include sponsoring the education of needy children, sponsoring the treatment of cancer patients, ensuring the well-being of workers, and donating funds for the nourishment of children in developing countries. The level of good which customers feel blessed with every CSR move cannot be measured with numbers only that Igloo Software is bound to wish the result of their effort reflects in their sales volume. Increased sales after a CSR move are a sure fire way of telling that said efforts played a significant marketing role. Overall, it is quite noteworthy that the idea behind Corporate Social Responsibility is for a company like Igloo Software to appreciate the employees that have helped build it up and the society that has forever been seeking and promoting the products the company has placed at their disposition through sales. Appreciation is a statement from Igloo Software that 'we as the company are aware that the far we have gone, and the much that we have achieved is courtesy of your belief in us and your support' (DeNisi & Smith, 2014).

The role of social media in performance evaluation

The social media is a key non-financial performance indicator because it shows the management of Igloo Software what the customers genuinely feel about the company. After making use of the products and services offered by Igloo Software, customers are bound to make online product reviews about their experience. These types of studies have proven to be very helpful since they help in market research and development. Market research and development initiatives have and continuously show Igloo Software what customers want and expect from the industry. Then after, the company is left with no choice but to align its product package with the market demand. Concerning matters revolving around the social media, i.e., the positive and the negative comments made by customers, the company has to be cautious not to react negatively but only see criticism in a positive light. Lashing back at clients because of the blogs they post shows a lack of respect. Igloo Software perceives the social media as a platform for sending inquiries on company products and receiving feedback where customers can review the performance of the firm in a genuine manner and help it realize its self-improvement cause (Dusterhoff, Cunningham & MacGregor, 2014).

The importance of innovation in the market

Simply put, innovation is giving customers what they want, i.e., bringing something new to the market every time and never falling out when it comes to fashion. Ever since it was launched in the year 2004, Igloo Software keeps redefining its web-based intranet solutions to assist thousands of workgroups in the collaboration and management of their initiatives, personnel, and myriad other resources. To discover if it has done well for itself, Igloo Software must look at how well its innovative products are received in the market. Reception of consumers is best shown by the amounts of sales volume realized and profits at large. Staying on top of their game takes commitment and being informed of what the competitors of the company are up to all the time; this way there would be no single service or product need that Igloo Software would fail to attend to and face a possible state of irrelevancy (Dave, Dave & Shishodia, 2013).

Evaluating market share and competitors

To get a glimpse of how much market they have managed to capture, the company makes use of its Research and Development. This studies the firm conducts are in resonance with looking at the proportion of clients that can be deemed as loyal repeat clients and comparing them to the number of customers that visit other stores. The top five physical positions (market share) that Igloo Company enjoys include Canada, United States, Great Britain, Australia, Spain, and the United States. For all the above-mentioned countries, the companies involved (as customers of Igloo Software) include WordPress, dotCMS, square space, Expression Engine, Adobe Scene 7, Vignette Open Text, IAPPS, and Microsoft SharePoint among other; this help maintain the essential corporate needs of Igloo. It is worth mentioning that competitors of the company include Artisteer, Drupal 7, WebEx Panel, Wordpress Daily Activity, ZMS Publishing, and Desire2Learn among others. Igloo Software looks at its competitors with a perspective of understanding what it is that they do and how the company can emulate all the steps for success that were involved. Aesthetic appeal that is expressed in the company's product package and the excellent reputation of Igloo Software are performance metric on their own which assist the management of the company in scoring market share.

Conclusion

In summary, it is quite noteworthy that the importance of nonfinancial performance indicators is quite undeniable. These factors play a significant role towards the operations at Igloo. Without their existence, many companies such as Igloo Software would blindly believe that profitability is the only thing that matters. In as much as a company can depend on well-acclaimed nonfinancial indicators in appraising its performance, the best performance appraisal methods are custom made within a company's boardrooms.

References

Bernardin, H. J., & Wiatrowski, M. (2013). Performance appraisal. Psychology and Policing, 257.

Dave, M., Dave, M., & Shishodia, Y. S. (2013). Cloud Computing and Knowledge Management as a service: A collaborative approach to harness and manage the plethora of knowledge. BVICAM’s International Journal of Information Technology, 5(2), 619-622.

DeNisi, A., & Smith, C. E. (2014). Performance appraisal, performance management, and firm-level performance: a review, a proposed model, and new directions for future research. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 127-179.

Dusterhoff, C., Cunningham, J. B., & MacGregor, J. N. (2014). The effects of performance rating, leader-member exchange, perceived utility, and organizational justice on performance appraisal satisfaction: Applying a moral judgment perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 119(2), 265-273.