Performance management and measurement in practice

By Andre de Waal (Maastricht School of Management / HPO Center) and Karima Kourtit (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

Advantages, disadvantages and reasons for use performance management and measurement

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Abstract

Purpose – Despite the fact that in recent years performance management and measurement (PMM) techniques and tools have attracted much research interest and that many scholars claim that implementing PMM yields many advantages, there is only a limited number of rigorous, systematic, scientific analysis of empirical studies into the benefits actually experienced by organizations in practice after introducing performance management and measurement. In addition little is known about specific reasons for organizations to start using PMM, and about the various relationships, if any, between the advantages, disadvantages and reasons for performance management and measurement use. This paper seeks to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach – This article identifies the advantages, disadvantages and reasons for use of SPM which organizations have experienced in practice, based on an extensive literature research and interviews at 17 prominent Dutch organizations.

Findings – The study found four main advantages, two main disadvantages and two main reasons for use.

Research limitations/implications – The main limitation is that the number of participating organizations and interviewees could be higher.

Practical implications – The practical implication of this research is that implementing and using performance management and measurement yields specific benefits for an organization and that management now knows which advantages are to be expected.

Originality/value – This research shows that management needs to make the advantages of performance management and measurement explicit before the performance management and measurement implementation starts and keep stressing these advantages during and after implementation. This will heighten commitment of organizational members for performance management and measurement and increase a successful use of performance management and measurement.

Keywords – Performance management, Performance management systems, Performance measurement, performance management and measurement

Read the research paper ‘Performance management and measurement in practice’ published in Emerald Insight in PDF.