Performance Driven Behavior as the Key to Better Organizational Performance

Abstract

An increasing number of profit and non-profit organizations are implementing new and alternative management control systems, like the balanced scorecard, critical success factors and key performance indicators, in order to obtain better organizational results. Despite the increase in experience gained with this approach, there is still a lot to be learned about the factors that influence the everyday use of management control systems and of the factors that influence performance-driven behavior. Recent research states that both the instrumental and the behavioral dimensions of management control have equal influence on this behavior. To test this statement, these dimensions have been operationalized in an analysis tool called the performance management analysis (PMA). In this article the results of research into the relation between the instrumental and the behavioral dimensions and organizational performance are discussed. Based on 577 PMAs, the research results show that paying (equal) attention to instrumental and behavioral dimensions indeed results in higher competitive performance.