Responding to Contemporary Challenges in Performance Management: Measuring Organizational Routines

Abstract

As the field of performance management (PM) progresses, the focus of the debates shifts from the design of performance management frameworks to the issues that become relevant at the stages of implementation and use, namely, the necessity to understand PM systems as a part of the organization and manage performance of complex organizational processes. New perspectives are needed to address these issues. We argue that adopting the organizational routines view and treating organizational processes as routines adds conceptual depth and practical utility to the discussion of these questions. By identifying the available measurable characteristics of routines, mapping the corresponding measures and proposing tentative classification, we make a step towards responding to the modern challenges in the PM field, providing a way of understanding the nature and characteristics of complex yet fundamental organizational processes, through which PM tasks can be accomplished.