Reviewing and theorizing the unintended consequences of performance management systems

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorFranco-Santos, Monica
dc.contributor.authorOtley, David
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-30T15:37:39Z
dc.date.available2018-07-30T15:37:39Z
dc.date.issued2018-07-02
dc.description.abstractDifferent design choices in the controls used to manage performance often lead to a range of unintended consequences, which have profound effects on individuals and organizations. This paper presents a mixed review (both systematic and eclectic) of the literature on the unintended consequences of performance management systems and develops a typology to explain how and why they occur. It finds that the most salient unintended consequences of directive performance management systems are gaming, information manipulation, selective attention, illusion of control and relationships transformation. It argues that these consequences exist due to limiting factors such as ignorance, error, short-term concerns, fundamental values, self-fulfilling forecasts and changes in social relationships. The emerging typology-based theory suggests that the choice of control mechanisms is based on two key assumptions concerning goal-alignment and goal uncertainty that relate back to ideas in agency theory and stewardship theory. It concludes that, in the design of performance management systems, the more the ‘assumed’ reality about the state of goal-alignment and goal-uncertainty diverges from the ‘real’ state of affairs, the more the resultant system is likely to create perverse unintended consequences, leading to poor organisational outcomes.en_UK
dc.identifier.citationFranco-Santos M, Otley D. (2018) Reviewing and theorizing the unintended consequences of performance management systems. International Journal of Management Reviews, Volume 20, Issue 3, July 2018, pp. 696-730en_UK
dc.identifier.cris19971184
dc.identifier.issn1460-8545
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12183
dc.identifier.urihttp://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/13366
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherWileyen_UK
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/*
dc.subjectPerformance managementen_UK
dc.subjectOrganizational controlen_UK
dc.subjectmanagement controlen_UK
dc.subjectUnintended consequencesen_UK
dc.subjectAgency theoryen_UK
dc.subjectStewardship theoryen_UK
dc.titleReviewing and theorizing the unintended consequences of performance management systemsen_UK
dc.typeArticleen_UK

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
unintended_consequences_of_performance_management_systems-2018.pdf
Size:
564.59 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

Staff publications (SoM)