James R. Bradley - Publications
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| Mistakes
Commonly Made Using Performance Measures to Motivate
Employees (Revised November 22, 1999) |
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| James R. Bradley, The Johnson School,
Cornell University A. Paul Blossom |
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| Much of the performance measurement literature focuses on the theory of performance measurement systems and on the corporate-level measures that monitor results rather than on measures that motivate appropriate behavior. Through a series of vignettes based on experience in manufacturing plants, we offer insight into the practical issues of implementing performance measurement systems that are largely ignored by the literature. These vignettes illustrate errors that manufacturing managers commonly make in motivating and measuring their organizations with performance measures. We offer prescriptions for avoiding these errors in each instance. While set in the division or plant levels of a manufacturing organization, each vignette offers lessons for managers at any level of any organization. |