Abstract
Performance measures are everywhere, but they are filled with errors, and these errors are likely to cause faulty inferences. We should distrust performance measures, but we cannot ignore them because they are powerful motivators that can produce dramatic improvements in human and organizational performance.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Jon John E. Roemer John (Eds) (1993) Interpersonal Comparisons of Well-Being Cambridge University Press Cambridge
Frank Friedlander Hal Pickle (1968) ArticleTitle“Components of Effectiveness in Small Organizations” Administrative Science Quarterly 13 289–304
Raymond Hubbard J. Scott Armstrong (1992) ArticleTitle“Are Null Results Becoming and Endangered Species in Marketing?” Marketing Letters 3 IssueID2 127–136
John M. Mezias H. Starbuck William (2003) ArticleTitle“Studying the Accuracy of Managers Perceptions: A Research Odyssey” British Journal of Management 14 3–17
Roy L. Payne S. Pugh Derek (1976) “Organizational Structure and Climate” M.D. Dunnette (Eds) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology Rand McNally Chicago 1125–1173
James T. Peach L. Webb James (1983) ArticleTitle“Randomly Specified Macroeconomic Models: Some Implications for Model Selection” Journal of Economic Issues 17 697–720
B. Rosenberg M. Houglet (1974) ArticleTitle“Error Rates in CRSP and Compustat Data bases and their Implications” Journal of Finance 29 1303–1310
Peter J. Rousseeuw M. Leroy Annick (Eds) (1987) Robust Regression and Outlier Detection New York Wiley
San Miguel G. Joseph (1977) ArticleTitle“The Reliability of R&D Data in Compustat and 10-K Reports” Accounting Review 52 638–641
Dennis C. Smith J. Bratton William (2001) “Performance Management in New York City: Compstat and the Revolution in Police Management” Dall W. Forsythe (Eds) Quicker, Better, Cheaper? Managing Performance in American Government Rockefeller Institute Press Albany, NY 453–482
E. Jane Webster H. Starbuck William (1988) “Theory building in industrial and organizational psychology” L. Cooper Cary T. Robertson Ivan (Eds) International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology 1988 Wiley London 93–138
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This commentary builds on a presentation at the 2004 meeting of the Academy of Management. The presentation was part of a symposium organized by Alfred Kieser and titled “Do studies of performance create actionable knowledge?”
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Starbuck, W.H. Methodological Challenges Posed by Measures of Performance. J Manage Governance 8, 337–343 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-004-4125-z
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10997-004-4125-z