This research was undertaken by Umit S. Bititci, Kepa Mendibil, Sai Nudurupati, Patrizia Garengo, and Trevor Turner at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. The main objective of the research was to model a dynamic correlation between performance measurement, management styles, and organizational culture, so as to have a better comprehension of the interplay between these three management aspects (Bititci et al, 2006). From this objective, the authors examined how organizational culture and management styles affect the success or failure of performance measurement implementations, and how performance measurement system implementations affect organizational culture and management styles.
The authors adopted a comprehensive literature reviewapproach in which related literature on performance measurement, management control systems, and management information systems were examined and a structure for mapping the relationship between the three topics developed. The literature review was based on five case studies that were carefully selected from a wider range of case studies to improve the accuracy of the study. The five case studies were drawn from five organizations from the UK’s manufacturing sector anddetailed the implementation of performance measurement systems in action research programmes using similar implementation methods by the same research team. The use of performance measurement systems was then examined over a period of 10 years and the relationship between the three aspects developed.
In their findings, the research team observed a pattern in all five case studies selected as pertaining to the implementation of performance measurement systems, management styles, and organizational culture. They observed that organizational culture and management style appeared to be interdependent throughout the duration of implementation of the performance measurement system. However, organizational culture did not affect the outcome of performance measurement systems.
The authors also observed that a successful implementation of performance measurement systems results into a more participative and consultative management style, an observation that was supported by previous studies. The authors also observed that success in the implementation of performance measurement systems resulted into organizational change towards an achievement culture. From these observations, the authors suggested that an authoritative management style was necessary at the initial stages but would be changed as the organization underwent culture change.
The findings from this study prove that there is indeed a relationship between organizational culture, management styles, and performance measurement. Actually, the relationship is bi-directional, that is, performance measurement systems can alter organizational culture and management style. Besides, organizational culture and leadership style can determine the success of performance measurement systems.
The findings also show that effective use of performance measurement systems could lead “to a more participative and consultative management style” (Bititci, et al, 2006, p. 1333). The relationship between the three aspects of management examined in the research indicates that organizations need to assess and adapt an organizational culture, management style, and structure of performance measurement systems according to their particular needs.
The study had its limitations. These included the fact that it was based on five case studies only. Besides, the case studies were drawn from five organizations from the UK’s manufacturing sector and this further limits the applicability of the results across other types of organizations and in other countries or regions outside the UK. Besides, although the method used to select the five case studies was intended to increase the accuracy of the results, it could have resulted into a bias during the implementation of the research methodology.
Reference
Bititci, U. S., Mendibil, K., Nudurupati, S., Garengo, P, and Turner, T. (2006). Dynamics of performance measurement and organizational culture. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 26 (12), 2006, pp. 1325-1350. Web.