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A performance management system has been implemented by Cancer Care Ontario (CCO). This system allows for the monitoring and management of 11 integrated cancer programs (ICPs) across the Province of Ontario. The system comprises of four elements: reporting frequency, reporting requirements, review meetings and accountability and continuous improvement activities. CCO and the ICPs have recently completed quarterly performance review exercises for the last two quarters of the fiscal year 2004‐2005. The purpose of this paper is to address some of the key lessons learned.

The paper provides an outline of the CCO performance management system.

These lessons included: data must be valid and reliable; performance management requires commitments from both parties in the performance review exercises; streamlining performance reporting is beneficial; technology infrastructure which allows for cohesive management of data is vital for a sustainable performance management system; performance indicators need to stand up to scrutiny by both parties; and providing comparative data across the province is valuable. Critical success factors which would help to ensure a successful performance management system include: corporate engagement from various parts of an organization in the review exercises; desire to focus on performance improvement and avoidance of blaming; and strong data management systems.

The performance management system is a practical and sustainable system that allows for performance improvement of cancer care services. It can be a vital tool to enhance accountability within the health care system.

The paper demonstrates that the performance management system supports accountability in the cancer care system for Ontario, and reflects the principles of the provincial governments commitment to continuous improvement of healthcare.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a systems approach can be used to facilitate the development of an organizational performance measurement system.

Based on a review of the literature, the paper introduces the implications for applying a systems approach to organizational performance measurement. To demonstrate the transition from theory to practice, a case study is provided to show how a sustainable development performance measurement system was developed at a Canadian electric utility. The case study involved extensive consultation with over 25 experts.

The paper finds that a systems approach is useful in developing the process and that a set of formal systems criteria is useful in developing the structure and content of a performance measurement system. These concepts are highlighted throughout the case study example.

The case study section was based on findings from a single organization. Further work is required to validate the findings within other organizations.

The paper shows how a robust sustainable development performance measurement system may be developed at an electric utility. The overarching emphasis on integration of the system with the case utility's mainstream initiatives demonstrates that a performance measurement system must build on what the organization already has in place. The systems‐based approach and formal systems criteria used in the paper may be transferable to other organizations.

The paper shows that a systems approach provides both the structure and flexibility needed to guide the design, implementation, and evolution of a sustainable development performance measurement system within existing organizational infrastructure.

The performance measurement system reflects the corporate strategy and overall business objectives of an organization. The alignment of the performance indicators with the company's critical operating factors, and the processes having bottle‐necks alongside the value chain, could result in a very compact, target‐oriented, and quality‐based performance measurement system. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

The quality‐based performance measurement system is developed by integrating the existing performance indicators of an organization with those of best‐in‐class management practices. The organizational processes included range from business leadership to the operational level. The key performance indicators (KPIs) depict the existing status transparently and comprehensively, whereas later on they can be used to control the processes with the pre‐defined values/measures. The KPIs of a process are documented and standardized once they are implemented. An action plan is then developed to write down the prerequisite for the new KPIs and to prioritize the existing ones for the sake of improvement.

It is affirmed that most of the employees had found the performance measurement system a very useful tool to tightly control the flow of their processes. It is very important to mention that this system does not mean giving way to another flood of information; instead it is designed to support the company's decision‐making process through target‐oriented indicators that could be compared with the existing best practices.

The concept described is aimed at developing and implementing a quality‐based performance measurement system within an organization. This system is developed through comparing the existing organizational practices with those having been labelled “Best‐in‐class” and it provides an alternative to the Balanced Score Card approach.

Begins by creating a vision for dynamic performance measurement systems and goes on to describe the background to the work. Develops a model for integrated and dynamic performance measurement systems. Provides a critical review of existing frameworks, models and techniques against the model. Identifies that current knowledge and techniques are sufficiently mature to create dynamic performance measurement systems. The use of the dynamic performance measurement system is illustrated through a case study. Concludes with a series of lessons highlighting further research and development needs.

To show how measurement systems and the way they are implemented can have a critical impact in either encouraging or discouraging a culture of high performance.

This paper outlines a “systems view” of organisations that assist in combining the knowledge of both measurement and psychology into a practical approach that encourages a culture of high performance. It outlines examples of measurement systems that have been specifically designed to change perceptions and behaviours. These implementations transformed performance levels within a matter of months.

When measurement systems are designed using the appropriate psychological principles, there can be a rapid change in staff behaviour that automatically leads to improved performance.

The psychological conditions for improving performance can be readily reproduced, but more research evidence is required to ensure widespread acceptance and use of this approach to performance improvement.

Measurement systems should be designed and implemented from a psychological and performance control perspective. When they are designed in this way, organisations can rapidly achieve substantial improvements in performance.

This paper shows how, by combining critical aspects of psychology with the knowledge of measurement within organisations, measurement systems can be designed and implemented to encourage a complete culture of high performance. The approach can assist all managers that want to change both the culture of their organisations whilst simultaneously improving overall performance.

Provides a multi‐criteria performance measurement model to measure the profitability performance of a manufacturing system. In developing the model, analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its extension system‐with‐feedback (SWF) approaches are used. The SWF approach, an extension of the AHP method, is recommended when independence among different elements of a system assumption is violated. In a manufacturing system, the system’s performance criteria are interrelated. When the level of a single system criterion is changed, other criteria must be considered simultaneously. Also, the relative importance of these criteria with respect to each other and their contribution to the overall profitability is directly affected by the competitive strategy applied by the manufacturing system. The performance evaluation model developed in this study includes the competitive strategy and interdependence between the system criteria in its hierarchical structure and achieves a more realistic and accurate representation of a manufacturing system.

The performance management process is seen as a closed loop control system which deploys policy and strategy, and obtains feedback from various levels in order to manage the performance of the business. The performance measurement system is the information system which is at the heart of the performance management process and it is of critical importance to the effective and efficient functioning of the performance management system. Research identifies two critical elements with respect to the content and structure of the performance measurement system. These are: integrity and deployment. The viable systems model (VSM) provides a framework for assessing the integrity of the performance measurement system. The reference model developed for integrated performance measurement systems provides a framework against which performance measurement systems can be designed and audited.

The performance management process is seen as a closed loop control system which deploys policy and strategy, and obtains feedback from various levels in order to manage the performance of the business. The performance measurement system is the information system which is at the heart of the performance management process and it is of critical importance to the effective and efficient functioning of the performance management system. Research identifies two critical elements with respect to the content and structure of the performance measurement system: integrity and deployment. The viable systems model (VSM) provides a framework for assessing the integrity of the performance measurement system, while the reference model developed for integrated performance measurement systems provides a framework against which performance measurement systems can be designed and audited.

In recent years, practitioners have identified a number of problems with traditional performance management (PM) systems, arguing that PM is broken and needs to be fixed. In this chapter, we review criticisms of traditional PM practices that have been mentioned by journalists and practitioners and we consider the solutions that they have presented for addressing these concerns. We then consider these problems and solutions within the context of extant scholarly research and identify (a) what organizations should do going forward to improve PM practices (i.e., focus on feedback processes, ensure accountability throughout the PM system, and align the PM system with organizational strategy) and (b) what scholars should focus research attention on (i.e., technology, strategic alignment, and peer-to-peer accountability) in order to reduce the science-practice gap in this domain.

This paper aims to review the challenges of performance appraisal in organizations and argue that these challenges can and must be overcome.

The authors review research on performance appraisal in organizations and on claims that organizations are abandoning performance appraisal.

Structured performance appraisals are still the norm in organizations around the world. There are clear and practical strategies for improving appraisals. These include improving feedback and removing unnecessary complexity, clarifying the goals of appraisal systems, focusing appraisal on behaviors and outcomes under the employee's control and increasing the fairness of appraisal systems.

Research is needed on the effects of changing the ways performance appraisals are conducted in organizations.

Practical strategies for improving performance appraisal are outlined.

Better performance appraisals will benefit organizations and their members.

This paper refutes the growing claim that organizations are abandoning performance appraisal and illustrates practical strategies for improving performance appraisal.