Organisation Performance
The term ‘organisational performance’ is used comfortably in three time- senses - the past, present, and the future. In other words, performance can refer to something completed, or something happening now, or activities that prepares for new needs.
Profitability, for example, is often regarded as the ultimate performance indicator, but it is not the actual performance. The actual performance occurred some time back - first with decisions and then the actions that followed the decisions. Profit is therefore an indicator of previous performance. In this sense, performance is the outcome or ‘end’.
If you are also interested in current behaviours that are associated with good or high performance, then you must identify and assess them as they occur. These behaviours start with the strategic planning process and continue into implementation, monitoring and assessment. In this sense, performance is the ‘activity’ or ‘means’.
Organisations are also interested in predictors of performance - conditions and behaviours that have been shown over time to lead to better performance. In this sense, performance is a package of behaviours around strategic planning and programming.
In other words, organisational performance is a complex topic that is not addressed by the annual financial report.
|
