Building knowledge in performance measurement and management: A critical realist approach

Abstract

Within management and organizational studies, researchers and practitioners alike have maintained a constant interest in the topic performance management as a means of improving individual and organizational performance. However, as a discipline, the field of performance management remains fragmented, its benefits disputed, and many of its major theoretical underpinnings hotly contested. To address these difficulties, this thesis explores the philosophical foundations upon which the study of performance management has been carried out and considers adopting critical realism as an alternative. The chapters explore the ontological, epistemological, and methodological implications of such a position for carrying out research on performance management. These include how performance management is described, the type of causal relations researchers may hope to find, how knowledge can be systematically synthesized to build theory, and how research may be carried out in the field. This discussion will help create an interdisciplinary study of performance management and to bridge the research—practice gap.