ABSTRACT
This chapter opens by briefly considering the inadequacies and limitations of the conventional means of reporting and managing organisational performance. It proceeds to explore what performance means for the intelligent organisation and the different ways that needs to be considered. If organisations are to adopt the idea of ‘The Information Organisation’ then they will need to be able to understand and manage performance in ways not usually considered. Overall performance needs to be considered from the perspective of the effectiveness of the organisation – its capacity to survive in a changing environment, not simply from that of short term financial performance. This requires an understanding of the total value exchange between the organisation and its environment and the comparison of that with, at least, three dimensions of internal performance – human, process and information. The chapter introduces Beers’ potentiometer as a framework through which disparate measures can be reconciled and synthesised into a coherent view of the performance of the whole organisation This leads to a model system for managing performance. The reader will be able to diagnose weaknesses in their current situation and take corrective action.
