ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book provides a sense of performance as a word and explores contextualization of dictionary meanings in the context of management literature. It describes the possibilities for multiple tellings and multiple readings of performance stories, and restates in this regard the importance of context for understanding what is meant by organizational performance. The book focuses on sports, going through sports history to provide insights into the historical background of the notion, and describes how one can actually read a performance. It attempts to provide an understanding of how the performance indicators were selected rather than others. The book discusses the contingent character of the conditions that shape the process of the textualization of an organization's activity. It also provides a theoretical framework and a methodology of systematic questioning of texts borrowed from narratology.
