A comprehensive performance analysis and improvement method

Abstract

Performance analysis and improvement are critical skills for the performance technologist. A comprehensive approach to these tasks, which includes techniques from industrial and organizational psychology, industrial engineering, and organizational behavior management, is described. The approach comprises four steps: (1) conducting an organization‐wide survey to identify general improvement areas, (2) objectively pinpointing performance improvement potentials, (3) systematically identifying performance constraints, and (4) selecting or designing an improvement technique. Survey results for 63 organizations are presented and the effect of management practices on management span of control are examined. Eighteen performance constraints are organized into a decision tree that is used to select 1 of 27 improvement techniques. The results of this approach to performance analysis and improvement are described for 58 improvement projects in a medium‐sized bank.

Behavioral approaches to business and industrial problems: Organizational behavior management.

“…A second strategy for identifying performances in need of improvement is to have all employees in the organization complete a management practices survey (Abernathy, 2010). The survey asks employees to rate the effectiveness of a variety of management practices.…”

“…More recently (Abernathy, 2010), I compared 68 project baseline performances in a medium-sized bank with performance levels at the end of 90 days. Target measures were selected by manager-subordinate teams from previously developed performance matrices.…”