Managing Performance Improvement

206 Pages·2007·1.43 MB·English

by  Lynne F. Baxter

Managing Performance
Improvement
From TQM to six sigma and the balanced scorecard, there appears to be
no end to the “revolutionary” approaches proposed to improve business
performance. However, on closer inspection, most new performance
improvement approaches offer few differences from their predecessors.
This thought-provoking book provides a critical perspective on the
management of performance improvement initiatives by relating major
theories to practical examples from a wide range of organizations. Baxter
and MacLeod analyze ideas on performance improvement and discuss how
these concepts may not make any impact on organizations, using cases as
diverse as telecommunications, cement manufacturing, a major airport,
and an economic development organization. In their critique of popular
performance improvement “innovations,” the authors highlight the
possible damage to organizations they can cause. In response to prevailing
performance improvement practices, the authors put forth the concept
of repair as a way to rescue these efforts. Working from their extensive
research, the authors present alternative perspectives on improvement
that shifts forward the stagnant debates on these processes.
Offering a needed alternative perspective and real insights into the
process of implementing performance improvements, this book will prove
invaluable to advanced students and MBAs studying quality, performance
improvement, operations management and HRM.
Lynne F. Baxter is Senior Lecturer in Management Systems at The York
Management School.
Alasdair M. MacLeod is an Honorary Research Fellow at Heriot-Watt
University.

Managing Performance
Improvement
Lynne F. Baxter and
Alasdair M. MacLeod
First published 2008
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2008 Lynne F. Baxter and Alasdair M. MacLeod
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baxter, Lynne F., 1961–
Managing performance improvement / by Lynne F. Baxter and Alasdair M.
MacLeod.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Total quality management. 2. Reeingineering (Management)
3. Performance—Management. 4. Organizational effectiveness.
I. MacLeod, Alasdair M. II. Title.
HD62.15.B39 2008
658.4´013–dc22 2007023656
ISBN 0-203-01943-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0–415–36680–1 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0–415–36681–X (pbk)
ISBN10: 0–203–01943–1 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–36680–9 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–415–36681–6 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978–0–203–01943–6 (ebk)
For
Nicola, Mhari and David M. Baxter
and
Pearl MacLeod

Contents
Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments x
1 Introduction 1
SECTION 1
The management role in performance improvement 13
2 Leadership 15
3 The relationship between strategy and performance
improvement 35
4 Performance measurement 55
SECTION 2
Improvement as damage 77
5 Superfi ciality 79
6 Considering the gender aspect to involvement 97
7 Continuous or “big-bang” improvement: using the
analogy of the body 112
viii Contents
SECTION 3
Repair 133
8 Repair at an individual level 135
9 Repair at the level of the organization: the
contribution of external frameworks 151
10 Conclusions 167
Discussion question hints 175
References 181
Index 190
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 Authentic and pseudo-transformational leadership 22
2.2 Blue Circle organization structure 29
2.3 Empowerment process fl ow diagram 29
4.1 Kaplan and Norton’s Balanced Scorecard 61
4.2 The EFQM model of business excellence 66
5.1 Participation and reifi cation 83
7.1 Main processes carried out at the hub 122
9.1 Organization and teamwork at Akzo Nobel 158
Tables
1.1 A comparison of established and current ideas on
performance improvement 5
3.1 Govan Initiative performance 44
4.1 A synthesis of framework “criteria” 65